Coca-Cola’s Smart Lounge Uses AI to Analyze Consumer Interactions
Coca-Cola has developed a retail lounge that collects consumer data through interactive experiences.
Located in a souvenir store in Shanghai, the Coca-Cola Smart Lounge is billed by retail tech provider SandStar as a recreational space. Consumers can hang out and purchase beverages while a network of cameras leverage computer vision and AI to identify such information as the average number of shoppers, purchase routes, interactions, the amount of time spent in the lounge, and the space distribution of the areas visited.
SandStar said that although consumer interactions are analyzed from when they enter the Smart Lounge until they exit, the cameras aren’t collecting their facial features as a way to preserve privacy. Instead, information is said to be collected surrounding their movements and the merchandise, with results displayed in real-time on a dashboard.
In addition to collecting valuable consumer information, the Smart Lounge is designed to increase operational efficiency for the No. 14 consumer goods company, displaying order volume and best-selling items so operators can adjust their merchandising strategies and identify growth opportunities.
[See also: Coca-Cola Global Brand Refresh Focuses on Consumer Experience]
Coca-Cola previously partnered with SandStar, formerly known as YI Tunnel, in 2018 for an AI-enabled vending machine. There, consumers scanned a QR code to open the cooler door while computer vision recognized when an item was removed from the shelf.
It’s also not the only beverage giant partnering with the company: PepsiCo teamed with SandStar last fall for a 200-square-foot contactless self-checkout retail experience in Dubai (see below). There, the space was designed with computer vision and semantic recognition technology to identify items removed from shelves and automatically charges consumers upon exiting.
