Jul 08, 2020Finnish energy company Neste has deployed an automated, unmanned store at several of its fueling stations that enables shoppers to select goods, pay for them and then leave, all without requiring a sales associate. The stores, part of the company's self-serve model for gas stations, extend the automation from self-serve fueling to the associated market.
The RFID-based solution was provided by Nordic ID, using tags from Avery Dennison to automatically detect which goods are being purchased and authorize that purchase. It can also prevent individuals from leaving the store with unpurchased goods. The system consists of RFID tags on items for sale, as well as multiple fixed and handheld readers. Nordic ID's software is embedded into the store's self-checkout functionality and is connected to the back-end server and exit door controls.
Neste's new Easy Delis have been open for business in Vantaa, Finland, as well as in central Helsinki, according to Jukka Peltoniemi, the company's automated services manager. Another store is slated to open in the Helsinki area this year, with three others opening in Baltic countries. He says these early rollouts are still pilots as the company evaluates its success.
In recent years, Peltoniemi explains, Neste has been expanding from oil production to renewable energy, while also growing its business offerings to include delis that are typically connected to its service stations. For several years, the company has been developing a model for small and agile unmanned convenience stores that could be managed remotely, and that could be restocked as needed with the goods in the greatest demand at a particular location. Unlike traditional global convenience store brands, he says, "We wanted to do something different, something totally new. So we came up with the idea of unmanned, automated stores."
The Easy Deli evolved from a more basic solution that employed vending machines, Peltoniemi reports. At the Vantaa store, people could use credit cards to prompt the opening of a vending machine so they could select a snack or a to-go lunch item, but that system did not provide the company with real-time visibility regarding which products were being purchased. Additionally, it limited the number of goods that could be sold, since they had to fit into the machines. "We weren't so happy with the results," Peltoniemi says, "and so we started looking for the next technology." The company met with Nordic ID, which had already developed an RFID-enabled unmanned shop concept known as Nordic ID S/MART (Smart Mart).
Nordic ID and Neste began working together in late 2018 to develop the Easy Deli system, says Juuso Lehmuskoski, Nordic ID's CEO. After the first shop opened in Vantaa, Neste expanded the solution to its Helsinki location. By early June of this year, the two stores were open for business, each at a site linked to an automated Neste fueling station.
The highly modular stores measure only about 25 square meters (269 square feet) in size. They have an electric connection and use water from a tank for the coffee machine. "Nordic ID's S/MART technology provides a full entrance solution," Lehmuskoski states. In the back of each store is a Nordic ID UHF RFID encoding station, or an RFID printer, for tagging incoming products. As workers receive goods, they apply an Avery Dennison RFID tag to each item and use the encoding station to associate the tag with product information, including its sell-by date. "That helps them manage their inventory," he says.
The data is stored in Nordic ID's cloud-based Radea software platform, and the goods are placed in the store front for purchase. The store remains entirely unmanned with the exception of a 30-minute daily visit from a worker to capture a product inventory count, replenish products with encoded RFID tags and clean the site. For inventory counting, the employee uses the handheld reader to identify what is in stock and what needs to be replenished. That process only takes about three minutes.
For shoppers, the process is designed to be seamless. Customers first download the Neste app, then enter their debit or credit card information. The app enables the purchase of fuel, as well as access to Easy Deli stores. Once an individual has downloaded the app, he or she can ask the system where the closest store is located. The app uses GPS data from the phone to identify that person's location and direct him or her to the closest Easy Deli. The geolocation data can identify when that individual is standing in front of the store. If she or he, at that time, selects the prompt to unlock the door, it will release the lock and the customer can then enter.
Once inside the store, a shopper can select products displayed on shelves and in refrigerators or freezers, including salads, sandwiches, drinks, snacks and toiletries. Customers must bring their own bag or a knapsack, as no bags are provided at the store so as to reduce environmental impact. As an individual selects products, she or he can add them to the bag, then proceed to the point of sale (POS). At that location, a recess in the counter is equipped with Nordic ID readers and antennas.
Once the POS reader identifies which products are being purchased, it links that information with the ID number and credit card information of the individual who entered the store. A screen displays what is being purchased, and the customer can simply approve the transaction, at which point the reader puts the tags to sleep so they will not be read outside the store. The shopper can then walk to the door, where an overhead Nordic ID RFID reader captures tag reads, identifies the IDs of any products that have not been purchased and alerts the customer.
Once all items being taken are confirmed as paid, the doors open and the customer can leave the store. The data provides Neste with a better understanding of sales at each of its stores, Peltoniemi says, so that it can ensure it maintains the most appropriate inventory for that market. "We check the inventory all the time," he states. "We are heavily checking the data, including what we are selling and what we are not." With that information, the company can replace products at specific locations in order to improve its sales.
"We're giving them real-time access to inventory data," Lehmuskoski explains, so that Neste can view when replenishment is necessary. At the end of the day, the company receives a report. The new store is yielding interesting results, he says. For instance, Peltoniemi says, condom sales tend to be high on Friday and Saturday evenings, and they sell in higher volumes than at the company's manned stores. Neste can also determine when coffee sales peak, as well as which snacks are being purchased, so that workers can restock and adjust the inventory cycles accordingly.
"There are rush-hour peaks: mornings and evenings and lunchtime," Peltoniemi says. "We can see exactly how it varies." The company is currently reviewing how customers respond, he says, adding, "Maybe in six months, we can see whether we expand this concept." To date, he reports, the stores have gained considerable attention from consumers and the Finnish media. "We've doubled the sales in Vantaa."
Neste is using two types of UHF RFID tags. The AD-456 tag is attached to metal or liquid goods, while the AD-180 is attached to multi-purpose, non-metallic items. The solution's development posed some technical challenges related to ensuring the effective and accurate reading of product tags at the point of sale. That included selecting the proper tags and optimal tagging position, as well as customizing the readers and antennas and developing software algorithms for the project's specific needs.
Lehmuskoski estimates that 40 percent of Nordic ID's customization efforts to accomplish this involved the specially designed readers and antennas. "We have purpose-built readers," he states, with near-field antennas for very high read accuracy, only reading tags within 15 to 20 centimeters (6 to 7.9 inches). The other 60 percent involves the proprietary algorithms that detect which items are moving, he explains, as well as how close they are to the reader, and thus whether they are in a shopping basket rather than sitting on a shelf.
UHF RFID technology, Lehmuskoski explains, could easily identify tags within the read area, but it could also pick up stray reads. The S/MART solution, on the other hand, is designed to eliminate stray reads. "It is the result of long, extensive development work," he states. Antennas surround the recessed reading area to ensure that the tags can be read from all angles. In terms of tagging, determining the correct tag and placement for each product posed another challenge, says Peter Jackson, Avery Dennison Intelligent Labels' market-development manager for food applications.
Testing and evaluation was carried out to identify how multiple tags might respond to readers when many items are squeezed together—for example, for 12 cans of cola bunched as a single product. The POS reader antenna array helps to meet this challenge, he says. Additionally, Jackson reports, "We worked hard to ensure the most suitable tag is applied to each product. We have in-house application testing so that we can make an informed recommendation on which product will be most effective." The on-metal AD-456 tag was found to be effective for metallic wrappings and liquid products, he adds.
Avery Dennison partnered on this project for approximately 12 months prior to the first store's launch in Finland. During the next phase, Jackson says, stores may incorporate newly developed RFID products so the company can continue to build and improve the solution. For the first few stores in Finland, the tags are being applied at the store level by a third-party organization, Jackson notes, but as the project scales, the next few stores will have their products tagged at the distribution center.
"Our ultimate goal," Jackson says, "is for the brand suppliers to tag the products at the source." Ultimately, he reports, the Easy Delis have "really pushed the boundaries and shown that within a short space of time. a solution can be built, implemented and, most importantly, scaled quickly and cost-effectively."
