Soracom, a technology company delivering cloud-native connectivity and AI integration services for the IoT, has created a smart, AI-driven store management system for Japanese supermarket chain Coop Sapporo.

Coop Sapporo sought to improve store operations by maintaining well-stocked shelves while reducing waste from unsold fresh items such as vegetables, meats and bento boxes. Its goal was to balance product availability and freshness without overstocking.

To achieve this, Coop Sapporo deployed Soracom’s cloud camera services (Sora-cam) in stores to capture images of product shelves continuously. Using Soracom Flux, an AI and IoT application development environment, Coop Sapporo built a custom analytics system that automatically analyses these images to determine shelf display ratios, which essentially measures how full or empty is a display area. When Flux detects a low shelf ratio, it triggers alerts to store staff to restock items. And, if too many fresh bento boxes remain close to closing time, the system notifies staff to apply discount stickers to reduce food loss and move inventory before it expires.

With Soracom Flux, Coop Sapporo was able to develop and deploy rapidly a camera-based AI system using a low-code, web-based interface without hiring outside developers.

It leveraged pre-built templates and integrated devices easily for image-based analytics. And it gained actionable insights in real time, helping staff make quick operational decisions.

The goal was to increase profitability and reduce food waste, turning sustainability efforts into measurable financial benefits.

The combination of Sora-cam and Soracom Flux (developers.soracom.io/en/docs/flux/) enabled Coop Sapporo (www.sapporo.coop) to improve efficiency, sustainability and customer satisfaction, all while lowering the technical barrier to adopting AI and IoT in retail.

For more on Soracom, visit soracom.io.