Asda is trialling AI-powered cameras that scan shelves hourly to detect in-stocks, out-of-stocks, lows, planogram non-compliance and spoiled produce.
The supermarket is in the early stages of a trial of the Focal Systems cameras, which it has installed in five stores.
The cameras – first spotted by Grocery Insight’s Steve Dresser – are placed on poles on the top shelf in an aisle, to provide a view of around eight feet of shelf space opposite.
Speaking to The Grocer in April, Focal Systems CEO Kevin Johnson said recent “deep learning breakthroughs in computer vision have enabled the precise identification of products, shelf conditions, and anomalies in highly complex and dynamic retail environments”.
Combined with advances in edge computing, so data can be processed locally without having to send it to a faraway server, and improved cloud infrastructure supporting integration with retailer systems, the “innovations have transformed what was once a manual, time-consuming process into a fully automated, intelligent retail operating system – making real-time shelf visibility not just possible, but powerful,” Johnson explained.
In April last year, Morrisons began deploying the cameras from the Seattle-based AI company, installing more than 200,000 into 498 supermarkets in just eight months.
The move improved customer availability by more than two percentage points, Focal Systems said.
Waitrose has also begun trialling the tech at its Bracknell store.
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