Belfast cyber security firm in final talks with a major retailer for lift-and-run shopping

Belfast cyber security leader ANGOKA is in the final stages of talks with a major retailer which could see the advent of lift-and-run shopping as early as next year.

No queueing at tills and automatic pay convenience mean shopping will look more like authorised shop lifting.

The future shopper will walk into a store, lift everything they want from the shelves and walk out again with no visible or delaying transaction.

Increasing numbers of people need to shop for provisions late at night when shops are closed.

ANGOKA’s Clem Robertson says that the benefits of automated shopping are already being felt through systems provided by Amazon Fresh and Tesco Get Go.

He explained: “What this does is free up time for people working in retail. There will always be a need for people to stock shops and administer a busy retail operation but late at night and in remote areas of the country the need for retail services is more pressing than ever. These systems are in place now to make this happen.”

Challenges faced by retailer who want to deploy these technologies include GDPR issues and identification. Current cyber security measures are clunky and require all sorts of information which are not GDPR compliant explained Mr Robertson.

He continued: “ANGOKA’s solution is to use sensors which will isolate information sharing, identifying credit cards and associating them to the right users through methods other than photography.”

Demands made on the new technology will include hack-proof sensors which guarantee the information and identity privacy of the shopper on the one hand but matches them to the payment methods.

“We are finalising the application and number of sensors needed to identify the item being bought, the shopper’s credit or debit card and to detect their movement as they go from aisle to aisle,” Mr Robertson added.

In order to prevent actual shop lifting and theft, simple measures will be in place including doors which won’t open when someone attempts to leave the shop without the matching identifiers stored in the items.

ANGOKA says a key benefit will be to the agricultural community. Farmers have already experimented with automatic vending machines at the main road entrance to their farms.

The cyber security systems proposed by ANGOKA would be perfectly suited to small booth-like mini-supermarkets the size of a caravan.