Digitalization at the Point-of-Sale in Grocery Retail: State of the Art of Smart Shelf Technology and Application Scenarios

Digitalization has been shaping economy and society, one of the areas most affected being the retail sector. Especially in the context of smart shelf technologies a variety of companies and solutions - mainly for grocery and drugstore retail - has evolved. However, there is no overview of which technologies are used and for which specific application scenarios they can be applied. In the course of expert-interviews with solution providers, we have analysed the status-quo of different smart shelf solutions, their respective application scenarios, the technologies behind them, the associated benefits and costs as well as planned further developments. Our results show that existing solutions cover a variety of application scenarios, ranging from out-of-shelf detection and checking planogram compliance to optimizing inventory or logistical processes. Our analysis identified two main technology groups: image recognition systems and sensor-based systems. Solution providers stated that generating a positive ROI takes between one and one and a half years. All providers are working on further developments, many are moving in the direction of sensor fusion. The results of our study help retailers to compare existing solutions and enables them to examine various deployment scenarios.