SAN FRANCISCO -- August 14, 2019 -- Zippin announced today it has entered a strategic partnership with Brazil’s largest retailer, Lojas Americanas S.A., to deploy its checkout-free technology in stores across the country.
Though its innovation vertical, “IF – Inovação e Futuro” (Innovation and Future), Lojas Americanas S.A. made a strategic investment in Zippin in June 2019 to use the checkout-free shopping technology in Brazil exclusively and develop new technologies for their Ame Go retail stores. The first Zippin-powered store has already opened in Rio and has been operational for four months. The next store is expected to open in Sao Paulo soon.
The new checkout-free Ame Go stores will vary in size from 250 to 3,000 square feet and will be located in high-traffic, mostly urban locations with a largely captive customer base, from financial districts and housing complexes. Customers will access the stores through the company’s popular Ame Digital app, which already has over one million active users. In addition, the company is developing an automated Ame Box checkout-free store-within-a-store concept powered by Zippin. (See here for video of the new Zippin-powered Rio store.)
Lojas Americanas S.A. evaluated different options before signing with Zippin, which was chosen primarily for our technology’s high accuracy and low total cost of ownership. Because Zippin’s software fuses data from two independent sources: overhead cameras and smart shelf sensors, it provides very high accuracy, a critical requirement in a retail world with typically low margins.
Zippin’s co-founder and CEO, Krishna Motukuri, said: “When we first launched a concept store in San Francisco last year, we received inquiries from many of the largest retailers in the U.S., Europe and Asia. We chose to partner with Lojas Americanas not only because of their size and scope as a multi-billion-dollar retailer, but also due to their ability to deploy our technology quickly. We were able to go from a signed contract to a launched pilot in three weeks, and then from pilot to a live public store within two months.”
Motukuri added, “While other technology providers have announced deals and hinted at pilot stores, the new Lojas Americanas stores make Zippin the first company to deploy its checkout-free technology in a live, public store with a major retail partner. We are excited to lead the checkout-free shopping revolution by making it a reality for consumers in the real world.”
Zippin’s proprietary approach combines computer vision, sensor fusion technology, and machine learning, to accurately account for both shopper behavior (through overhead cameras), and product tracking (through smart shelf sensors), for the highest level of accuracy even in crowded stores. To see Zippin in action, watch our video here.
About Zippin
Zippin has developed the next generation of checkout-free technology enabling retailers to quickly deploy frictionless shopping in their stores. Our patent-pending approach uses AI, machine learning and sensor fusion technology to create the best consumer experience: banishing checkout lines and self-scanners for good, and letting shoppers zip in and out with their purchases. Zippin’s platform leverages product and shopper tracking through overhead cameras, as well as smart shelf sensors, for the highest level of accuracy even in crowded stores. Founded by industry veterans from Amazon and SRI with deep backgrounds in retail technology, AI and computer vision, Zippin is headquartered in San Francisco and has raised venture funding from Maven Ventures, Core Ventures Group, Pear Ventures, SAP and others. For more information, visit www.getzippin.com.
About Lojas Americanas
Lojas Americanas was founded in 1929 and is present throughout Brazil. There are more than 1,500 stores in three formats: traditional, express and convenience. The network markets up to 60,000 items, divided into more than 40 departments as candies, perfumery, home appliances, toys, electronics, apparel and stationery. The company also has a services platform, +AQUI, that offers credit cards, personal loans, gift cards, insurances and content cards. Lojas Americanas also has four distribution centers located in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Pernambuco and Minas Gerais.