Shepton Mallet, England - 06202024: Tesco supermarket sign against blue sky, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer in the UK; Shutterstock ID 2493183373; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other:
Tesco is testing new aisle-roaming robots (Picture: Shutterstock / Travelanza Media)

Supermarkets have been making some major tech changes of late, introducing everything from electronic shelf labels to facial recognition scanners.

And expect to see more advancements in your local shops soon – including robots.

Last year, Morrisons started testing human-sized aisle robots in three of its stores, which roamed the aisles checking the accuracy of prices, promotions and stock levels.

Now Tesco has become the latest retailer to introduce the 6ft 5in inventory scanning creation, known as the Tally robot.

Tally was created by Simbe Robotics and is reportedly able to detect 10 times more out-of-stock products than manual audits.

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The Simbe Robotics website says Tally is designed to ‘autonomously navigate store aisles, scan shelves using sensors and AI, and detect out-of-stocks, pricing errors and misplaced products in real time’.

All of this information is captured using ‘ultra-high-resolution imaging’ with enhanced 3D depth and 360° fisheye cameras, and delivered to store teams via a mobile app or a printed report.

According to the manufacturer, Tally is ‘a friendly face’, as it’s ‘approachable’ with a ‘compact design that fits seamlessly into busy store environments’.

However, shoppers who have spotted the robot in Morrisons and Tesco aren’t quite so keen, with some describing it as ‘creepy’ and ‘terrifying’ in comments on TikTok.

Others were concerned the robot would ‘take people’s jobs’ and that using it was ‘asking for trouble’.

Not everyone felt this way, however, with some thinking Tally looked ‘cute’ and ‘adorable’, as it has a little face.

How do you feel about Tally in Tesco?

Currently, Tesco is only testing Tally in one supermarket, but the retailer says it’s ‘looking forward to learning from the trial’.

And Tally isn’t the only robot you might spot in Tesco, as the retail giant is also testing cleaning robots.

In June, 600 of them were sent to Express Stores to tackle routine jobs such as floor cleaning, so staff can spend more time serving customers and managing day-to-day operations.  

Retail expert Toby Pickard from the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) shared a closer look at Tally on LinkedIn as well as Tesco’s other recent AI and tech updates.

He claims that all of the changes suggest the retailer is ‘building towards the hyper-connected store, where robotics, AI, computer vision, digital shelf infrastructure and connected operations work together to create smarter store execution, empower store colleagues, and ultimately deliver a better shopping experience.’

Whether other retailers will start following in Tesco’s footsteps, we’ll have to wait and see.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@metro.co.uk

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