CSA Exclusive: Choice Market to open portable autonomous store

A local Denver-based convenience retailer is preparing to launch a frictionless shopping experience that can go on the road.

In a deployment exclusively announced in an email to Chain Store Age, Choice Market, which operates four stores in Denver and one location in Aurora, Colo., will open a Nomad autonomous micro retail store from Juxta, a venture by Vontier Corporation, parent company of Gilbarco Veeder Root.

Customers will be able to shop at the Choice Market Nomad store like they normally would with traditional debit or credit card, or a mobile wallet such as Apple Pay or Google Pay. An artificial intelligtence (AI )-based computer vision system paired with automated shelf sensors tracks the products in a customer’s basket in real time.

When it’s time to check out, the consumer can instantly review their basket at the checkout screen or just walk out. They can also have a receipt sent to their phone upon leaving the store.

Choice Market’s upcoming Nomad store will operate from a home base in Denver, but will first operate at the Renewal 2023 music Festival in Buena Vista, Colo. from Sept. 21-24. The store will be open to campers and festival-goers 24 hours a day during the event.

"Partnering with the innovators at Choice Market is a great validation of Juxta's vision”, said Om Shankar, co-Founder of Juxta. “Their reputation for innovation in retail combined with our technology and store format creates a synergy that we believe will redefine the future of the industry. Renewal Festival 2023 also gives us a great opportunity to show the true potential of portable autonomous convenience. We're enthusiastic about the road ahead and are committed to delivering unparalleled value to Choice Markets and its customers."

Autonomous ‘Express Shop’ pop-up comes to music festivals

In other portable autonomous store activity, Verizon’s mobile edge computing (MEC) platform is the foundation of temporary “tap and go” frictionless stores which have been offered at musical events including BottleRock Napa Valley Music Festival.

Known as Express Shop, the frictionless pop-up store runs on the Verizon MEC platform and 5G network, along with the AiFi computer vision- and artificial intelligence (AI)- based autonomous shopping solution. Customers enter by tapping a credit card at the entrance. Once inside the store, AiFi’s computer vision-powered cameras track what items are taken and customers can exit, with receipts delivered to their email in minutes.

AiFi’s similar NanoStore portable autonomous store model is also being used in several permanently standing brick-and-mortar stores. These include two Bay Area locations of the Loop Neighborhood regional convenience store chain, as well as a two-month pilot at an Albert Heijn (Ahold Delhaize banner) store at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam, Netherlands.