Morrisons tests aisle roaming bots to check products
Morrisons is testing out aisle-roaming "tally" robots in its stores to monitor how goods are being displayed on shelves.
Morrisons is testing out aisle-roaming “tally” robots in its stores to monitor how goods are being displayed on shelves.
The supermarket chain is trialling the robots, which are said to be the world’s first autonomous inventory bot, across its Wetherby, Redcar and Stockton stores, The Grocer reported.
The bots use computer vision and AI to independently move through supermarket aisles multiple times per day to collect data.
They can capture 15,000 to 30,000 items per hour and self-dock to a charging port when required.
The trial makes Morrisons the first UK retailer to invest in the robots.
Related Story
Morrisons said that shopper and staff feedback regarding the bots had been positive.
A spokeswoman for the supermarket noted: “They have been intrigued and curious but very positive and colleagues in particular can see how supportive Tally could be.”
Morrisons joins Sainsbury’s in using AI across its business, with the rival grocer signing a seven-year agreement with NCR Voyix in August “to help transform its shopping experience and support its Next Level Sainsbury’s business strategy”.
The deal will see Sainsbury’s roll out the digital commerce solutions firm’s checkout technology, point of sale solutions and self-checkout systems to 22,500 checkouts.
In January, John Lewis also became the first UK retailer to implement AI-powered age checks for online knife sales.
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
