Sberbank, one of Russia’s largest state-owned banks, has partnered with Visa and Russian supermarket, Azbuka Vkusa to open a cashier-less store where customers simply take items from shelves and are automatically charged.
To use the all-new service, customers need to download the Take&Go mobile app by Sberbank, sign up, and associate a bank card with their payments account and an e-mail that’ll be used to send the receipts. Customers need to make purchases at the Take&Go store is scan a QR code using the Sberbank mobile app when entering the supermarket, take the products, and leave, while the money will be debited from your card automatically.
The store is opening after a three week pilot of the AI-based computer vision system that tracks items taken from shelves.
Dmitry Malykh, Acquiring and Bank Cards Director, Sberbank, “Sberbank puts a lot of effort into the development of new payment services and solutions. Together with our partners, we’ve implemented a project Russia hasn’t seen before – making take&go purchases will unlock a completely new customer experience. I am sure that customers will appreciate the new technology as the first pilot results and the number of times the application is being used has proven that the service enjoys demand.”
Sergey Cherednikov, Head of Take&Go project, Azbuka Vkusa, “The testing went according to plan and we are satisfied with its results. The active feedback from the test group has enabled us to pilot multiple real-life scenarios of interaction with buyers. We’ve also changed the range of products and their planogram while improving the process of their rotation to ensure maximum freshness of the product range on display. We see that our assumptions have been confirmed – this buyer-seller relationship model based on trust is relevant and it works, and we keep developing the format that is new for us, while now it’s available for everyone.”
Michael Berner, Country Manager Russia at Visa, “Recent months have changed our shopping habits. Many of us have found out new channels and formats. We see how digitization in general is gaining momentum everywhere and the opening of a store that utilizes computer vision is a good example of this trend. Visa supports global and local solutions aimed at improving consumer experience and it is nice to note that Russia is one of the markets using such solutions in real life.”
