Checkout-Free Startup Trigo Opens More London Stores

Trigo, the Israeli seamless shopping startup, is opening three more autonomous stores in England. 

The first store opened this week on Chiswell Street in London, and will be joined by another in London as well as one in Birmingham in the coming months. These stores will be joining two others that had already opened in the London area. 

Trigo, a Tel Aviv-based company founded in 2018, uses AI tech and ceiling-mounted cameras to track every item a shopper selects (or puts back on the shelf). Customers scan a QR code as they enter, and the purchase amount is automatically deducted as they leave.

The revenue for Trigo from each store is estimated at several millions of dollars.

The news comes shortly after the startup announced the completion of a $100 million financing round. 

“What’s exciting about the Chiswell store is that, similar to the High Holborn store, it is in a high-traffic area filled with on-the-go shoppers who are ideal candidates for frictionless shopping,” said Michael Gabay, CEO of Trigo.

“Building off the experience from previous stores, user research, and testing, Tesco and Trigo wanted an additional way to provide its on-the-go demographic with the best shopping experience, so this location will be Tesco’s first hybrid autonomous store in London.”

“This store marks an important milestone for Trigo, as it is the first of several autonomous Tesco Express locations that will open in the upcoming months in the Fulham Reach neighborhood in London and the first ever announced autonomous store in Birmingham, UK adjacent to the Aston University campus.”

The Tesco chain is the fourth largest food retailer in the world with revenues of approximately $74 billion and over 7,000 stores in 11 countries around the world.

Trigo’s solution has previously been implemented by German retail giant Rewe, in stores in Berlin and Cologne. It also launched a checkout-free grocery store in the Netherlands as a joint venture with Aldi, as well as one in Tel Aviv with Israeli supermarket chain Shufersal.