Amazon Opens Cashier-Less Go Store: Just Walk Out After You Buy

Amazon has opened its first cashier-less Amazon Go store outside its hometown Seattle. The highlight of the stores which are under Amazon’s Go department, is the fact that customers don’t need to wait in line to check out their purchase. That’s right, just pick up what you want and walk out, as simple as that!

Obviously the products are not free of of cost and Amazon does have a solid process in place. The Amazon Go concept was introduced back in 2016. Since then, Amazon has opened a few stores. It basically had its employees come in and shop in these stores, testing it completely. When a customer walks in to the store, they swipe their phone against a sensor, which checks them in. Following this, a combination of cameras and sensors will track any item a customer picks up and add it to their virtual cart. As soon as you walk out of the store, the cart is updated. An e-recipt is sent to your amazon account so you can make the payment.

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The store is open from 7 AM to 8 PM and offers ready- made lunches, drinks, snacks, frozen dinners and basic groceries. The timings, products and working of the store clearly defines its target audience. It caters to the busy workforce, which does not have time to prepare their own meals or even wait in line.

Is Go The Future?

While the stores do lack cashiers, Amazon has not eliminated the need for human presence completely. The store still uses people for delivery, stocking and customer assistance. The main aim is to make a convenient check out process, whether it includes humans or not.

The tech giant uses several technologies to make this feat possible. A combination of computer vision, deep learning algorithms and sensor fusion help with each step along the way. To shop at the store, customers are required to download the Amazon Go app which is available for both iOS and Android devices. As of now, Amazon does not plan to expand outside the US. However, local tech companies in China are rivalling this model and have already opened chains of cashier-less stores. While they are not as technologically advanced as Amazon, they are catching up soon.