Sensei opens second autonomous supermarket in Italy

Portugal’s Sensei, a leading European provider of autonomous store technology, is strengthening its presence in the Italian market with the opening of the country’s second autonomous supermarket.

Located in Trento, the TuDay Prendi & Vai (Grab and Go) store aims to offer a faster and more convenient shopping experience without the need to queue or scan the products.

This is the second time Sensei has teamed up with the DAO cooperative, which manages Italy’s leading retail brand, Conad, in the provinces of Trento, Bolzano, Vicenza and Verona. It comes just six months after the opening of the first store in Verona. Since opening, that store has been visited by more than 90,000 people.

Thanks to Sensei technology, TuDay Prendi & Vai allows customers to simply enter the store, pick up the products they want, and leave, without having to go through a checkout or wait in line to pay. Even though the experience is entirely tech-based, there is always a member of trained staff on hand to help customers with this innovative shopping experience.

Along with the removal of entrance barriers to facilitate access, the new store offers customers the opportunity to check their shopping cart virtually, updated in real time, before leaving the store. At the payment terminal, after passing the cart through, customers can choose to pay by card or use the TuDay - Prendi & Vai app, instantly receiving their shopping receipt. The time lapse between the customer reaching the terminal and leaving the store is currently less than one minute.

Sensei technology also allows the store to offer an extensive product range (more than 2,000 products) so customers can find the same brands that they would in a more conventional supermarket. This includes products with a variable weight, such as fresh produce and bakery items, which benefit from automated communication between the weighing scales and the store’s IT system.

Vasco Portugal, co-founder and CEO of Sensei said: “The opening of a new store is always a matter of pride, but the opening of a second store is a historic moment for Sensei. This milestone marks the start of our expansion in Italy and underlines the convenience and practicality of our technology, above and beyond simple enthusiasm for technological processes.

“We are privileged to have DAO as our partner and fellow pioneer in the expansion of autonomous supermarkets in Italy, and we thank them for their confidence in us and their collaboration in another key chapter in the history of retail in Italy. We’re looking forward to the future with great excitement”.

Sensei technology is based on computer vision, sensors and AI algorithms. As well as removing the need to scan products and streamlining the payment process, it helps the retailer to better understand their customers’ shopping habits and adapt their stock accordingly.

While preserving customer anonymity, the store can identify every product removed from the shelves, creating a virtual shopping cart for each user. The customer is free to put the products wherever they like (a bag, a backpack or even in their pockets) or even return a product to the shelf, since the system recognises the action and immediately deletes those items from the virtual cart.

At the end, on leaving the store, the customer simply needs to present their bank card or show the QR code of the app associated with a payment method.