High-tech shopping broadened to washroom experience

In this article, Tork manufacturer, Essity looks at the ways in which shopping is becoming increasingly high-tech and considers how smart systems may also be successfully applied to the washroom experience.

Retailer Checkers, through its ShopriteX innovation team, is currently piloting South Africa’s first smart trolley, called the Xpress Trolley. It allows customers to scan and bag items as they shop, track a running total, and pay directly on the trolley to skip checkout queues. The trolley also features a screen for in-store navigation and personalised promotions, changing the customer experience when shopping.

Meanwhile, Kenya is exploring the use of AI-powered inventory management systems and blockchainenabled supply chains. This move is claimed to be making Kenya’s retail sector one of the most future-ready on the continent. Egypt and Morocco are testing automated checkout systems, while Ghana is expanding its e-commerce regulatory framework to boost cross-border trade. Smart shopping is here; and it is transforming the customer’s retail experience.

This year it was also announced that robot assistants are being deployed in a Dubai shopping centre for the first time. Two avatar-style robots have been rolled out in City Centre Mirdif – a huge retail complex comprising 465 stores – where they are assisting visitors to navigate the mall.

Smart changing rooms have been installed at Hugo Boss’ new flagship store in Düsseldorf, Germany. These feature a screen that reads clothing labels using RFID. This allows shoppers to view matching items and change the size and colour of the garment to be tried on. Such headline-grabbing moves signal a revolution in smarter shopping. But, the retail sector has been quietly heading down the technology route for years.

Security tags that trigger an alarm when a tagged item is moved past a detection point have been helping to prevent thefts in stores since the 1960s, for example, with early versions using radio frequency technology. Self-service tills where people scan the items they wish to purchase and then pay via a screen have become increasingly commonplace worldwide.

Meanwhile, the advent of the internet has made it possible for us all to shop from home – and online retail has become an increasingly prevalent option over recent years as a result. This means physical shopping centres have had to raise their game and offer more enticing facilities to attract people back to the shops. Here again, technology has come into play. Some retail managers have reacted to the online challenge by introducing high-tech options such as virtual reality gaming zones.

In our post-Covid world, shoppers expect the malls they visit to be spotless – from the escalator hand rails to the shop fronts and of course, the toilets. It can be hard for a retail manager to ensure that their premises always remain clean when footfall varies from day to day. And once again, technology can help.

An increasing number of shopping centres are using robots to carry out floor cleaning and scrubbing tasks. Today’s robot cleaners are increasingly able to operate safely around shoppers and cover large floor areas, freeing up human staff to concentrate on more detailed work.

Smart bins are being installed to alert staff members when they need emptying. Additionally, technology has been improving efficiency and speeding up traffic in the retail washroom. Automatic taps and flush systems avoid the need for visitors to touch potentially contaminated surfaces while also making the facilities more accessible for the less abled.

Traffic light systems that light up green when a cubicle is empty and turn red when it is engaged are speeding up queues in busy shopping centre toilets because they prevent the need for people to have to try each door.

Many large retail washrooms now incorporate “smiley” feedback panels that allow visitors to rate their washroom experience by pressing a red, amber or green button. Such systems provide valuable data for washroom managers and enable them to respond swiftly to any cleaning need.

Technology is being used in washrooms to ensure that dispensers are being topped up and that all cleaning issues are swiftly addressed. For example, Tork Vision Cleaning allows cleaners to check on dispenser refill levels via a smartphone or tablet. It also helps them to keep tabs on washroom traffic so that operatives can assess when it is time to carry out a clean.

This means cleaners are no longer obliged to make multiple journeys to the facility to carry out random checks, saving them time and improving their working life while also reducing labour costs. And businesses using the technology report that their washroom dispensers are now full 99 percent of the time.

Technology in its many forms is proving to be a major asset in the retail sector. No doubt in future it will continue to improve the shopping experience while also ensuring optimum cleaning and hygiene outcomes throughout the precinct.