In partnership with AiFi, a startup that aims to enable retailers to deploy autonomous shopping tech cost-effectively, Microsoft today launched a preview of a cloud service called Smart Store Analytics. A part of Microsoft’s Cloud for Retail product suite, Smart Store Analytics provides retailers using AiFi’s technology with shopper and operational analytics for their fleets of “smart stores.”
AiFi’s “smart stores” are grocery stores, sport stadiums and convenience stores equipped with cameras that track what customers pick up and place in their carts, automatically charging their payment cards when they’re ready to check out. It’s similar to Amazon’s Just Walk Out tech; digital video captured by AiFi’s cameras feed a computer vision algorithm that recognizes shoppers’ behavi...
