High-Tech Based Grocery Store

Abstract

Modern retail stores are adopting automation to improve customer convenience and security. The proposed system, Entry and Exit System with High-Tech Smart Trolley, is designed to create a fully automated and secure shopping experience using Arduino Uno, ultrasonic sensors, RFID, servo motors, and barcode scanning technology. At the entry gate, ultrasonic sensors detect the presence of a customer, and the Arduino Uno triggers a servo motor to open the gate automatically. Inside the store, the smart trolley allows customers to scan each product using a barcode scanner. The trolley’s microcontroller adds the scanned item’s name and price to the total bill displayed on an LCD screen. If a customer places an unscanned item inside the trolley, a buzzer rings immediately, indicating unauthorized addition. Once shopping is complete, the trolley generates a QR code representing the final bill. After online payment or verification, the customer proceeds to the exit gate, where an RFID-based system authenticates the paid trolley and opens the servo-operated gate automatically. This approach enhances efficiency, prevents billing fraud, and minimizes manpower in retail environments

Introduction

Conventional supermarket shopping involves long billing queues and slow manual verification of unscanned items. To address these issues, the project introduces a fully automated smart shopping system that integrates entry control, smart trolley billing, and secure exit verification into a unified design.

System Overview

• Entry Gate: Uses an ultrasonic sensor and servo motor controlled by Arduino to detect customers and open the gate automatically.

• Smart Trolley: Equipped with a barcode scanner for product scanning, buzzer for detecting unscanned items, and an LCD for real-time billing display. After checkout, a QR code is generated for digital payment.

• Exit Gate: Uses an RFID reader to allow only paid trolleys to exit. Unauthorized exits trigger a buzzer or lock mechanism.

This system reduces manpower, enhances billing accuracy, and speeds up the shopping process.

? Objectives

1. Automate entry and exit using sensors and RFID.

2. Develop a smart trolley that scans items in real time.

3. Detect unscanned items using buzzer alerts.

4. Generate QR-based bills for instant digital payment.

5. Ensure only paid trolleys exit via RFID validation.

? Literature Review Summary

Existing systems often automate billing with barcodes or RFID but lack full integration between entry control, billing, and exit verification.
Previous research used:

• RFID carts (Karthikeyan & Abirami, 2020)

• Ultrasonic-controlled gates (Sharma & Singh, 2021)

However, none combined entry automation, smart trolley billing, QR-based payment, and RFID exit control.
The proposed system unifies these technologies into a complete automated shopping experience.

? Proposed System Components

1. Entry Gate System: Ultrasonic sensor + Arduino Uno + Servo motor

2. Smart Trolley System: Barcode scanner, LCD, buzzer, Arduino, QR generator

3. Exit Gate System: RFID reader with servo motor control

? Working Principle

• Entry: Ultrasonic sensor detects customer → servo motor opens/closes gate automatically.

• Smart Trolley:

  • Barcode scanner adds items to bill

  • LCD displays total

  • Buzzer alerts if items are added without scanning

  • QR code generated for digital payment

• Exit: RFID reader checks payment status → gate opens only for verified trolleys.

? Hardware & Software

Hardware: Arduino Uno, HC-SR04 sensor, RFID reader (RC522), RFID tag, barcode scanner, LCD, buzzer.
Software: Arduino IDE, Embedded C/C++, QR code library, Serial Monitor.

? Results & Discussion

Testing showed:

• Accurate ultrasonic detection up to 40 cm

• Correct product scanning; buzzer for unscanned items

• RFID authentication within 1 second

• QR payment successful via mobile

Performance Improvement:

• Billing time reduced from 10–12 min → 2–3 min (75% faster)

• Product misplacement eliminated

• Entry/exit fully automated

• Significantly improved security with RFID & QR verification

? Advantages

• Fully automated shopping flow

• Prevents theft and billing errors

• Saves time with self-checkout

• Reduces manpower cost

• Enhanced security and transparency

? Future Enhancements

• Mobile app integration

• Wi-Fi/Bluetooth connectivity

• Voice guidance features

• Multi-counter centralized network

• Solar-powered systems for energy efficiency

Conclusion

The High-Tech Based Grocery Shop successfully demonstrates how IoT and RFID can be combined with microcontrollers to create a simple, low-cost, and efficient smart store. The system eliminates manual billing, reduces human errors, and ensures faster checkout for customers. By avoiding cloud and AI dependencies, it remains economical and easy to deploy in small grocery shops. This embedded-system-based automation approach represents an important step toward practical smart retail solutions suitable for developing regions.

References

[1] The Smart Shopping Trolley — Shreyas B.L., Keerthana K., Kruthi S., Ravishankara. International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research (IJFMR), Vol. 7, Issue 3, May–June 2025 [2] Pathak, G., Sharma, K., & Siddiqui, K. M. (2024). Efficient Shopping: RFID-Powered Cart with Automated Billing System. i-manager’s Journal on Future Engineering & Technology, 20(1), 22-29 [3] Arduino.cc Documentation (2023). RFID and IoT Integration Examples. [4] TutorialsPoint (2022). RFID Technology and Applications in Retail [5] Stidham, Kristina. “Amazon to Launch Smart Shopping Carts in New Grocery Stores”(2020) [6] Karthikeyan, K., & Abirami, S. (2020). “Implementation of Smart Shopping Cart using RFID and IoT.” JETIR, 7(2), 564–569. [7] Sharma, R., & Singh, A. (2019). “IoT-Based Automated Billing Systems for Retail.” IJARCSSE, 9(6), 25–31. [8] Kumar, S., & Patel, D. R. (2014). “A Survey on Internet of Things: Security and Privacy Issues.” IJCA, 90(11).

Copyright

Copyright © 2025 Vinay Rakhe, Atharva Bomble, Vaidanya Moundekar, Vaishnavi Kale, Vikrant Barapatre. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.