Image sourced from The Business Journals.
Amazon – the biggest online eCommerce platform in the world – is selling its impressive “Just Walk Out” technology system to several brick-and-mortar retailers, reports The Verge.
And although there is no word on exactly which retailers have already acquired the system, Amazon is also set to launch a website where any potential customers can inquire about the tech.
The “Just Walk Out” system is a cashier-less service used in retail stores that gives shoppers the freedom to choose products and simply leave the store – without the time-consuming task of checking out.
“Do customers like standing in lines?” asks Dilip Kumar, Amazon’s VP of physical retail and technology. “This has pretty broad applicability across store sizes, across industries, because it fundamentally tackles a problem of how do you get convenience in physical locations, especially when people are hard-pressed for time.”
Here’s how cashier-less shopping works
Essentially, using a combination of “ceiling-mounted cameras and shelf-weight sensors”, the system can automatically track shoppers and the items they choose as they move around the cashier-less store.
As soon as the shopper has collected all their items, they are welcome to leave the store. Once they’ve left, a receipt will be automatically sent to their email and their accounts billed.
Exciting news for retailers
“The highly anticipated business reflects Amazon’s strategy of building out internal capabilities – such as warehouses to help with package delivery and cloud technology to support its website – and then turning those into lucrative services it offers others,” reports Reuters.
The system was first launched in December 2016 and now Amazon has 26 cashier-less locations across America.
