The Friday Checkout is a weekly column providing more insight on the news, rounding up the announcements you may have missed and sharing what’s to come.
When it comes to solving long lines and labor woes at the front end, grocers have embraced self-checkout kiosks and are taking a look at innovative solutions such as smart carts, which promise a self-service experience along with some nifty retail media capabilities.
So-called “frictionless” technology, on the other hand — the futuristic, AI-enabled kind pioneered by Amazon — hasn’t made the cut. Want proof? Just ask Amazon itself. Earlier this year, the company announced it was doing away with its Just Walk Out technology at Amazon Fresh grocery stores and instead would focus on its own smart carts, known as Dash Carts.
In an interview Wednesday at Amazon headquarters in Seattle, Jon Jenkins, vice president of Just Walk Out, said the technology worked really well in Amazon Fresh stores, and actually trained the system to solve complex problems, like identifying items grabbed from self-service salad bars and by kids surfing the bottom racks of shopping carts. The problem, he said, is that Just Walk Out is a better fit for time-pressed, mission-driven shoppers — which doesn’t describe a lot of grocery customers.
So far, Just Walk Out is better suited for stadiums and airports than retail stores.
“The reason we moved out of grocery stores is really because the technology of [Dash Carts] is a better fit,” Jenkins said.
Other grocers can bring Just Walk Out technology into their stores — Amazon began selling the system four years ago — but there doesn’t seem to be much interest, judging from Jenkins comments: “If a customer came to us and they said, ‘Hey, we have a large grocery store where we want to put Just Walk Out’ and it fits the shopper use case … it’s certainly possible. Whether and when that would happen is kind of unknown.”
Does this mean frictionless checkout will never come to life in grocery stores? Not necessarily. Amazon is working hard to improve the effectiveness and bring down the cost of Just Walk Out, as exemplified by its new advanced AI model announced this week. If the price is right and benefits like shrink reduction (Just Walk Out charges shoplifters for what they take, Jenkins pointed out) continue to expand, the futuristic technology could eventually succeed in retail stores.
In case you missed it
Kroger and Albertsons have spend $864 million defending their merger
Fending off federal- and state-level efforts to squash their proposed mega-merger has proven pricey for Kroger and Albertsons.
Combined, the two companies have spent $864 million on merger-related expenses through the first quarter of this year, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, WCPO reported.
That’s roughly 3.5% of the $24.6 billion deal’s price tag and enough money to give every Kroger and Albertsons employee a $1,200 bonus, the publication noted.
Foxtrot returns from the dead
Three months after suddenly shuttering operations, the upscale convenience store chain is planning its comeback, according to a post on Foxtrot Market’s Instagram earlier this week.
“[A] group of us former Foxtrot team members are banding together to bring back the original concept. The decision to shut down Foxtrot, and to do it so abruptly, was not ours. We believe the old Foxtrot lost its way. In the unnecessary race to be the biggest, it lost sight of why it started in the first place,” the post says.
The post did not say when Foxtrot will return or with how many stores.
Tops expands Double Up Food Bucks NY program
Three of the grocery chain’s stores in the Rochester, New York, area are offering increased access to fresh and frozen food.
The Double Up Food Bucks Program will provide a $1 for $1 match on fresh and, for a limited time, frozen produce purchases, up to $5 per day, Tops Friendly Markets said. The frozen food pilot is a public-private partnership with the City of Rochester, the National Grocers Association Foundation and shopper intelligence firm Catalina. Participating customers will receive a printed coupon at checkout that they can use on a future visit.
Tops said it is the largest grocery store chain to participate in the Double Up Food Bucks program to date.
Number of the week: 7 million
That is the number of pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry items included in Boar’s Head’s expanded recall, the USDA reported Tuesday. This expansion added to the original recall announced July 26, which included more than 207,000 pounds of deli products.
What’s ahead
Earnings galore
Instacart and Grocery Outlet are each scheduled to host their second-quarter earnings calls on Tuesday after the stock market closes, while Ahold Delhaize is set to host its investor call and share results for its second quarter Wednesday morning.
Impulse find
Who will come out on Tops?
“Back by popular demand is our Tops Produce Olympics,” Jeff Cady, vice president of produce and floral for Northeast Grocery Inc., Tops Friendly Markets’ parent company, said in an announcement about the grocery chain’s own twist on the Olympic games.
Tops Produce Olympics, which has been going on for decades, puts staff members’ creativity to the test. Over the course of the games, store teams will compete in categories like Boxing with Berries, Surfing with Seedless (grapes), Cycling with Cherries and Weightlifting with Watermeons. Teams earn points for the creativity of their produce displays as well as how well they increase consumer awareness for healthy eating.
Winning store teams will receive gold, silver and bronze medals. The grocer will also give out regional awards.
