Tesco has embarked on a front-of-house RFID trial that uses tags on trollies to follow shoppers around stores to monitor their behaviour.
The initiative kicked off last week at its Korean hypermarket chain, Tesco HomePlus, in collaboration with the ministry of commerce.
Information that is collected from the hi-tech trollies will be used to boost efficiency in the management of shop layout and product location.
The system, which is estimated to cost more than £100,000 per shop, enables Tesco to track and store information on customers in real time once they enter a store, including monitoring their location, their
route around the shop, the time spent in each area and how long they wait at the checkout.
German retailer Metro Group has already implemented the concept at its Future Store in Rheinberg, where it tests futuristic processes, such as automatic wireless checkouts, which are still five to 10 years away from large-scale adoption.
Tesco spokesman Greg Sage said its trial would look at what benefits RFID could bring to store layouts. “We can follow shopper patterns to see where products should be located, as well as what time of day and even what time of year products are bought.”
Meanwhile, Tesco has also begun a worldwide roll-out of its upgraded ‘Tesco in a box’ software suite, which will be the standard IT platform for all Tesco stores in the UK, Europe and Asia.
The applications, provided by software firm Retalix, include inventory management, shelf labelling, and a mobile system that can be used for receiving and counting stock, enabling staff to update information from anywhere in the store.
Tesco group IT director Colin Cobain said that the new technology would help the retailer to “improve availability and price integrity in stores across the world and will mean more staff on the shop floor serving customers”.
The system has been trialled at its Kipa hypermarkets in Turkey since June.
In further improvements to in-store systems, Tesco is attempting to improve productivity at checkouts with the introduction of new bi-optic scanners from Metrologic.
The scanners, which are being trialled at 400 till points, provide 360 degree scanning, ensuring that products can be passed over the laser in one movement. If they are successful, Tesco plans to install a further 2,000 scanners this year.
Rachel Barnes
The initiative kicked off last week at its Korean hypermarket chain, Tesco HomePlus, in collaboration with the ministry of commerce.
Information that is collected from the hi-tech trollies will be used to boost efficiency in the management of shop layout and product location.
The system, which is estimated to cost more than £100,000 per shop, enables Tesco to track and store information on customers in real time once they enter a store, including monitoring their location, their
route around the shop, the time spent in each area and how long they wait at the checkout.
German retailer Metro Group has already implemented the concept at its Future Store in Rheinberg, where it tests futuristic processes, such as automatic wireless checkouts, which are still five to 10 years away from large-scale adoption.
Tesco spokesman Greg Sage said its trial would look at what benefits RFID could bring to store layouts. “We can follow shopper patterns to see where products should be located, as well as what time of day and even what time of year products are bought.”
Meanwhile, Tesco has also begun a worldwide roll-out of its upgraded ‘Tesco in a box’ software suite, which will be the standard IT platform for all Tesco stores in the UK, Europe and Asia.
The applications, provided by software firm Retalix, include inventory management, shelf labelling, and a mobile system that can be used for receiving and counting stock, enabling staff to update information from anywhere in the store.
Tesco group IT director Colin Cobain said that the new technology would help the retailer to “improve availability and price integrity in stores across the world and will mean more staff on the shop floor serving customers”.
The system has been trialled at its Kipa hypermarkets in Turkey since June.
In further improvements to in-store systems, Tesco is attempting to improve productivity at checkouts with the introduction of new bi-optic scanners from Metrologic.
The scanners, which are being trialled at 400 till points, provide 360 degree scanning, ensuring that products can be passed over the laser in one movement. If they are successful, Tesco plans to install a further 2,000 scanners this year.
Rachel Barnes
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