Trigo, ALDI Nord Open Netherlands’s First AI-Powered Frictionless Supermarket

Trigo, an Israel-based computer vision company specializing in frictionless checkout technology, is rolling out an AI-powered cashierless grocery store with German discount supermarket giant ALDI Nord in the central Dutch city of Utrecht.

On Wednesday, 20 July, ALDI Netherlands will open the doors of ALDI Shop & Go, a 370㎡ (3982 square feet) AI-powered autonomous supermarket where shoppers can walk in, select their items, and simply walk out without having to queue at the checkout lane or scan any items. Trigo applies its algorithms to shelf sensors and ceiling-mounted cameras which analyze anonymized shoppers’ movements and product choices. Payments and receipts are settled digitally.

The 370㎡ (4305 square feet) AI-powered autonomous supermarket in Utrecht marks a milestone in the digitization of the ALDI Nord Group of Companies and is the first such store to open to the public in The Netherlands. It is also Trigo’s largest store format to date, with the company working to increase the size of its store formats.

ALDI Nord is one of the world’s leading international retail enterprises. With a tradition stretching back over 100 years, the ALDI brand is synonymous with the invention of discount retail. The ALDI Nord Group of Companies is active in nine European countries offering high-quality products at low prices, employing over 86,000 employees in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and Spain.

Sinanudin Omerhodzic CTO at ALDI Einkauf SE. & Co. oHG, said, “The true magic of discount retailing is simplicity. We therefore always use technology where it specifically makes us better and faster. With ALDI Shop & Go, we have developed a concept that brings together the discount idea and computer vision technology – always with the aim of making shopping as easy as possible.”

Michael Gabay, Trigo’s co-founder and CEO, said, “Trigo works closely with top retailers to convert their existing stores while maintaining their unique character and layout, and leveraging their physical grocery scale to roll out next-generation offerings securely. We are particularly proud to work with ALDI Nord, who has been at the forefront of grocery retail innovation for nearly a century.”

Notes to journalists

• Trigo has recently partnered with some of world’s largest grocery retailers on frictionless express supermarkets, including Tesco PLC in the UK, REWE Group and Netto Marken-Discount (also known as Netto) in Germany, as well as Wakefern Food Corp., the largest retailer-owned cooperative in the U.S.
• Smart checkout solutions are expected to process nearly $400 billion in transactions by 2025, according to Juniper Research. According to Trigo’s analysis of Kantar supermarket data, there are around 500,000 convenience and small format grocery stores worldwide that have the potential to be retrofitted with AI-based frictionless technology. Around 120,000 of them are in the EU alone. The technology for scaling to larger store formats is maturing in parallel.
• Trigo’s computer vision system can identify and price promotional and discounted items, including fresh produce, weighted items, self-serve coffee, baked goods, and freshly squeezed juices.

Source: Business wire