Asda, Co-op and Morrisons cameras to guess age of alcohol buyers to avoid ‘conflicts at till’

Major supermarkets have begun testing new automated age-verifying technology that will allow shoppers to buy alcohol at self-checkouts without staff authorisation.

The trial will use cameras that provide an estimate of a customer’s age.

Asda is the latest supermarket to announce its trial of the system, while Co-op and Morrisons are also installing it in some of their shops. The same technology is already used in Aldi’s checkout-free stores.

It is part of a Home Office test of technologies to assist with selling alcohol.

If customers consent, the camera will guess their age, using algorithms and a database of anonymous faces. If the system determines they are under 25, the customer will need to show ID to a member of staff.

In a recent announcement, Asda confirmed it would be trialling the system in its Pudsey and Stevenage stores from this week until May with the aim of making shopping “easier and quicker for customers”, the company said.

The trial is in partnership with the checkout technology company NCR and the digital identity network Yoti.

The chief executive of Yoti, Robin Tombs, said: “Waiting for age approval at the self-checkout is sometimes frustrating for shoppers.

“Our age verification solutions are helping retailers like Asda meet the requirements of regulators worldwide and keep pace with consumer demands for fast and convenient services while preserving people’s privacy.”

Geri Hebberd, senior director of retail innovation at Asda, said: “We know how time-pressed some of our customers are, so we always want to make things quicker and easier for them when they shop with us.

“We are excited to be the first retailer in the UK to test this new technology and are looking forward to seeing what our customers think of the trial. The use of this software will enable colleagues to focus on serving customers and make sure they have an excellent experience whilst in store.”

Graham Wynn, assistant director for consumer, competition and regulatory affairs at the British Retail Consortium, said: “The BRC has long campaigned for the use of age-verification and estimation technology in the sale of alcohol.

“Such technology has already been used for all other age-restricted items, such as knives. Alcohol is the most common age-restricted sale, and it is often a trigger point for conflict at the till.

“Using this technology could reduce incidents of abuse because the machine would be seen to be refusing the sale rather than the retail worker.”

Privacy concerns, however, were raised in 2020 when 18 Co-op stores tested a facial-recognition system, from start-up Facewatch, that alerted staff to customers with a record of “theft or anti-social behaviour”.

Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s tested a hidden artificial-intelligence-enabled detector that sent video footage to security staff if customers pocketed an item.

Tom Church, who created a supermarket price comparison tool on LatestDeals.co.uk, said: “Artificial intelligence is probably better at guessing ages consistently than people are. But will teenagers be able to trick it?

“Could you wear a mask of an old person, or put on a fake moustache, or draw some wrinkles around the eyes to look older? Or, on the flip side, will some people be consistently thought of as too young? It all depends on the accuracy and biases within the training data sets of the system.”