Orange County’s first cashierless store powered by Aliso Viejo-based Adroit Worldwide Media Inc. has arrived.
The technology’s been deployed at the QuickEats market at the Nineteen01 apartment community in Santa Ana, a 4-year-old complex next to the 5 Freeway and the Xerox Centre office tower.
The technology lets shoppers at Nineteen01 buy staples such as soda, water, sandwiches and cleaning supplies without the need for a cashier or to open a wallet.
In an environment where contactless activities are top of mind, the AWM Smart Shelf is proving timely.
Users download an app, receive a personalized QR code to pass through the store’s entry gate, shop as they normally would and then are charged for the items they take upon leaving the store.
While calling the current coronavirus situation “very negative and … frankly pretty hairy for most people,” AWM founder and CEO Kevin Howard sees his company’s technology as one likely to get more attention in the near term.
“I believe this [crisis] enhances and increases the adoption rate [of the technology] by several times,” said Howard, whose company also operates under AWM Smart Shelf.
“Where I thought massive adoption would take place in three to five years, I believe now it’s likely one to two years.”
Series B in Store
On the back-end, the company is using computer vision and artificial intelligence to make the stores work. Cameras are installed on the ceiling to track when someone walks into the store, what they take and what they walk out with.
Installation for a mini-market can be done overnight, a larger convenience store a couple nights and a typical grocery store up to a week to retrofit an existing box, Howard said.
The CEO heads a team of 45 employees, with the company having raised $17 million to date. The company is in the process of working toward its Series B, which it hopes to raise somewhere in the range of $10 million to $15 million to add to its team as the business scales.
The technology is already in 18 countries, across 200 doors. Business is split about even between the U.S. and rest of the world, according to Howard, who said this after having just gotten off a call with a Sri Lankan company and earlier that same morning an interested company in Chile.
AWM grew revenue by about 400% last year and this year it’s projected to grow by about 500%, the CEO said, adding “I don’t expect that to slow down for the foreseeable future.”
“What you’re starting to see, I would call a paradigm shift in that what is starting to be implemented are what we call micro markets focused on hyperlocal distribution of fast-moving goods and I believe this is a true and total disruption of the supply chain.”
Eliminating Waste
Apartment and condo complexes—Nineteen01 is owned by prolific area rental complex investor Patrick Cadigan’s Cadigan Communities—are good examples, he said, of this shift taking place. He added cities and utilities implementing frictionless stores in their depots or warehouses are other examples.
Shopping experiences can be personalized and so, then, can promotions to help move inventory faster.
Howard used the example of a customer who may buy salmon frequently. If a grocer knows it has salmon on inventory that is set to expire soon, it could offer a promotion to shoppers who are high-frequency buyers of salmon.
“The goal would be, long term, to eliminate waste as much as humanly possible,” Howard said.
