TEL AVIV, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Israeli company WalkOut, the developer of an autonomous end-to-end frictionless shopping solution, announces an extensive cooperation agreement with Machsanei Hashuk, one of the largest supermarket chains in Israel. As part of the agreement, the chain will implement the fully autonomous checkout solution, considered the most accurate in the world's retail industry, in all 62 of its branches. Its deployment will begin as early as next month.
Although 61 percent of shoppers would prefer to purchase brands that also have a physical location, over 70 percent of shoppers report that standing in line for checkouts is frustrating and detracts from the shopping experience. Until the development of WalkOut’s solution, no system has accompanied the customer throughout the entire purchase, which includes actual checkout.
WalkOut’s retrofit smartcart solution offers a revolution in the shopping experience that addresses two main challenges that marketing chains face in the physical buying process.
The first is related to waiting in long queues at the checkout. The second is the inability to create a personalized shopping experience for each customer.
The company’s first-ever truly seamless retrofitted solution in the retail industry requires no costly infrastructural changes to the store, while other solutions require the retailer to purchase new carts and most rely on barcode scanners and scales for item recognition. The mountable cart device's multiple high-precision cameras, which utilize many different proprietary algorithms to accurately recognize products, identify the items as shoppers load or remove them with 99.2 percent accuracy.
WalkOut’s edge computing and machine-vision algorithms also curtail the need for costly on-cloud servers and high-bandwidth internet support. This use of single-sensor architecture and edge-computing allows retail stores to operate a much more robust and cost-effective solution. Through a large touchscreen, the device also communicates with the customer to offer personalized recommendations, store navigation, supplementary product information, and relevant promotions based on the shopper's history and location in the store.
"Connecting to one of the largest retail chains in Israel is an exciting opportunity and an important milestone for us," says Assaf Gedalia, CEO and Co-Founder of WalkOut. “The solution is futuristic, personalized, and at the same time preserves the customer's privacy."
"As a chain that advocates innovative technologies, we wanted to offer our customers significant savings in waiting times at the checkouts and provide a more personal, accessible and efficient shopping experience," said Shalom Naaman, CEO and Owner of Machsanei Hashuk. "The WalkOut solution will significantly shorten the length of stay in the branches, help maximize our operational efficiency, and allow us to offer one of the most advanced shopping experiences in the world."
About WalkOut
WalkOut, founded in 2018, has set itself the goal of changing the way consumers purchase products in physical stores by placing the checkout directly on the shopping cart. The company's solution is based on machine vision technology capable of identifying any item placed or removed from the cart and calculating it in the final payment. In this way, the cart eliminates the need for a checkout and reduces the duration of the payment process to a minimum. The WalkOut solution includes a large touch screen located on the cart and combines a personalized shopping experience with offers and promotions based on each consumer's preferences, complementary products and the location of the products in the store. The WalkOut system is modular and can be installed on existing carts in stores without the need for significant changes on the part of the store.
About Machsanei Hashuk
Machsanei Hashuk is a leading marketing chain owned and managed by the Naaman & Cohen families that was first established in 1996 in the city of Beer Sheva. The chain currently has 62 branches nationwide from Safed to Eilat. In 2019, the chain acquired Co-op, and in doing so became one of the largest leading marketing chains in Israel. Co-op branches have since been converted into "Machsanei Hashuk sheli''. The chain operates an advanced and accessible online site, in addition to its branches. It also offers its own Wincard+ credit card, in cooperation with Max, which combines regular card rewards with the chain's own promotions. Machsanei Hashuk operates a strong and active customer club with more than 400,000 loyal customers.
The chain is the official sponsor of the football team "Hapoel Machsanei Hashuk Beer-Sheva.” For more information, visit https://www.mck.co.il/
