In a bid to increase sales and reduce food waste, more and more of
At about
A manager then printed out price tags and made the rounds, affixing them to products. Eight assorted sandwiches lined the shelf, but only one, approaching its use-by time, was discounted.
In 2015,
To calculate how far to cut prices, the software considers a store's sales, delivery times and the local weather conditions to propose a price that gives the product the best chance at being sold.
Until now, store managers have been making reductions based on experience, but leaving it to human judgment was leading to instances of undiscounted stock going to waste or items selling out. To curb this, the AI reviews some 270 product types four times a day.
The system has led to improved business performance for the group. In 2021, in the six prefectures comprising northeast
It has since expanded further, with 162 Lawson outlets in the capital adopting the system between June and September this year. The company intends to begin a full national rollout in fiscal 2023.
Major supermarket chain
At Aeon's Funabashi branch in
There were 24 omelets on the shelf at that moment so the employee entered "24 omelets" and sent the data to the centralized system. It instantly calculated a blanket 10 percent discount for the omelets and spooled out the
The system's introduction seems to have been a welcome addition, with one official at Aeon Retail praising it for having "ended the practice of needing to make huge discounts right before closing time."
==Kyodo
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