Modern technology allows for many exciting yet also scary use cases. For example, Aldi, the renowned German retailer with an international presence, focuses on checkout-free alcohol sales. However, the company experiments with facial age estimation technology, which is a slightly tricky ordeal.
Aldi And Modern Technology
It is commendable to see retailers and supermarkets enhance the overall customer experience while checking out. Many locations now provide options for users to self-checkout, although there are still some limitations in place. When it comes to alcohol sales, self-checkout is often challenging to enable, as there will be many people looking to abuse the system.
That situation may come to change following a new trial by Aldi in London. Its Greenwich High Street location will now let customers complete their alcohol shopping without scanning a product or going through a traditional checkout. On paper, that may sound strange, but it is part of a new experiment with the Aldi Shop&Go application.
Users can pick up their items and walk out of the store once they get everything on their list through this trial. Customers will be charged automatically when they leave the store – based on their selected payment method set up in the application. However, the system will also leverage facial age estimation technology to authorize purchases.
More specifically, the facial age estimation technology will ensure customers are of the correct age to buy alcohol. The technology is provided by Yoti and will ensure age verification within mere seconds through the Aldi Shop&Go app. Users can opt out of this method but will need to undergo in-person age verification by a store employee. It is an exciting approach to ensure no underage users can obtain alcohol from Aldi
Aldi UK and Ireland CEO Giles Hurley adds:
“Today is the culmination of months of work, not least from the team here in Greenwich and I’m looking forward to seeing how customers react to our trial.”
The entire system is made possible through AiFi and carefully positioned cameras to detect which products customers pick up. It would be detrimental if customers were charged for incorrect items when they walk out of the store.