Trigo powered REWE Pick&Go store in Hamburg pitched as Europe’s largest computer vision-based supermarket

REWE Group reports that a location in Hamburg launched Pick&Go for customers this week.

Powered by Trigo technology, the store, which clocks in at 1.200 square metres in floor space and features 20.000 items, is pitched as Europe’s largest computer vision-based supermarket.

It is also the first REWE Pick&Go store in northern Germany, and offers four ways to pay for purchases: cashless via Pick&Go via app; scanning and paying at the self-checkout terminal; shopping via computer vision support without scanning at the self-checkout terminal; standard payment process at the cash register.

A highlight is that the Pick&Go system now also covers the service counter for the first time.

Customers have the opportunity to purchase fresh meat, cheese and sausage products without having to wait at the checkout afterwards.

In a LinkedIn post, Anika Vooes, Chief Acceleration Manager at REWE Digital, said: “This is another example of how we master complexity with cross-functional collaboration and a dedicated team.”

“Congrats to the Pick&Go team and REWE Region North. Stay tuned - the next Hamburg store will be opening soon.”

Dusseldorf

Last month, Christoph Eltze, Chief Digital and Technology Officer at REWE Group, took to social media to discuss the Pick&Go store format landing in Düsseldorf, Germany, and how this marked the start of a new test phase for its autonomous shopping experience.

In a LinkedIn post, he said: “This is because we are constantly working on responding more and more flexibly to the needs of our customers, including with our Pick&Go innovation. For the first time in Düsseldorf, we are relying on the principle of four wins.”

Customers in Düsseldorf can decide at the exit of the store which shopping route they want to take, choosing between four options: Cashierless payment via the Pick&Go app; manual scanning of products at the self-checkout terminal; payment at the conventional tape cash register; or payment at self-checkout terminals with computer vision support, which eliminates the need for scanning.

Eltze said: “Computer vision-based shopping at the self-checkout terminal is a real game changer: For the first time, we enable our customers to display a virtual shopping cart at the self-checkout terminal – while they are still in the store.”

“This works with the tried and tested Pick&Go technology, which was previously reserved exclusively for Pick&Go app users. Now all customers benefit from the technology and can shop and pay even more flexibly and according to their individual wishes.”

REWE Group has put check-out at the self-checkout terminal through its paces in Berlin and Düsseldorf and will also soon move this into its autonomous Pick&Go store in Munich.

It is also looking at making it possible to display the virtual shopping cart during shopping in the Pick&Go app. This gives app users an even better overview of their cashierless purchase.

Eltze concluded: “It is clear that even with projects that have enormous innovation potential right from the start, we do not tire and use the knowledge gained from the previous test phases to further develop and help shape the procurement of the future.”

“Finally, a big thank you goes to the Pick&Go project team and to our colleagues in the Düsseldorf market who are accompanying the new Pick&Go test phase live on site.”

“You guys are doing a great job! We would also like to thank our partner Trigo for providing us with the necessary computer vision technology for Pick&Go.”

In addition to REWE, Trigo’s solutions have been deployed with Tesco in the UK, Aldi Nord in The Netherlands, Netto Marken-Discount (also known as Netto) in Munich, Israel’s Shufersal, and Wakefern Food Corp., the largest retailer owned cooperative in the US.