Sneaking a packet of chocolate biscuits under her arm as she made her way round a supermarket in Israel, Kemi Badenoch was not taking time out of her busy schedule for snacks.
She was actually testing out technology now used in five Tesco stores in the UK that enables shoppers to bypass the checkout completely and pay automatically. The system uses an AI-based network of cameras, motion-tracking devices and sensors positioned strategically around the shop to monitor what is taken off or put back on the shelves.
The secretary of state for business and trade was visiting the Tel Aviv headquarters of Trigo, the Israeli company behind Tesco’s growing number of no-checkout supermarkets.
The mock-up store in the centre of its office acts as a testing lab and demonstration area.
With her movements monitored and displayed on a screen, she was shown how a limitless number of anonymised shoppers can be tracked making their way round supermarket shelves, allowing the system to create a list of purchased items without even so much as the shopper scanning a barcode.
Badenoch at Trigo, the AI tech company that makes the tech for Tesco
Badenoch explored the AI tech company that makes the tech for Tesco
Payment can then be automatic or manual when they exit, with the receipt sent to their mobile device.
Badenoch met several hi-tech companies such as Trigo during her three-day visit to Israel. She has not hidden her enthusiasm for Israel’s technology sector, which often looks to the UK as a base camp for international growth.
“I studied computer systems and engineering at university and my background before I went into politics was in the tech sector and this is the kind of stuff I really wanted to go into,” she said at a meeting on her first day in Israel.
Tesco has already deployed Trigo’s technology in five of its UK stores, the latest of which was opened in Birmingham last week. Thirteen other supermarket branches across Europe are also using the system.
Unlike other similar systems on the market, the Trigo system can be retrofitted to existing, large supermarkets and can run in “hybrid mode” so that some shoppers can continue to use traditional methods of payment even as others use the new system.
Tesco has 7,000 stores in 11 countries around the world and is the world’s fourth-largest food retailer, with revenues of approximately £61billion.
Since adopting Trigo’s technology in its stores, the supermarket giant has invested directly in the company — a tangible vote of confidence in its product. The technology start-up has raised $204 million since it was founded.
When Tesco launched its first Trigo-powered store, its chief technology officer Guus Dekkers said: “Working in partnership with Trigo, we have combined the range, quality and value of Tesco products with the latest in-store innovation and we can’t wait to see how customers respond.”
Trigo was founded in 2018 by CEO Michael Gabay and his brother, CTO Daniel Gabay. It currently employs around 200 people, mostly in its development centre in Israel.
Fifteen are based in the UK, from where the company operates its European business. “It’s natural that the UK is currently the main operations hub for Trigo to work across all of Europe,” Gubbay said.
On Sunday, Badenoch announced a new programme for women entrepreneurs to export globally at an event held in Tel Aviv ahead of International Women’s Day.
Jointly hosted by Yazamiyot, an Israeli female entrepreneurs community, and the British Embassy’s Women Leading Innovation Network, the event included a pitching contest to find the most promising female founder of the year.
The best three founders were selected to travel to London where they will attend Calcalist’s “Mind the Tech” conference to present their start-ups at a UK Israel Tech Hub event.
Addressing the crowd, Badenoch said that the UK government had launched an industry-led taskforce last year “to increase the number of women-led high-growth businesses”.
