Imagine you are at the grocery store, but instead of waiting at the cashier to pay, an artificial intelligence (AI) registered the products you took and automatically bills them to your account right after you leave the store. For many years, the shopping process in a supermarket was very similar: customers would take products from shelves, then go to checkout, put the goods on a belt which were scanned by a cashier, and pay. Usually, this process is often associated with waiting times, depending on how busy the store is. With the introduction of self-checkouts, this process has already been optimized through technology. In 2016, Amazon opened the first smart store in Seattle. A smart store completely eliminates the payment process at a cash register (Amazon, 2022). Cameras, sensors and an AI automatically detect which products the customer took from the shelf. The products are paid for using the stored payment data when the customer leaves the store. This smart store concept rather describes the “Grab & Go” technology which includes a walk-in option for customers. While there are a multitude of different concepts used in smart stores, this research focused on said concept as well as an ”Automated Box” concept which refers to a smart store with a fully automated high-bay warehouse. Customers do not select the products inside this particular smart store, but choose their desired products via an app either before or upon their arrival.
Research goal
The main goal of this research was to investigate whether consumers would generally use a smart store and which of two concept types, namely Grab & Go and Automated Box they would prefer. As we have reported in one of our earlier blog posts virtual reality (VR) offers promising opportunities for acceptance research, as it lets participants experience new technologies or innovations for which physical prototypes are not currently available. Hence, this study also aimed at examining the influence of a VR input on consumers’ intention to use a smart store compared to 2-D, meaning “traditional”, information (pictures and text). Here, the VR scenario showed 360° video camera input, meaning participants did not actively engage with the VR environment.
Research overview
For this research, Ole Göttsche, a student of our business psychology department, conducted a laboratory study with 26 participants in a within-subject design. The smart store concept was virtually presented using examples of stores with Grab & Go or Automated Box technology and their respective shopping experience. Participants answered a questionnaire which was based on Venkatesh et al.’s (2012) UTAUT 2 model and Davis’ TAM (1989). A short qualitative interview concluded the study participation.
For more information on acceptance research theories, visit our website.
Sample overview
The majority of participants were students (80%), female (65%) and between 21 to 30 years old (79%). Most go shopping every 2-3 days (35%), or every 4-5 days (35%) and 85% have already heard of smart stores, but do not have detailed knowledge about the concept. In fact, more than 90% have seen a smart store for the first time in this study.
Main findings
- Participants showed high acceptance towards the overall concept of smart stores.
- Perceived usefulness was rated especially positively, mainly because of the constant availability (24/7) and faster shopping process.
- The Grab & Go concept was rated significantly better than the Automated Box concept, mostly because it is closer to the current way of shopping for groceries at a supermarket and because participants perceived the waiting time at an Automated Box as long.
- Potential barriers to acceptance were: data security, cold/ uncomfortable atmosphere, missing staff, and concerns about correct functionality of the technology.
- Overall, a smart store was identified more as an addition to a supermarket and for familiar products, due to the option to touch the products before buying them and the greater selection of products at a supermarket.
- Experiencing the smart store concepts via VR had an additional positive impact on acceptance: The ease of use was perceived significantly better and concerns about data security significantly decreased after the VR presentation for both smart store concepts. One explanation for this, based on the interviews, is that participants were able to follow the single steps of shopping at a smart store.
Implications
- Smart stores are a promising concept which should receive further attention.
- Communication should highlight the benefits (24/7 availability, flexibility, and short waiting times) and address concerns through proactively informing consumer about data security or offering a refund if products were scanned falsely by the technology.
- Uncertainties about the process and missing staff members could be addressed via a digital assistant or a help section in the app.
- Additional measures should include improving the atmosphere, e.g., by using suiting colors or adding music.
Conclusion
Smart stores represent one of the most important innovations for the future of food retailing. This study concluded that acceptance among consumers for the smart store concept is generally high. Consumers do not see it as a replacement for traditional supermarkets, but want to rather use it for smaller complementary purchases of familiar products. The concept Grab & Go was rated significantly better than the concept Automated Box, mostly because customers can see or touch the products and it is most similar to current shopping behavior. The biggest concerns regarding smart stores were privacy, functionality of the technology, and lack of a direct contact person.
Additionally, this research provided further evidence, that VR offers diverse possibilities for acceptance research of new technologies and innovations. Our next post will focus on VR in a completely different setting: as a participatory research tool in urban planning. Here, again, VR may be helpful to make future ideas more tangible.
References
Amazon (n.d.). Amazon go. Retrieved November 9, 2022, from: https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=16008589011
