A system for the identification of products in a shopping cart in a retail environment, comprising: - a computer comprising a database with product specific data related to products from an assortment of products in a retail environment; - a shopping cart; - at least one optical camera operably connected to the computer, for monitoring the shopping cart; - a software stored in a memory of the computer, for identifying products in the shopping cart, which comprises an image recognition software adapted for identifying an image area and attributing it to a product, and to calculate signature data from the optical data of the attributed image area; wherein the product specific data in the database comprises signature data derived from previously obtained optical images of the assortment of products, and wherein the software is adapted to identify a product in the shopping cart by comparing calculated signature data of the product in the shopping cart with signature data in the database, wherein the software is adapted to use at least one auxiliary information from at least one further sensing device, in order to improve the accuracy and/or speed of identification of products in the shopping cart, and wherein the at least one optical camera is mounted to the shopping cart; and wherein the shopping cart comprises a compartment having the function of a scale, which is a bag from textile suspended at weight sensors mounted to the shopping cart, and wherein the system is adapted to use weighting information of added goods for the product identification, and wherein the textile body of the bag has magnets attached to it, so that the bag is maintained at its full volume and kept from crumbling when the magnets are attached to counterparts attached to the shopping cart. - a computer comprising a database with product specific data related to products from an assortment of products in a retail environment; - a shopping cart; - at least one optical camera operably connected to the computer, for monitoring the shopping cart; - a software stored in a memory of the computer, for identifying products in the shopping cart, which comprises an image recognition software adapted for identifying an image area and attributing it to a product, and to calculate signature data from the optical data of the attributed image area; wherein the product specific data in the database comprises signature data derived from previously obtained optical images of the assortment of products, and wherein the software is adapted to identify a product in the shopping cart by comparing calculated signature data of the product in the shopping cart with signature data in the database, wherein the software is adapted to use at least one auxiliary information from at least one further sensing device, in order to improve the accuracy and/or speed of identification of products in the shopping cart, and wherein the at least one optical camera is mounted to the shopping cart; and wherein the shopping cart comprises a compartment having the function of a scale, which is a bag from textile suspended at weight sensors mounted to the shopping cart, and wherein the system is adapted to use weighting information of added goods for the product identification, and wherein the textile body of the bag has magnets attached to it, so that the bag is maintained at its full volume and kept from crumbling when the magnets are attached to counterparts attached to the shopping cart. <EOS>