A startup making tech that can detect and monitor various types of inventory on store shelves in real-time announced it has secured its first product deployment following a partnership with a local direct store delivery distributor.
Shelfmark Inc., founded by CEO Pat O’Donnell and based in Uptown, now has its Scout system of inventory-scanning cameras hanging from the ceilings of select 7-Eleven convenience store locations throughout Pittsburgh as part of a partnership with Cucina Calabrese Inc.
The company, which employs about a half dozen workers, said its tech can help distributors at stores cut down on operating costs by as much as 50% by offering them live information about what is and isn't currently stocked on shelves as well as showcase the types of products that might be better suited for other shelving placement due to demand trends.
"This is the first production implementation — our product will be deployed soon in several other stores to be announced in the Pittsburgh region," O’Donnell said in an email statement to Pittsburgh Inno.
O’Donnell didn't disclose the cost that Shelfmark charges for this subscription-based service due to a custom quote pricing model that's tailored to each client. He noted that Shelfmark won't be able to fulfill the waitlist for Scout until later this fall while the startup works to scale its hardware and machine learning infrastructure to meet demand.
Shelfmark is a spinout of Glen Lake Pioneering, a technology venture studio that took over a portion of space previously used by the Avenue coworking facility in the historic Paramount Film Exchange Building in Uptown this past March. Craig Markovitz, former founder & CEO of Bluebelt Technologies, serves as Shelfmark's chairman.
