קמעונאות זעירה | כלכליסט 360 (webflow.io)An article in Israel...

קמעונאות זעירה | כלכליסט 360 (webflow.io)

An article in Israel from September 2020.

How much does a bottle of Coke weigh?

To meet all these requirements, Smartsail chose the Innovendi refrigerator of the Israeli company Shekel Brainweigh. This is an innovative micromarket refrigerator where product identification is carried out only by the weight of the product. "We identify a product with significant precision greater than 99% only by accurate weight measurement, algorithms and complex statistical calculations," notes Udi Wiesner, CEO of the company's Retail Innovation division.

Is there a difference in weight between a regular bottle of Coke versus Zero? How do you tell them apart?

"It may be surprising, but there's a difference," Wiesner explains. "In the research and development phase, we discovered by analyzing big data of products from self-service checkouts from around the world, that there is a significant difference – for example, in the distribution of the weight of Coke versus Zero, and we have developed an adaptive statistical model that produces a unique weight signature that varies in time for each product. This allows the operator to place up to 10 types of products on the same shelf, and change the arrangement of the products (planogram) by the cloud control software, remotely and in a short time, without the need for a hardware change on the shelf".

So, won't there be many competitors?

"There are competitors in the world and it's good that it is," Wiesner notes. "However, the information we have collected is the key to accuracy, and execution is very complex. This is a combination of advanced and patented IoT weighing sensors, with advanced algorithms topped with sophisticated cloud system management software. The basis of the technology bypasses the traditional weighing process and includes innovative processing of the raw signals from the precise weighing sensors, based on unique knowledge from the parent company, Shekel Balances. The unique solution enables quick identification of product take-and-returns, and filters out side effects such as random hand laying. The combination of Smartsail's knowledge and experience from an early stage in development has helped us develop a product that is considered one of the leading in the world."

Efficient, lean and inexpensive solution

Isn't it better to use the cameras?

"Machine vision-based solutions have built-in limitations and often have difficulty identifying products due to problems such as small product culls, concealments and lighting conditions," explains Guy Moshe, CTO of the Retail Innovation Division. "Increasing the number of cameras to different angles requires expensive investment in resources and high computing power (GPU). Our solution, on the other hand, is efficient, thin and inexpensive."

"Once we analyzed the data from the system in favor of optimizing the models and improving performance in the Unsupervised Learning approach, we realized that we had discovered a new world of insights directly from the shelf and point of sale," adds Moshe.

"The system analyzes the amount of products that are taken and returned to place and out of place, produces heat map per shelf in the refrigerator, and analyzes conversion ratios to different categories," margalit said from Smartsil. This allows us to optimize operations in terms of product deployment in each refrigerator and inventory optimization, adapted to each machine in its unique location. For me as an operator/retailer, the advantage is that despite the sophistication of the system, the management interface is simple and easy to use."

Has the coronavirus changed anything in your market and where is it going?

"Global growth in the micromarket sector began even before the coronavirus, since autonomous stores and points of sale such as the Innovendi refrigerators are very suitable for the contemporary lifestyle and the fact that we are all on a constant shift looking for convenient solutions. This is particularly characteristic of young people and residents living in the world's largest cities," margalit notes.

"The coronavirus has only accelerated the demand for a small, accessible format, with an accurate product range, which operates 24/7 and of course requires as little contact as possible with people, and we have recently seen significant demand for our machines and autonomous retail solutions. In addition to office buildings and crowded places such as train stations and airports, machines have also been placed in residential buildings and residential towers."

Above all, Wiesner stresses, "Consumers today expect fast, available and very high quality service. When they come across a machine that doesn't work, or lacks exactly the product they want to buy, they may never return to it. This is where the importance of choosing reliable and stable solutions, which include the possibility of close monitoring of the inventory and functioning of the machine, stems from the importance of choosing reliable and stable solutions, which include the possibility of closely monitoring the inventory and functioning of the machine, to avoid disappointment on the part of the customers".

‍

For more information:

www.shekelbrainweigh.com/retail

[email protected]

https://www.smartsell.co.il/