European Expansion For New Zealand Contactless Checkout Solution Imagr
Imagr is excited to announce its expansion into the European retail market with its new office in Amsterdam opening in April.
The New Zealand based and headquartered company has another office in Osaka, Japan, where it went live with what is believed to be the largest AI checkout deployment of its kind in the world, covering 9,000 square feet and including more than 8,000 SKUs.
Imagr’s European expansion is the next step for the Kiwi tech startup, having just finalised deals with two European retailers.
William Chomley, Imagr founder and CEO, says the retail market in Europe is extensive and has huge potential for automation, especially in the face of Covid-19.
“Europe has a highly competitive grocery market where outlets need to differentiate themselves from the pack or face losing market share. Having boots on the ground is the best way for us to reach these potential customers and support demand.
“With Amazon Go’s Amazon Fresh recently entering the UK and opening two stores, European grocery retailers need to act fast to keep up with the changing landscape. The Imagr system is white label, so retailers can own it, brand it and scale it themselves. We enable retailers to offer a superior customer experience and automate the checkout process.
“As consumers shop more frequently for fewer items, the thought of waiting in long queues can deter people from using a particular supermarket chain. Imagr removes that pressure point and provides a differentiator for customers.”
Imagr makes new European home
With deals already in place in Europe, Imagr is looking to expand its reach into the UK. To give people a feel for Imagr’s tech, the new European team is hosting a series of pop-up activations across the continent from June.
Starting in the UK and moving throughout Europe, the pop up gives retailers an opportunity to see a full system demonstration.
An affordable solution for retailers
The new European office will take advantage of the growing demand for retail automation in Europe at a more affordable price point than competitors.
“Imagr doesn’t only have the best technology in the market, but our cart-based solution by design is cheaper to implement than its competitors.
“We offer full store system pilots from €65,000. Integrating our system is a significantly lower cost than other comparable roof-based or cart-based systems on the market.”
William will be on the ground to support the office and customer launches. Further team expansion is expected once the team settles in and will be supported by the 57-strong New Zealand team.
Chomley says this is another significant milestone for Imagr after having the first store go live in Japan earlier this year.