Giant Eagle to go checkout-free?

Pittsburgh, Pa.-based grocer Giant Eagle has partnered with Silicon Valley startup Grabango, a computer software company, to pilot a no-wait checkout experience across all of its stores.

The company announced Grabango’s platform has been installed at a pilot Giant Eagle location and multiple executions of the technology are being optimized, including an app-based solution and another that allows the customer to pay with any tender they choose. The solution does not use facial recognition technology. Instead, it utilizes computer vision and machine learning to track shopped items. All data is anonymized to protect customer privacy.

“Giant Eagle is committed to advancing technologies that create an improved, stress-free shopping experience for our customers while still protecting their privacy,” said Giant Eagle’s director of corporate communications, Dan Donovan. “In Grabango, we have found a partner who shares our commitment and who can help us bring this enhanced experience to life.”

Other retailers have noticed such technological innovation, such as Seattle-based Amazon, who implemented such “grab-and-go” technology into its brick-and-mortar Amazon Go stores.