Morrisons is trialling aisle-roaming robots to monitor how products are being displayed on shelves.
The supermarket is testing ‘Tally’ robots – claimed to be the world’s first autonomous inventory bot – from US tech company Simbe, at three stores.
The robots – being trialled at Morrisons stores in Wetherby, Redcar and Stockton – are being used to “check that the products on the shelves are being displayed correctly and are legally compliant” Katherine Allanach, Morrisons technology manager, told The Grocer.
“It is a crucial but time-consuming task and so Tally aims to allow more time for colleagues to focus on customer service,” Allanach added.
Morrisons is the first UK retailer to invest in Simbe’s Tally robot, which uses AI and computer vision to independently traverse store aisles multiple times a day to collect data. The robot – which can capture 15,000 to 30,000 products an hour – self-docks to a charging port when needed.
Morrisons said customer and colleague feedback on the robots had been positive.
“They have been intrigued and curious but very positive and colleagues in particular can see how supportive Tally could be,” a spokeswoman said.
The robots are currently being used globally by Carrefour, BJ’s, Albertsons, ShopRite and Kroger. Globally, Tally robots have covered 75,000 miles, captured 1.5 billion images, and clocked up 300,000 hours of autonomous operation.
“Morrisons’ adoption of Tally is a major step forward for Simbe as it continues to expand its global footprint in nine countries across three continents,” Simbe told The Grocer, “but also validation that retailers around the world are increasingly turning to autonomous solutions to gain unprecedented visibility and address key operational challenges.”
The robot trial – first spotted by Toby Pickard, retail futures senior partner at IGD – is the latest use of AI-based technology to improve operations by Morrisons. In April last year, the supermarket began deploying AI-powered cameras from Seattle-based AI company Focal Systems in its stores that can detect in-stocks, out-of-stocks, lows, planogram non-compliance and spoiled produce. The system scans shelves every hour, alerting staff to priority actions accordingly.
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