New Lidl scales will automatically recognise fruit and vegetables

Your weekly shopping trip is about to get more interesting. Lidl Switzerland is bringing new weighing scales to its stores which will automatically recognise fruit and vegetables, making it easier and quicker for customers to check out.

Lidl to launch new fruit and veg scales 

From April, the experience for shoppers will get a little easier as Lidl is set to introduce new scales that will weigh and automatically recognise fruit and vegetables, removing an extra step that customers have to take, reports Blick. 

In most supermarkets across Switzerland, shoppers have to weigh their fruit and vegetables and either enter a number or search through a list to get a scanable label before checking out. Customers who shop at Lidl currently have the choice of either going to a checkout assistant who weighs and scans produce, or they can weigh and choose the product at a self-service checkout.

Lidl weighing scales use AI

The new weighing scales coming to Lidl utilise AI and will “speed up the scanning process by almost 50 percent” according to Tages Anzeiger. The AI scales will be introduced in all 195 Lidl Schweiz stores.

Other supermarkets in Switzerland are yet to introduce similar technology, but this may prove more challenging as there is a much greater selection of products to be recognised, continues Blick. Other technology, such as cameras using AI at checkouts, will also be introduced to Lidl stores this year - something Coop has already implemented.

AI implementation has not only made its way into the retail sector in Switzerland but is also expanding into sectors such as banking, healthcare, and parts of watchmaking.