Amazon Go to roll out more cashier-free stores

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Three months after debuting its first cashier-free supermarket in Seattle, Amazon Go is ready to roll out further stores in Washington State and potentially in Los Angeles, the online giant has said.

 

Although the first store’s opening was delayed by 10 months, due to difficulties tracking more than 20 people at a time or objects moved from their shelf, the experiment has been declared a success by Amazon Go VPs Gianna Puerini and Dilip Kumar.

According to Amazon, the ‘just walk out’ technology uses the same approach as self-driving cars, employing computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning to automatically detect when products are removed from, or placed back on, shelves.

Shoppers download and check in via a mobile app, take what they want and walk out the door, where they are charged for the products they take with them. There are no queues, and no barcodes to scan.

Puerini said that when the store opened, more members of staff were near the entrance, to guide customers. However, it soon became clear that a bigger presence was required at the exit. ‘People were asking if it was okay to just leave,’ she said. ‘The staff had to post a sign assuring shoppers that they could go without physically checking out!’