For the first time, customers now also have the option of displaying the virtual shopping basket recorded using computer vision. In the future, this will also be integrated into the Pick&Go app. REWE is thus further expanding its pioneering role in the German food retail sector.

18.000 items on around 750 square metres of sales space, plus vending machines, a fresh food counter, a sushi range and extended payment options: This is what the REWE store at Wehrhahn offers. Entering, packing, leaving - as it suits you, customisable for every purchase: with REWE Pick&Go, purchases are recorded securely and with minimal data using state-of-the-art camera and sensor technology and, if desired, automatically settled after leaving the store without a checkout process. With a sales area of around 750 square metres, the REWE store at Wehrhahn has a range of around 18,000 items, deposit machines, a fresh food counter, a sushi selection and extended payment options.

After the store reopened following the remodelling and installation of the technology, interest in the new technology was high right from the start: "Our many regular customers in particular were really looking forward to the new start and were immediately very interested in the new payment options. We then opened the test to everyone much earlier. It was also an exciting time for us at the store. More and more people are using Pick&Go and self-checkout without scanning has quickly become very popular. The traditional checkout also still has plenty of friends - this is sometimes decided spontaneously in the checkout area and that's perfectly fine," explains store manager Lukas Pyka.

New payment option no longer just for checked-in Pick&Go app users
With the launch of the test store in Düsseldorf, REWE is taking the next logical step towards computer vision support in supermarkets. This is made possible by the technology already tested in the Pick&Go stores in Cologne, Berlin and Munich, which was previously reserved exclusively for Pick&Go app users.

Previously, the system differentiated between checked-in users and non-users. From now on, all customers in Düsseldorf can decide how they want to pay and leave the store while shopping. If they use the new computer vision-assisted shopping at the self-checkout terminal, all they have to do is click on "Show my shopping basket" and the virtual shopping basket they have entered is prepared and displayed. Any incorrect products can then be removed or missing products rescanned. Customers only have to pay at the terminal in the conventional way. When using the Pick&Go app at the exit, this trip to the terminal and the manual payment process are no longer necessary.

Computer vision-supported payment at the self-checkout terminal in Berlin was trialled for several months before being used in the newly opened store in Düsseldorf. A corresponding terminal will soon be integrated into the Munich store in order to expand the service here as well.

Convenient, simple and fast but secure
Data protection was and is a central aspect in the development and operation of the system: the images captured by customers are processed in a data-saving manner and are used exclusively to enable checkout-free shopping in a hybrid store. The system only records data to recognise which products are taken out or put back. There is no facial recognition, nor can the system recognise customers after a visit to the store.
The jobs in Düsseldorf will also remain secure despite the technology: As is usual for stores of this size, around 30 employees work at the Wehrhahn store.

International technology partnership
REWE is working on this project with Trigo Vision Ltd, a company specialising in computer vision technology. Trigo's solution creates a 3D model of a supermarket to digitally map the environment and movements within it, allowing customers to select items and walk out with them while protecting their privacy.