Amazon’s first checkout-free store Amazon Go opened in Seattle this week and retail watchers are predicting this may revolutionize retail shopping.
In previous articles we noted that today’s consumers are seeking a more convenient, speedier shopping and checkout experience, and cutting out any line-up for an available cashier will shorten the entire shopping trip.
Using what Amazon calls the “Just Walk Out Shopping” system the store uses multiple in-store cameras, scanners and shelf sensors to record when you pick up an item, put it in your shopping bag, or return it to the shelf.
The system requires customers to download the Amazon Go app to their smartphone, which is connected to a registered account via QR code and to a credit card. When products are placed in your bag, the item is added to a virtual shopping cart, and removed if you put it back on the shelf. Once you exit the store scanners will alert for all purchases to be charged to your credit card and they send you a receipt. You may also use their app to check what is on sale or review previous purchases.
One can’t help but wonder if this is the ultimate method to reduce shoplifting, yet theft is not a concern to Amazon. CNBC reported one of their staff members accidentally shoplifted because the app missed one of the purchases taken from the store. The surprise response from Amazon when it was dutifully reported to them was that they are so confident this would rarely happen they do not even have a formal reporting method in place. They told the CNBC staffer to enjoy the item “on us”.
While this technology and store concept may speed up check-out times for customers, it appears to best suit the flagship store’s small size (about 1,800 square feet or the size of a small convenience store) and shoppers that are looking for prepared-in-store, frozen or ready-to-eat foods, which is about 50% of the product offerings.
As to the future of shopping, Amazon said they had no plans to bring the concept to their Whole Foods Market stores, with the implication being that the inventory would be too large and diverse for cashier-less shopping.
Although Walmart is testing its own similar checkout-free stores one would guess the final concept will likely be a smaller store with limited inventory like Amazon Go.
