Nancy Mann Jackson explains how technology and robotics are positioned to take grocery shopping to the next level.

Earlier this year, Walmart unveiled its Alphabot robotic system, an automated system that is set to revolutionise grocery order fulfillment by enabling quicker, more efficient order picking. Operating inside a 20,000‐square‐foot warehousestyle space, Alphabot uses autonomous carts to retrieve ambient, refrigerated and frozen items ordered online for grocery pickup. After it retrieves the items, Alphabot delivers the products to a workstation, where a Walmart associate checks, bags and delivers the final order.

Alphabot merges e‐commerce and brick and mortar methods of serving customers, and it may be a harbinger of things to come. ‘By assembling and delivering orders to associates, Alphabot is streamlining the order process, allowing associates to do their jobs with greater speed and efficiency,’ says Brian Roth, Walmart's senior manager of pickup automation and digital operations. ‘Ultimately, this will lower dispense times, increase accuracy, and improve the entirety of online grocery. And it will help free associates to focus on service and selling, while the technology handles the more mundane, repeatable tasks.

As customers continue to demand e‐commerce options, the online grocery order business is expected to continue growing – especially in the new reality of social distancing to help avoid the novel coronavirus that causes COVID‐19. As grocers attempt to ride out the current pandemic, as well as meet customers’ expectations into the future, automated technologies, such as Alphabot, will help them keep up.

For example, according to research from McKinsey, retailers are experiencing increasing margin pressure as a result of intense competition and investments in e‐commerce. Typically, grocery retailers are facing 100 to 150 basis points of margin pressure. ‘While cost pressures are not new, many retailers have already exhausted traditional cost‐reduction levers,’ the researchers wrote in the report – Automation in retail: An executive overview for getting ready. ‘Unable to pass on costs to their customers in this hypercompetitive environment, retailers are using automation to support and bolster margins.

Generally, automation technologies are available to close the gap, but most grocery retailers are not ready to deploy all the technologies that could improve their margins. McKinsey researchers’ assessment of available automation technologies shows that a typical grocery store could already operate with up to 55%–65% fewer staff hours. Those technologies include electronic shelf‐edge labels, self‐checkout terminals, shelf‐scanning robots and partially automated backroom unloading.

Few food retailers are prepared to completely overhaul their business models to accommodate available technologies, but many, like Walmart, are taking steps towards increased automation. For instance, in 2018, Kroger launched Kroger Edge, digital shelves that display prices, nutrition facts, coupons and video ads, which can all be updated from a central source. The plan is to eventually link the shelves to shoppers’ smartphones to allow for more personalisation.

And in February, Amazon rolled out its first large grocery store with Amazon ‘Go’ technology, which allows grocery shopping without any checkout procedures. The store uses computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning technologies to allow customers to truly ‘grab and go,’ with no checkout lines or cashiers. The technology automatically detects when products are taken from or returned to the shelves and keeps track of them in each shopper's virtual cart. Shoppers’ Amazon accounts are charged for purchases when they exit the store. While the new store, located in Seattle, is the first full‐size grocery store of its type – spanning more than 10,000 square feet – the company was already operating 25 Amazon Go convenience stores with the same concept.

Ideal for the age of social distancing, Amazon's touchless system will eventually be available for other retailers to use in their stores. The company aims to use its Seattle grocery store to showcase the technology and how it works for other retailers who may be interested. A variety of different revenue models have been discussed, including a fixed licensing fee or a revenue‐sharing agreement.

南希·曼·杰克逊（Nancy Mann Jackson）解释了如何利用技术和机器人技术将杂货店购物推向新的高度。

今年早些时候，沃尔玛推出了其Alphabot机器人系统，这是一种自动化系统，旨在通过实现更快，更高效的拣选来彻底改变杂货店的订单履行。Alphabot在一个20,000平方英尺的仓库式空间内运行，使用自动推车来检索网上订购的环境，冷藏和冷冻物品，以用于杂货店提货。取回物品后，Alphabot将产品运送到工作站，沃尔玛员工在此检查，装箱并运送最终订单。

Alphabot结合了电子商务和实体服务客户的方法，这可能预示着未来的事情。沃尔玛皮卡自动化和数字化业务高级经理布莱恩·罗斯说：“通过组装并向员工交付订单，Alphabot简化了订单流程，使员工能够更快，更高效地完成工作。” 最终，这将减少分配时间，提高准确性，并改善整个在线杂货店。它将帮助自由员工专注于服务和销售，同时该技术可以处理更普通，可重复的任务。

随着客户继续要求电子商务选项，在线食品杂货订购业务预计将继续增长-特别是在社交疏散的新现实中，这有助于避免引起COVID-19的新型冠状病毒。随着杂货商试图摆脱当前的大流行并满足客户对未来的期望，自动化技术（例如Alphabot）将帮助他们跟上潮流。

例如，根据麦肯锡（McKinsey）的研究，由于激烈的竞争和对电子商务的投资，零售商正面临越来越大的利润压力。通常，杂货零售商面临100至150个基点的保证金压力。研究人员在报告“零售自动化：准备工作的执行概述”中写道：“虽然成本压力并不新鲜，但许多零售商已经用尽了传统的降低成本手段。” 在这种竞争异常激烈的环境中，零售商无法将成本转移给客户，因此零售商正在使用自动化来支持和提高利润。

通常，可以使用自动化技术来缩小差距，但是大多数杂货店零售商还没有准备好部署所有可以提高利润的技术。麦肯锡研究人员对可用自动化技术的评估表明，一家典型的杂货店可以减少多达55％–65％的工作时间。这些技术包括电子货架边缘标签，自助结账终端，货架扫描机器人和部分自动的后室卸货。

很少有食品零售商愿意彻底改革其业务模型以适应可用技术，但是许多零售商（如沃尔玛）正在采取措施提高自动化程度。例如，在2018年，克罗格（Kroger）推出了Kroger Edge，这是一个数字货架，可显示价格，营养成分，优惠券和视频广告，所有这些都可以从中央来源进行更新。该计划最终将货架连接到购物者的智能手机，以实现更多个性化。

2月，亚马逊推出了首家采用亚马逊“围棋”技术的大型杂货店，该技术使杂货店购物无需任何结帐程序。该商店使用计算机视觉，传感器融合和深度学习技术，使客户能够真正“抢走”，而无需结账行或收银员。该技术会自动检测何时从货架上取走产品或将产品退还到货架上，并在每个购物者的虚拟购物车中对其进行跟踪。购物者的亚马逊帐户在离开商店时向购买收取费用。虽然这家新店位于西雅图，是此类商店中第一家全尺寸的杂货店，面积超过10,000平方英尺，但该公司已经经营了25家具有相同概念的Amazon Go便利店。

亚马逊的非接触式系统最终将成为社交疏散时代的理想之选，其他零售商可以在其商店中使用它们。该公司旨在利用其西雅图杂货店来展示该技术及其对其他感兴趣的零售商的工作方式。讨论了各种不同的收入模式，包括固定许可费或收入分成协议。