Carrefour Opens The Middle East’s First Cashier-Less Store in Dubai’s Mall

Retail Chain Carrefour inaugurated the Middle East’s first cashier-less shop in Dubai. The Carrefour City+ at Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates is a convenience shop that sells all daily necessities. The only exception is that it does not have a cashier who would bill consumers for their purchases.

Instead the store has been installed with a system that tracks the movement of customers while they shop. Customers do not have to wait in lines to shop for items. Only customers who have installed the carrefour app are permitted to enter the store.

Carrefour City+ tracks a shopper’s movement inside the store using a set of cameras driven by a combination of computer vision and machine learning. These cameras utilize tracking technology to identify customer body form, when a customer picks up or drops goods, allowing the virtual baskets to be immediately updated. When the shopper exits the store, the whole value of their basket is automatically charged to their registered card, and a digital receipt is issued via the app.

Majid Al Futtaim has confirmed that staff will be available at the store to help customers find items on the shelves and address queries or concerns.

“Carrefour City+ has been designed to make life easier by using technology to remove friction and enhance the retail experience,” says Hani Weiss, chief executive of Majid Al Futtaim Retail. “The store represents a huge leap forward for retail in the UAE and region as Carrefour continues to innovate to meet the needs of the present whilst anticipating future shopping trends.”

While many stores offer checkout-free or scan-and-go services, this technology may represent the next step in the region’s retail shopping experience, giving a push for contactless and cashless processes to take over.

We may see more and more technologically advanced methods and tools being adopted by retail, travel and hospitality businesses in the coming years!