H&M, Footlocker, Whole Foods Test New Store Safety Tech

We may think we’re earning an A in social distancing, but retailers don’t trust us yet. So some are deploying new tech to keep stores uncrowded and squeaky clean.

Footlocker and H&M are installing PeopleCount, a digital bouncer system. How it works:

• Front door cameras will track the number of customers entering a store.
• On nearby screens, shoppers will see whether the store’s reached capacity and traffic signals telling them to enter or wait.
• At some stores, PeopleCount will lock automatic doors to prevent overcrowding.

Amazon and Whole Foods are developing robots that blast UV light, a purported coronavirus killer, onto high-touch surfaces like freezer handles and food containers. Amazon hasn’t said when the bots will hit aisles.

New normal, anyone?

Most stores are adopting analog safety protocols, like floor decals and plexiglass cashier barriers, before Futurama-inspired reinforcements. But more efficient tech solutions could level up from exception to rule. That includes retailers giving the elbow bump of approval to tech that existed pre-pandemic but wasn’t widely used, like contactless payments.

Correction: An earlier edition of this story said that Poshmark would install PeopleCount. A representative from Primark told Retail Brew it is not planning to install this system in its stores.