Tel Aviv, Israel – WalkOut, developer of an autonomous end-to-end checkout platform, bolsters retail chains with a frictionless alternative checkout system that mounts on top of existing carts and baskets, transforming them into smart points of sale. By utilizing machine vision to identify each item placed into or removed from the cart, WalkOut’s smart cart reduces customer checkout inefficiencies and boosts convenience.
Grocery stores of all sizes are always seeking ways to improve the customer experience and cut costs. Measures stores take often include the integration of technologies to, for instance, reduce waste and speed up the checkout process. First, stores began utilizing self-checkout. Now, the smart cart has become the next-generation technology. Smart carts, however, can cost retailers between $5,000-10,000 per unit, according to Prof. Sylvain Charlebois at Canada’s Dalhousie University—and that’s without accounting for the additional infrastructural costs of integrating them. WalkOut tackles the issue by offering an alternative, more cost-accessible solution for smart carts, cutting labor costs, and reducing checkout times to zero.
WalkOut’s smart cart-based technology utilizes machine learning, multiple cameras, and computer vision technology in order to identify items in real-time as shoppers collect their items. Through a large touchscreen on the cart, it also communicates with the customer to offer personalized preferences, store navigation, supplementary product information, and relevant promotions, based on the shopper’s history and location in the store. Unlike other solutions, it doesn’t rely on barcode scanning or the weighing of chosen products through an embedded scale, but rather identifies them through computer vision in order to make registering items much more seamless. Because WalkOut’s technology can be mounted on top of existing shopping carts or baskets, no costly infrastructural changes to the store are required. This improves customer insight and interaction for businesses and significantly removes the burden of item errors and costly installations, maximizing value for customers while bridging the gap between online and offline shopping.
“We’re different from the smart carts that you’ve seen emerge recently, in that our solution only uses computer vision,” says Assaf Gedalia, CEO and CoFounder of WalkOut. “This enables us to really pragmatize the smart shopping experience, by maximizing value for customers through personalized engagement and streamlining the experience, while keeping it as easily implementable as possible for budding retail chains.”
Recently, the company completed a round of funding raising $2 million from notable investors including Ariel Maislos, who has also joined the board at WalkOut. Investment also came in from Neilsen, Ehud Weinstein, Co-founder & Chairman at Tensera Networks, and Leiman Schlussel, one of the largest local food distributors.
About WalkOut
Founded in 2018, WalkOut is focused on changing the way consumers make purchases in the physical world by moving the checkout directly to the user’s shopping cart or basket. The company’s solution uses machine vision to identify each item placed into or removed from the cart, eliminating unnecessary effort and reducing checkout time to zero. WalkOut’s solution includes a large touchscreen on the cart, which offers personalized content such as suggestions and promotions based on past behavior and the products selected, store navigation, supplementary product information, and more. In addition, because WalkOut’s solution can be added to existing shopping carts, no major changes to the store are required. For more information, please visit https://walkout.co/
