Diebold Nixdorf has equipped the new Edeka Beckesepp store in Waltershofen, Germany, with self-service checkouts featuring its smart vision technology for automated fruit and vegetable recognition and age verification.

This makes the checkout process easier for shoppers while reducing the number of employee interactions required at the self-service checkouts, giving them more time for direct customer service and daily tasks in the store.

With Vynamic fresh produce recognition (www.dieboldnixdorf.com/en-us/retail/portfolio/software/self-service/vynamic-self-service/fresh-produce-recognition), shoppers can easily and correctly capture products without barcodes, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, directly at the self-service checkout. A camera on top of the scale, combined with algorithms, identifies items and their quantities, which are then shown on the display. This eliminates the manual selection of fresh produce for customers or weighing and affixing a price label in the fresh produce section.

The Vynamic age verification (www.dieboldnixdorf.com/en-us/retail/portfolio/software/self-service/vynamic-self-service/age-verification) allows Edeka to check the age of shoppers automatically. Thus, the purchase of age-restricted items such as alcoholic beverages can be approved at the self-service checkout during the day. When an age-restricted item is scanned, shoppers are given the option to opt for automatic age recognition. Once consent is given, a camera installed in the system analyses facial characteristics using AI algorithms to determine their age. The transaction can be continued if the age is above a predefined threshold.

The attendants in the store during daytime operations only have to check those who fall below this age limit or opt out of automatic age recognition. This system is GDPR-compliant as the process does not involve facial recognition, nor does it store images or other customer information.

If shoppers wish to purchase age-restricted items outside of the daytime opening hours, access to the store happens via an ID card, which then authorises them to make the purchase.

“When planning the new store, it was important for us to fulfil our role as a local supplier and combine customer convenience with optimum staff deployment,” said Johannes Ruf, owner of Edeka Beckesepp. “While the self-service checkouts also allow us to operate at night, the two AI-based options minimise two of the most frequently cited hurdles that customers mention when using self-service: The lengthy search for the right item when registering fresh goods and the personal interaction for the purchase of age-restricted goods.”

The store is in a combined residential and commercial building. On around 920 square metres, customers are offered a central, inner-city local supply. In addition to daytime operations, the store will operate without staff from 6pm to midnight to allow flexible shopping times. Edeka Beckesepp is already planning to equip additional stores with the self-service and AI technology from Diebold Nixdorf.

“Edeka Beckesepp is another excellent example of how our self-checkout and AI technologies support retailers in implementing modern store concepts,” said Leyla Feghhi, head of retail sales in the Dach region at Diebold Nixdorf. “Consumers can shop at a time and in a way that suits them best and benefit from a faster and more intuitive process at the self-service checkouts, which makes them less dependent on staff on site. With our first-class services, we also ensure our technology is always ready to use.”

Firmly rooted in the region, Edeka Beckesepp (www.beckesepp.de) has been relying on tradition for over 125 years, always moving with the times. With the opening in Waltershofen, owner Johannes Ruf operates ten supermarkets with bakery stores in service or self-service as well as four separate bakeries with cafés in Freiburg and the surrounding area.

Ohio-based Diebold Nixdorf (www.dieboldnixdorf.com) automates, digitises and transforms the way people bank and shop. As a partner to most of the world’s top 100 financial institutions and top 25 global retailers, its products connect digital and physical channels securely and efficiently for millions of consumers each day. The company has a presence in more than 100 countries with approximately 21,000 employees worldwide.