AI helps Japanese convenience stores profit from reduced waste

In a bid to increase sales and reduce food waste, more and more of Japan's convenience stores and supermarkets are letting artificial intelligence analyze data such as past sales figures to decide what discounts to apply to perishable products. At about 3 p.m., in a branch of the Lawson convenience store chain in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, an in-store computer decides which food products should be discounted and by how much. A display reads "assorted sandwiches, one, ¥20 ($0.13) discount," another, "crispy ham and lettuce sandwiches, three, ¥30 discount." This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software. Please add japantimes.co.jp and piano.io to your list of allowed sites.