Cantaloupe Adds ‘Smart Aisles’ to Self-Service Commerce Stable

Self-service commerce company Cantaloupe is debuting new products designed to promote frictionless retail.

Among the firm’s new offerings announced Monday (May 5) is the Smart Aisle, which Cantaloupe describes as a “24/7 frictionless retail experience” that — in lieu of a human worker — uses 3D cameras, artificial intelligence (AI) and weighted shelf technology to analyze motion and track transactions.

Customers provide a payment method to enter the space, and then collect items which are added to a virtual card. Shoppers verify their cart before exiting, with the transaction completed and payment method charged as they leave.

“As consumer expectations continue to evolve, we’re seeing a clear demand for smarter, more seamless retail experiences,” said Elyssa Steiner, Cantaloupe’s chief marketing officer. “What we are highlighting with the Smart Aisle, and across our entire solution set, is that we’re helping operators meet those expectations and unlock new revenue opportunities in any location.”

The company says it will showcase these products this week at the National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA) Show in Las Vegas, scheduled for May 7 to May 9.

PYMNTS spoke with Cantaloupe’s Steiner last month about consumer expectations for 24/7 convenience in their retailer purchases.

“Among the key things for retailers to think about is how to give access to those customers anytime and anywhere — and self-service really meets that demand,” Steiner said.

Self-service retail also has the advantage of helping merchants deal effectively with operating pressures such as labor shortages, she added.

Although self-service retail might call up images of kiosks in pharmacies and grocery stores, Steiner told PYMNTS the concept also involves automation in inventory management and underpins the emergence of “smart stores” being offered by companies such as hers.

“There’s the blend of the physical with the digital,” she said, most obviously in the locked cabinets that contained goods that are tendered when a customer taps their card at a 10-inch point-of-sale screen. Every transaction at Smart Stores is cashless and carried out using cards or digital wallets on mobile devices.

At a high level, Smart Stores allow for better inventory management and the ability to test new offerings on the fly, Steiner said. Technicians can “swap” rows within the machines to hold different items, while also recalibrating the weights and sensors to test new merchandise strategies.