Woolworths to roll-out new digital AI scales in fruit and vegetable sections

Shoppers will soon notice a change in the fruit and vegetable aisle of all Woolworths supermarkets, with the grocery giant saying it will help customers to budget better.

Shoppers will soon notice a major change to the fruit and vegetable section of Woolworths supermarkets.

The supermarket giant is introducing new artificially intelligent scales that it says will help customers manage their budgets by offering a quick and convenient reading of the weight of their fresh produce.

The new Tiliter scales will also be placed at a lower height to ensure that customers with special needs, especially those using wheelchairs, will be able to access them easily.

Up to six scales will be placed in the fruit and vegetable section of stores, and will replace the analogue convenience scales. The scales will allow customers to get an accurate digital reading of the weight of their produce prior to them being scanned at check-out.

A handful of stores is currently testing out the new technology before it is progressively rolled out to all of Woolworths’ more than 1000 supermarkets.

Stream more business news live & on demand with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends 31 October, 2022 >

Woolworths shoppers will avoid any checkout surprises as the supermarket chain brings in new hi-tech scales for fresh produce. Photograph Dallas KIlponen/Woolworths

“These scales will help provide a better in-store shopping experience for our customers through both accessibility and convenience,” Woolworths’ head of business solutions for customer, retail and emerging concepts Sailesh Shankar said.

“We’ll listen closely to customer and team member feedback on the project over the coming months.”

Tiliter is an Australian founded tech company that makes AI and computer vision products for retailers, and the trial comes off the back of its partnership with Woolworths for its Scan & Go program in 2020.

“The rollout of Tiliter AI Scales across Woolworths nationwide is making the future of retail a reality,” Tiliter chief executive officer Marcel Herz said:

“With this partnership, a growing number of Australian shoppers now have the opportunity to use innovative AI technology in an everyday setting, as naturally and seamlessly as they would their smartphones.

“With this type of technology capable of expanding across e-commerce, this is only the beginning.”