AiFi: Aldi’s Choice for Going Cashierless

In Sep 2021, Aldi UK and Ireland announced a technology trial at a new London-based concept store.  After several months of testing by Aldi colleagues, the Aldi Shop & Go concept store in Greenwich opened on January 18th, 2022 for the public.

Aldi, the supermarket giant from Germany, has not only become the U.K.’s fifth-largest supermarket, but also a front runner in the rollout of checkout-free retail.

Aldi Shop & Go

The new Aldi Shop & Go store is located on Greenwich High Street. It offers a seamless Cashierless shopping experience, which saves the customers from waiting in line for the checkout.

Shoppers can enter the store by scanning their Aldi Shop & Go app.  In-store cameras will capture the products that the customers pick up or return to the shelf. They can simply walk out after the shopping. Payment will be charged automatically to the preferred payment method. Shoppers get their receipt through the App minutes after the purchase.

The whole system behind the new concept shop is provided by AiFi.

The Development of AiFi

AiFi is a Californian startup founded by Steve Gu and Ying Zheng in 2016. With PhDs in computer science and contributions to some of the most well-known Apple and Google technology, they are determined to make AI as accessible as AiFi by bringing it to the retail industry.

AiFi started its first partnership with Carrefour in 2018.

In 2019, the team revealed their NanoStore concept in NRF (National Retail Federation) show in New York. A NanoStore is about the size of a parking spot. It is a fully automated convenience store that can be dropped in the parking lot of a shopping mall, office complex, college campus, or virtually anywhere there is space, including indoors. It is a bit of a cross between a convenience store and a vending machine.

Zabka, the convenience store chain in Polan partnered up with AiFi in 2019 and one year later decided to roll out 100 stores in 2021.

In 2021, AiFi debuts the largest hybrid unmanned store AiGo in Shanghai, which is 4000 sq. ft and offers 6000 SKUs.

Till today, AiFi has offered its solution to many big names in the market: Carrefour, Choice Market, Loop, Morrisons, and more.

The OASIS Platform

Oasis (Orchestrated Autonomous Store Infrastructure & Services) is the name of AiFi’s platform. It uses machine learning and computer vision to enable autonomous stores at any location.

Most Cashierless solutions require an App for entry. Oasis offers the option to shop with both App or credit card. Receipts can be sent to the App or an Email address.

It can integrate with the store’s existing inventory program. Hardware includes cameras, no shelves. AI-powered machine learning is trained to recognize tens of thousands of SKUs with pinpoint accuracy at 99%.

An there´s even more

AiFi also offers electronic shelf labels. It displays the right price in the right place, every time. Digital labels instantly update when a store changes its pricing or planogram.

With its backend store analytics, stores can find the optimal inventory mix for each location, end stockouts, and lower costs across the board. The system also generates a to-do list for staff automatically, which allows the employees to focus on customer service and draw more revenues.

AiFi has won over many retailers’ trust in the last several years. Its NanoStore concept added a new form to the autonomous retail industry. A NanoStore requires no staff and can stay open 24 hours a day. AiFi has no doubt become an interesting addition to the Cashierless technology market.