Automated retail is the category of self-service, standalone kiosks in heavily trafficked locations such as airports, malls, resorts and convenience stores.

Consumers select products, sometimes using a touchscreen interface, pay for purchases using a credit or debit card and then the product is dispensed, sometimes via an internal robotic arm in the machine.

An automatic shop is defined as the room used exclusively for vending machines , open – generally – 24 hours a day every day of the year. In the vending machines, hot and cold drinks, sweet and savory snacks, sandwiches, sandwiches and items are provided. The automatic store has the characteristic, therefore, of not needing sales staff and each vending machine is able, independently, to accept coins, banknotes, payments with credit / debit cards, and to provide the rest.

ZoomShops and Redbox are examples. Though the vending units can be dressed up with a touchscreen, they are considered smart vending units. There is a wide discrepancy between the revenue results from smart vending units and automated retail units. Lower cost products are better suited for smart vending, whereas more expensive products such as luxury items, cosmetics, electronics and other such products will perform better in automated retail machines. The retail units are several times more expensive than the smart vending units; however, the cost can be justified based on revenues generated. The Source self-service automated retail units accept debit and credit cards to dispense electronics, much like the Best Buy units.

Features
Absence of sales staff
It is called automatic because there is no need for sales staff or control staff. The sale and the eventual preparation of the products takes place automatically. The whole process takes place through automatic vending machines that autonomously manage to collect, sell and return any remainder.

Hours
The automatic shop, due to the fact that it does not need sales personnel, it can be opened every day, including holidays, 24 hours a day. Sometimes, for security reasons, some owners decide to close the night, through an automatic shutter or, very often, through private security institutes. Distributors, however, have no problem working 24 hours a day. However, there may be limitations, which vary from municipality to municipality, as regards the sale of alcoholic beverages or simply cans. For reasons of public order, there may be a ruling by the mayor that for limited periods (usually in conjunction with sporting events. In these cases, various events or more simply in specific periods of the year) that prohibits certain periods.

Warehouse automation

Schaefer Case Picking
SSI Schaefer’s Schaefer Case Picking system is a fully automated, customizable picking solution for retail. It manages all aspects from unloading of incoming pallets and intermediate storage to the ordering and repackaging of cases into new pallets. The SCP uses a computer vision system to identify items, removing the requirement of other identification schemes such as those involving barcodes or RFID tags. It can automatically select and palletize products according to store layout or other customer criteria, and prepare the products for shipping. The system reduces labor requirements, product loss, and energy consumption by way of a more accurate, route-optimized computer-controlled system that reduces wait time and increases pallet throughput. Additionally, it reduces transportation costs by optimizing the density of individual pallets, selecting combinations of product cases that lead to more product per unit volume.

Order picking machinery
Witron’s Order Picking Machinery is an automated storage and picking system that can automatically stack around 95% of the products onto pallets or roll containers. The system uses a loading device called COM (Case Order Machine) to pick cases onto load carriers. Advantages of the system include high cost-efficiency, ergonomics and optimization during transport.

Replenishment system
Witron’s Shelf Replenishment System uses a conveyor system to push the goods directly into the shelf.

Source from Wikipedia