Diebold Nixdorf is providing self-service checkouts with AI-powered automatic age verification at a village store in Freckenfeld, Germany.

It is now possible to pick up a packet of flour or a bottle of wine around the clock, including weekends, in the village of Freckenfeld in the Rhineland-Palatinate district of Germany.

The local village store had been closed since May 2023 and was recently reopened with a new operator and a new concept: as a round-the-clock grocery store with self-service.

To ensure a smooth operation, Ohio-based Diebold Nixdorf equipped the Dorfladen Freckenfeld store with two DN Series Easy eXpress (www.dieboldnixdorf.com/en-us/retail/portfolio/systems/easy/overview/easy-express) self-service checkouts for cashless payment. Both systems run in a special unmanned mode keeping them ready for use at all times, for example, by deleting uncompleted transactions after a timer has expired.

In the mornings, employees are on site to replenish the shelves and assist customers when required. During this temporary presence of staff, the purchase of age-restricted goods such as alcoholic beverages – the range in the village store includes numerous products from local winegrowers – can also be carried out using automatic, AI-based age verification. When an item is scanned at the self-service checkout, the Vynamic Smart Vision I (www.dieboldnixdorf.com/en-us/retail/portfolio/software/self-service/vynamic-self-service/age-verification) age verification system from Diebold Nixdorf asks customers whether or not they would like automatic age recognition. Once consent has been given, the customer’s facial characteristics are analysed using a camera installed on the system and AI algorithms determine their age. If this age is above a predefined threshold, the transaction can be continued.

If there is no staff in the village store, the area with the age-restricted goods can only be entered upon presentation of an ID card, which then also authorises the purchase.

The new operator of the store is Benedikt Paul, who already runs two Edeka stores in Rhineland-Palatinate as part of the German supermarket organisation Edeka Group (www.edeka.de).

“We are delighted that, together with the residents of Freckenfeld, we have been able to develop a new approach to convenient local shopping that optimally meets the needs of our customers with a modern store concept and innovative technologies, while at the same time enabling cost-effective operation,” said Paul.

Matt Redwood, vice president at Diebold Nixdorf, added: “The village store in Freckenfeld is a successful example of how modern store technology with self-service checkouts can help to ensure that local supplies, which are urgently needed in rural areas in particular, are available around the clock. The automatic, AI-based age verification also enables a faster checkout process. This pleases customers and allows employees to concentrate on their core tasks.”

Diebold Nixdorf (www.dieboldnixdorf.com) automates, digitises and transforms the way people bank and shop. The company has a presence in more than 100 countries with approximately 21,000 employees worldwide.