New locally developed shelf-monitoring robot deployed as part of a total store, hardware-hybrid solution provides grocery retailers with automated, real-time shelf conditions measurement, raising product availability, store execution standards and workforce efficiency

Trax, a leading global provider of computer vision solutions and analytics for retail, has officially launched its Retail Watch store monitoring and intelligence solution in China. As part of its Retail Watch offering, Trax's all-new shelf monitoring robot for the China market, developed in partnership with local robotics company Ecovacs, recently made its debut at the 22nd China Retail Trade Fair (ChinaShop) in Shanghai.

Retail Watch combines Trax's proprietary computer vision and machine learning technologies with its Internet of Things-enabled shelf-edge and ceiling cameras and autonomous robots to provide retailers with ‘eyes in the store'. This automated, real-time visibility of products helps retailers optimize in-store data collection and operations.

What's more, Retail Watch is a boon for workforce productivity, saving store associates from manual, repetitive tasks and automatically alerting them to availability gaps, pricing errors and planogram non-compliance. The solution also provides timely, accurate and actionable data for better supply chain replenishment, forecasting and picking for online orders. The results drive incremental uplifts in revenue, on-shelf availability and store execution standards, and elevate the shopper experience.

"Retailers have been trying to solve the perennial out-of-stock problem with humans for ages, but manually collected data is simply not accurate nor frequent enough," said James Tang, general manager and president, Greater China at Trax. "Automated shelf conditions data measures what shoppers are seeing in real-time and provides a third layer of insights to supplement inventory and sales data. Automated solutions are necessary for optimizing retailers' operational efficiency and driving consumer purchasing decisions, while also allowing store associates to focus on where they are needed most -- with the shoppers."

Digital Retail Transformation Amidst a Pandemic

Newly exposed out-of-stocks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to rampant surge buying emptying shelves and consumers increasingly turning to online ordering, have already cost grocery retailers an estimated $76 billion in lost revenue. Implementing Retail Watch helps retailers tackle these pain points and more, setting them up for sustained, scalable success in the new normal.

Since making its bow at NRF 2019, Retail Watch results have been promising. Within a few months of deploying the solution, one Trax customer experienced improved shelf availability of up to three percent, decreased price anomalies of up to 75 percent, and improved workforce productivity equivalent to having an additional full-time store employee. This year, Trax deployed Retail Watch with Auchan Retail in Portugal and partnered with Deloitte Digital to offer Retail Watch to Deloitte's grocery retail customers in Spain.

Grocery retailers and consumer goods manufacturers around the world leverage Trax's in-store execution, store monitoring and retail analytics solutions to better manage on-shelf availability and optimize merchandising. These solutions are powered by proprietary fine-grained image recognition and machine learning algorithms that turn photos of retail shelves into granular, actionable shelf and store-level insights.

About Trax

Trax is a leading provider of computer vision solutions and analytics for retail. Our proprietary computer vision, machine learning and Internet of Things-powered platform turns everyday shelf images into real-time, actionable insights that our customers leverage to optimize their in-store execution strategy and product availability. Simply put, we digitize the physical world of retail. Many of the world's top CPG companies and retailers use our dynamic merchandising, in-store execution, market measurement, analytics and shelf monitoring solutions at scale to drive positive shopper experiences and unlock revenue opportunities at all points of sale. We began as pioneers in the retail computer vision space and we continue to lead the industry with innovation and excellence through our development of new advanced technologies and autonomous data collection methods. Trax is headquartered in Singapore and operating in over 90 countries worldwide. To learn more, visit www.traxretail.com.