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Food Business Review | Friday, January 15, 2021
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Food automation has wholly reshaped the food industry in recent years and continues to do the same with its latest advancements.
The year has begun with a shift towards food industry automation. There are already numerous automated purchase systems implemented in sales. The product is automatically supplied when it runs out. The seller will be focused on the chain buyer and negotiating space on the store shelves. The leftover will be only demand and supply.
Smart grocery shopping carts have also embraced future innovations. Many grocery companies have developed applications that allow customers to order groceries online and then collect them from the store or receive them at home.
Still, the food automation industry has to face specific challenges as brands compete against the time customers spend on their mobile phones searching for which product they will need next. Therefore, companies must optimize these platforms to make the shopping experience seamless by implementing product recommendations. The system indicates the related items when a customer is scrolling over the lists of products.
Beyond, cashier-less registers and self-payment are taking over. This innovation makes the payment for groceries convenient, quicker, and more dynamic. The cameras help read bar codes and count the number of SKUs, thus avoiding theft and lines at the register.
Moreover, payment techniques are being diversified. Making payments via phone has become the norm. Conventional cash payments have turned obsolete in this era of food industry automation.
Merchandise reception has become faster when making deliveries with pallets of former inventoried products. Optical readers do the work of merchandise counting, and human assistance is used for shelf storage. This helps reduce warehouse space and extend exhibition space in the store for the customers.
These new technical processes help cut down the number of workers required in the store. However, the challenge of creating jobs with employees equipped with new managerial and technical skills arises, where the employee can easily integrate with the food industry automation and avail the opportunity to get a better salary.