Weight-Sensitive Foam to Monitor Product Availability on Retail Shelves

The retail industry, which is characterized by highly complex supply chain processes, still faces stockout rates of 5-10%. This results in sales losses of up to 4% which corresponds to hundreds of millions of dollars for large retailers. The most significant cause for stockout situations is inefficiencies in in-store logistics due to the lack of inventory visibility. In this paper, we present a product availability monitoring system, which anticipates stockouts before they occur and triggers the personnel to replenish the shelf. Our monitoring system is based on inexpensive polyolefin foam, which serves as mount for capacitive sensing elements. Our sensor system is designed for roll-to-roll based manufacturing, which suggests low production costs. Preliminary tests suggest that the system offers sufficient sensitivity to accurately and reliably detect low quantities of stocks. This will not only reduce losses of sales but also increase customer satisfaction.