Supermarket chain Carrefour has opened its smallest autonomous store with a surface area of 18m².

The Carrefour BuyBye store in Zaventem in Belgium offers its customers a new shopping experience with an innovative format for last-minute everyday purchases. This joins the existing hyper, market, express and ecommerce options.

This autonomous store consists mainly of refrigerators where shoppers can buy their lunch, snacks, soft drinks, fruit and more. Carrefour BuyBye works entirely on the basis of artificial intelligence (AI), with a combination of cameras and weighing. Strategically placed cameras on each shelf provide dual control, ensuring increased precision in billing. The AI is trained to recognise each product from all angles, ensuring a seamless and hassle-free shopping experience.

Shoppers need to download the Carrefour BuyBye app. This lets them open the refrigerator doors and consult their purchase history. Contactless payment can also be made with a bank card.

The shopper scans the QR code to unlock the door and start the purchase process. Once the refrigerator doors are opened, the shopper can freely choose from a selection of products, including sandwiches, soft drinks, salads and cookies.

Thanks to AI and a weighing system, the selected items are recognised and automatically charged to the shopper’s bank account. The process is fast and makes a traditional cash register redundant. Shoppers can immediately find their receipt on the app, offering transparency about their purchases.

Carrefour (www.carrefour.be) is using this micro-store in Zaventem as a test store. Based on customer feedback and experiences, it will look at how it offers this going forward, including, for many stores, using BuyBye as an expansion of their existing activities. This service lets them offer their customers a shopping experience that combines technology and round-the-clock convenience.

The project was carried out in collaboration with Reckon AI (reckon.ai), a Portuguese start-up specialising in the design of micro-stores equipped with artificial intelligence.