Hybrid checkout models emerged, allowing stores to keep all lanes open at all times. In New Zealand and Australia, more retailers have started replacing traditional cash offices with cash recycling modules at self-checkouts. This change not only improves security and reduces shrink but also allows store teams to shift focus toward enhancing the overall customer experience.
Diebold Nixdorf’s AI-powered
Vynamic® Smart Vision I Shrink Reduction solution was designed to target over 20 common causes of loss at self-checkouts. The platform detects behaviors in real time, from unscanned items to stacked goods and walkaways and issues on-screen alerts for the customer, along with short video clips and notifications for the store attendant. “It’s one of the most holistic anti-shrink solutions on the market with great ability to scale.”
The technology integrates with fresh produce scanning and
age verification on a single platform and can be deployed using the store’s existing infrastructure. It’s already expanded beyond self-service to manned POS and other store formats.
Unintentional errors remain one of the most common causes of shrink. Customers might leave an item in their basket, mis-scan a product, or have a child place something in the trolley unnoticed.
“It’s important not to alienate these customers. A simple message prompting them to check their last scan gives them the opportunity to correct it themselves.”
Fresh produce scanning also continues to be a focus area. Customers can easily pick the wrong item from a long screen list.
Vynamic® Smart Vision I Fresh Produce Recognition simplifies this by using cameras and algorithms to automatically identify the item, a benefit that applies across both self-checkout and manned lanes.
In pilot programs, the impact has been clear. More than 80 percent of nudges resulted in customers correcting the error themselves and shrink dropped by over 75 percent during live deployments. “If a customer was actively attempting theft, the technology empowered staff with the context they needed to approach the situation effectively.”
In France,
Intermarché saw a drop in erroneous transactions from 3 percent to under one percent after rolling out Smart Vision at its La Farlède store. Cashier interventions dropped by nearly 15 percent. In Germany,
EDEKA Jaeger at Stuttgart Airport recorded over 80 percent auto-approval for age-restricted products, all handled by first-time, unassisted travelers.
For retailers thinking about AI, the process starts with identifying the core problem. “We always start with the ‘why’. Then we analyze their data to find inefficiencies.” Each implementation is shaped by store layout, traffic patterns, and team resourcing, and success depends on having the right blend of tech, design, and training.
Looking ahead, AI in retail is only set to grow. Diebold Nixdorf is working with more than 90 retailers worldwide to initiate their individual anti-shrink project based on its scalable
open architecture platform. “AI is here to stay. We’re helping retailers define their use cases and build scalable, effective anti-shrink strategies that work across their enterprise.”
Originally published in
Supermarket News
