Image courtesy: Tech Crunch
Amazon has announced that it would deploy its cashierless “Just Walk Out” technology to two new Whole Foods stores next year. One store will be in Washington, DC, and the other in Sherman Oaks, California. Customers will be able to pay at a standard self-checkout or customer service booth when they open, or have the new technology automatically bill them when they leave the store.
The initiative is Amazon’s next step toward expanding its cashierless technology, which uses a network of cameras and sensors to automatically recognise what consumers pick up off shelves, into a wider range of larger businesses. Just Walk Out began in small Amazon Go convenience stores before being scaled out to function in larger and larger supermarket stores.
Customers may begin cashierless shopping by scanning a QR code in the Whole Foods or Amazon app, inserting a credit or debit card linked to their Amazon account, or scanning their palm using Amazon One technology (which it has already tested in Whole Foods locations as a way of speeding up the checkout process). After you leave the business, you will be given a digital receipt. Customers will require an Amazon account to utilise Just Walk Out, and if they wish to pay with cash, debit or credit cards, or gift cards, they will need to use a self-checkout line.
