Simbe Robotics

After testing the use of artificial intelligence-based robots to assist with shelf management at several ShopRite supermarkets, Keasbey-based Wakefern Food Corp. is adding the technology to even more stores. As part of an ongoing partnership with retail solution provider Simbe Robotics, Tally, an inventory-checking robot, now patrols the aisles of 70-plus ShopRite locations, the companies announced last fall.

Considered the world’s first and most advanced inventory robot, Tally autonomously roams a store multiple times per day, leveraging computer vision technology to collect shelf data to ensure that products are in-stock, shelved appropriately and accurately priced. Then, the real-time data can be used to enable faster restocking, help associates quickly locate products, and improve inventory tracking – with the goal of freeing up employees’ time so they can focus on other tasks. According to San Francisco, Calif.-headquartered Simbe, Tally can scan entire stores up to three times per day, processing between 15,000 to 30,000 products per hour, while operating quietly alongside shoppers and in tandem with associates.

Since deploying the bot at 20 ShopRite stores in spring 2022, Wakefern said the technology’s insights “significantly reduced out-of-stock rates, maximized inventory availability and enabled associates to be more effective and focus more of their time on delivering better experience for customers.”