Standard Cognition, an AI-powered solution provider that offers autonomous checkout technology to brick-and-mortar retailers, has partnered with Mars Wrigley in an effort to learn how to keep “impulse shoppers” buying when there is no checkout.
The Standard Cognition solution is designed to let consumers shop and pay for goods without waiting in a line, scanning or stopping to check out. While the company partners with retailers by implementing the technology in their brick-and-mortar stores, it also operates a cashierless store of its own in San Francisco that sells a mix of food, cleaning supplies and general household and convenience store items.
Mars, the global manufacturer of chocolate, chewing gum, pet food, mints and other confectionery goods, sought to collaborate with Standard Cognition in order to bring retailers new recommendations on how to design stores that could balance operational and cost efficiency with shopper satisfaction.
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During the initial phase of the partnership, Standard and Mars will educate each other on their respective capabilities across technology, share shopper journey insights and lay out how impulse-driven merchandise fits in a cashierless store.
In October, Standard Cognition acquired DeepMagic, a startup that develops autonomous retail kiosks. The DeepMagic technology complements the Standard Cognition offering, letting customers swipe a payment card when entering a store, pick up items that are detected by cameras and walk out while having their card charged. To date, Standard Cognition has raised $86 million, raising $35 million in July and having a post-funding valuation of $535 million.
Standard Cognition is setting itself up as an alternative to the Amazon Go cashierless model, with a system that requires light-touch installation via ceiling cameras and the ability to accommodate any existing store layout. The company has committed to not leveraging facial recognition or biometrics in order to comply with global privacy regulations, but it does use the data it collects to provide insights to retail customers.