FairPrice trials automated discounts, AI assistants

FairPrice customers will no longer need store assistants to verify details of their financial assistance cards to apply store discounts when making a purchase under a self-checkout trial.

Instead, card holders will have their discounts automatically applied when making payments at self-checkout counters with the FairPrice Group app, which verifies their identity using the Government's MyInfo data vault on citizens and permanent residents.

The trial is for card holders on government financial schemes such as the Community Health Assist Scheme and members of the Pioneer Generation at FairPrice Finest's latest outlet in Punggol Digital District, which will open on Aug 28.

The trial will be open to some of the 340,000 FairPrice Group app users who have updated their profile with details retrieved from MyInfo. The profile update will require users to perform a one-time Singpass verification.

Urging more customers to update their profiles, Mr Dennis Seah, FairPrice Group's chief digital and technology officer, said that manually checking financial assistance cards is tedious.

"Depending on the day, different discount schemes are applicable," said Mr Seah, adding that customers sometimes end up bringing in the wrong card on the wrong day.

"When you update your profile with MyInfo, we capture your income status and age so the discount is automatically applied within the FairPrice app," he said. "You don't have to worry about which day it is, the generation you belong to and income status. We will get the right discount for you."

Mr Seah said freeing up store employees from mundane tasks will help them focus on other tasks, such as stocking shelves and preparing fresh food items.

Automated discount card verification is one of more than 60 new digital solutions that will be trialled by FairPrice Group over the next three years, as part of the supermarket chain's multimillion-dollar commitment to reinventing the consumer retail journey.

The budget also covers recently hired software engineers and data scientists, as FairPrice Group seeks to reinvent itself digitally to deepen its engagement with millions of shoppers in Singapore.

The group's latest outlet in Punggol Digital District, touted as Singapore's Silicon Valley, will be a test bed for many of these digital projects, which aim to improve operational efficiency and staff productivity.

They will typically take place over six months, and will be evaluated before they are rolled out across more supermarkets, Kopitiam foodcourts, Cheers convenience stores and Unity pharmacies.

Among the key projects in Punggol Digital District is the use of in-store artificial intelligence (AI) assistants, developed with Google, for recommending health supplements and wine.

By taking an in-store body composition test and inputting health goals in a system, customers will be informed by the Unity Recommender AI assistant what health products can help them achieve their wellness objectives. The test takes around 30 seconds to capture details such as height, muscle mass, body fat percentage and age.

Customers can also consult an AI-powered wine sommelier for recommendations. A webpage will pop up when customers scan a QR code or tap their phones on an electronic label to ask for wine taste preferences and the food the wine would be paired with.

"Without the AI assistants, it will be very difficult for a person to choose from 50 different products," said Mr Seah.

Smart Carts, which are trolleys mounted with touchscreens and barcode scanners, are also being trialled at FairPrice's Punggol Digital District outlet. These were first tested at FairPrice Finest in Sengkang Grand Mall.

The screen on the cart helps customers navigate the store to find the products they want, highlights ongoing promotions as shoppers browse the aisles, and enables payment without customers having to queue at physical counters.

There will be 15 such trolleys ready for use in Punggol Digital District, more than the 10 trolleys in the Sengkang outlet.

Mr Seah said the trial in Sengkang has resulted in increased transactions from many customers.

"We hear good feedback from customers too," he said, adding that customers liken the smart carts to a personal assistant showing them promotions they otherwise would not have known about.

CCTV cameras are paired with a video analytics system, called Vision AI, in the Punggol and Sengkang outlets to allow employees to receive real-time updates on where support is needed throughout the store.

For instance, Vision AI analyses queue lengths and alerts staff when there is a need to open up a new checkout counter, detects low stock count and misplaced items on shelves, and identifies potential safety hazards such as spillages and obstructions.

Also showcased at FairPrice's Punggol Digital District outlet are in-store digital promotion and price labels. These are becoming increasingly common among grocery retailers as they free up the time that staff spend on printing and changing physical labels.

FairPrice plans to roll out digital labels across its 164 supermarkets over the next 36 months if the pilot in Punggol Digital District is successful.

As store space is limited, an Endless Aisle experiment at FairPrice's Punggol Digital District outlet will let store shoppers scan a QR code on electronic shelf labels to be directed to a full catalogue on the FairPrice Group app. Consumers can complete their purchases and schedule a delivery on the app.

"It is not just about new features, it is also about winning customer trust and confidence," said Mr Seah. "These are very important considerations as we continue to innovate."