Large supermarkets implement AI cameras: what they monitor in stores.

According to The Sun: A large supermarket is testing new cameras with artificial intelligence technology that monitor shelves and help solve stock issues.

Asda has chosen five stores in different regions, and these 'modern' cameras can even detect expired products.

The retailer is working with Focal Systems, whose cameras check shelves for product availability, shortages, insufficient quantities, and incorrect placements every hour.

Mini-robots are placed on shelves and can monitor about eight feet of display space.

Kevin Johnson, CEO of Focal Systems, told The Grocer:

“Breakthroughs in deep learning in computer vision have allowed for accurate identification of products, shelf conditions, and anomalies in complex and dynamic retail environments.”

He also noted that data from the cameras will be processed on-site, making the usual 'lengthy process' fully automated.

On Tuesday, Asda shoppers faced supply disruptions and online delivery issues due to a £1 billion IT upgrade.

This upgrade, known as “Project Future”, is one of the largest IT transformations in Europe and has caused problems with product availability in stores and online.

Allan Leighton, executive chairman of Asda, acknowledged that the scale of the upgrade – affecting stores, warehouses, and offices – creates certain difficulties expected to last until the end of September.

He emphasized that this has led to

“temporary issues with product availability”

There were also difficulties with online deliveries.

These disruptions are likely to affect sales across the supermarket chain for three months until the end of September.

Morrisons paves the way

Asda is also following the example of Morrisons, which has already installed Focal Systems cameras in over 498 supermarkets.

This is reported to have improved product availability for customers by more than two percent.

The cameras help supermarket staff replenish stock of items that are running low.

Waitrose has also joined this trend and is testing the technology in its Bracknell store.

Tesco and Sainsburys have equipped their self-checkouts with cameras that replay the last movement of shoppers if the item was not scanned properly.

Concerns about AI

However, not everyone embraces the implementation of AI in supermarkets enthusiastically.

One shopper compared the cameras at self-checkouts to VAR, joking:

“VAR Decision – Tuna Disallowed,”

“Clearly offside,” – added another commenter.

However, on Bluesky, one user asked:

“What’s next? Drones following you around the store?”

On Facebook, one user stated they would avoid self-checkouts after the implementation of this technology.

But some believe it might ease the workload for staff.

One Tesco employee shared with the BBC that they were glad to see AI assistance in the store:

“I work at the self-checkout for Tesco and feel like a security guard,”

“The pay is low, and then there's the self-checkouts to manage. Often I oversee 10 self-checkout stations while two people manage the manual checkouts,” – he added, emphasizing that many customers try to game the system.

Technologies to combat theft

Theft in UK supermarkets rose by 20 percent in 2024 – a record figure.

The British Retail Consortium reported that 20.4 million thefts occurred in the year leading up to September, which is 3.7 million more than the previous year.

In April this year, Asda received thousands of complaints regarding facial recognition technology.

The testing of the technology has been described as

“Orwellian”

“excessively disproportionate and horrific”

A two-day trial period of the technology began in stores in Ashton, Chadderton, Eastland, Hapurtsy, and Trafford Park starting March 31.

The privacy protection organization Big Brother Watch labeled the use of technology by supermarkets as

“excessively disproportionate and horrific”

Senior lawyer Madeleine Stone noted:

“Facial recognition turns shoppers into suspects, subjecting customers wandering through supermarket aisles to a series of biometric identity checks.”

She expressed concern over the unregulated use of technologies in the UK:

“It has well-known accuracy and bias issues, and has already led to troubling incidents where innocent shoppers have been branded as thieves.”

Asda claims that testing the technology aims to enhance the safety of both staff and customers and combat retail crime.

The retailer emphasized that last year there were around 1,400 attacks on Asda workers, averaging four per day.

The Sun reached out to Asda for comments.

The implementation of artificial intelligence technologies in retail is becoming increasingly relevant; however, new challenges related to ethics and privacy also arise. In the context of rising theft, retailers are turning to the latest technologies to ensure safety and security of goods.

But changes in management systems can lead to significant disruptions in operations, as seen with Asda. It is important to monitor the further steps of these companies and customers' reactions to new technologies.