The Israeli tech helping to bring about frictionless shopping
As Tesco opens its first till-less store, the marketing director of Trigo, the Tel Aviv-based company behind the innovation explains why this is a win-win for everyone
Tesco’s first checkout-free store opened in London last month powered by Israeli technology.
Shoppers at the supermarket’s GetGo store in Holborn can now buy groceries without the need to scan them or visit a till. They just “walk out” and the receipt is sent digitally within seconds.
The technology has been developed by Trigo. Headquartered in Tel Aviv and founded by brothers Michael and Daniel Gabay, Trigo provides grocery stores with ‘frictionless’ checkout and digitised solutions.
Shay Ziv, Trigo’s director of marketing, believes automated checkout is the future of retail. He says: “Retailers are realising this. Now that we have big players such as Tesco, REWE and Aldi adopting these new systems, this will provide enough data and evidence to prove the benefits of seamless
shopping.
“It won’t be long before all major retailers are jumping on the wagon and adapting their operational model.”
The Holborn store is Trigo’s second with Tesco, following a trial of a similar one in the retailer’s head office in Welwyn Garden City, and is indicative of the way the industry is heading. Amazon Fresh now has six “just walk out” stores in London, having initially rolled out the technology in 2018 in the US.
Trigo’s ‘EasyOut’ works like this: Shoppers download the Tesco.com app scanning a QR code to check in to the store. Cameras in the ceiling and weight sensors in the shelves work with AI technology to track an individual’s movement around the store, monitoring the items they pick up. The bill is charged to their Tesco account and the receipt sent to their device within 30 seconds. Trigo’s GDPR-compliant AI solution anonymises a shopper’s movement and product choice. No biometric or facial recognition data are gathered or analysed.
The Tesco partnership is an important milestone for Trigo, and for the retail industry as a whole.
Ziv says: “There’s no doubt cutting-edge tech is paving the way for the future of retail, but digital transformation takes time. However, once the initial stores have been converted, the process will become faster and easier.
“We are confident seamless shopping is the future of retail – after all, efficiency is a positive thing for everyone.”
Trigo was founded in 2018 with a simple mission: To accelerate the digitisation of store spaces transforming traditional shopping into a new-and-improved seamless experience.
“Michael and Daniel saw that the checkout element in shopping became a pain point within the grocery retail experience,” explains Ziv. Trigo addresses these, reshaping existing supermarkets into efficient, fully autonomous digital superstores.”
The company, which has raised $104 million (£77m) to date, is operational in supermarket chain REWE, in Germany, Aldi Nord in the Netherlands and now Tesco, with plans to expand into other European locations in the coming months.
CEO Michael Gabay has more than 15 years of experience leading technology development groups, and managing dozens of cutting- edge, multidisciplinary research projects in the intelligence corps of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
..our solution reduces physical contact and enables a safe, secure and streamlined shopping experience that’s a win-win for retailers and consumers. Where there is demand, supply will meet it. We aim to be at the forefront of these innovations.
Daniel is the CTO and chief scientist behind all of Trigo’s key breakthroughs and inventions in computer vision and machine learning. He managed key scientific projects in the IDF and mastered the elite Talpiot programme, gaining various degrees in math and physics.
Ziv, who joined Trigo last year, has nearly a decade of experience in designing and building disrupting products and go-to-market strategies. He has worked in key positions at BDO consulting group, Designit and KIK Interactive. He says the Covid pandemic has “absolutely” highlighted the need for seamless checkouts.
“The health crisis has created intense pressure to implement technologies that will do away with lines and crowding,” he explains. “There has been a sharp increase in demand for smart/contactless check-out systems and seamless shopping solutions.
“Ultimately, our solution reduces physical contact and enables a safe, secure and streamlined shopping experience that’s a win-win for retailers and consumers. Where there is demand, supply will meet it. We aim to be at the forefront of these innovations.”
How long before all physical retailers have a seamless automated checkout? “It’s hard to say, but not long,” he reckons. “The next step is a widespread use of autonomous in combination of hybrid supermarkets offering both traditional and seamless checkout systems.
“As this shift becomes more prevalent, customers will be more familiar with these new shopping techniques and more inclined to adapt to them, and retailers will be ready to meet this change in demand with solutions such as ours.”
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