E-commerce giant Amazon has pioneered technology that will let shoppers grab groceries without having to scan and pay for them – in one stroke eliminating the checkout line.
When you’re done shopping, you can just leave the store. Shortly after, we’ll charge your Amazon account and send you a receipt
The company is testing the new system at what it is calling an Amazon Go store in Seattle, which will open to the public early next year.
Customers will be able to scan their phones at the entrance using a new Amazon Go mobile app. Then the technology will track what items they pick up or even return to the shelves and add them to a virtual shopping cart in real time, according a video Amazon posted on YouTube. Once the customers exit the store, they will be charged on their Amazon account automatically.
Amazon Go is a “checkout-free shopping experience made possible by the same types of technologies used in self-driving cars: computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning,” its webpage said.
“Our Just Walk Out technology automatically detects when products are taken from or returned to the shelves and keeps track of them in a virtual cart. When you’re done shopping, you can just leave the store. Shortly after, we’ll charge your Amazon account and send you a receipt.”
Amazon employees are testing out the 1,800-square-foot store on the company’s campus, where they can buy ready-to-eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack options as well as artisanal cheeses and locally made chocolates.
The concept store and automated checkout mark Amazon’s latest attempt to upend the grocery business. The company began experimenting with fresh food in 2007, when it started AmazonFresh, a delivery service now active in 16 US markets.