Amazon is eliminating its “Just Walk Out” program at its high-tech Fresh Grocers stores as the supermarkets undergo renovations.
Amazon first announced its cashierless system in 2018 when it debuted its first 10,400-square-foot Amazon Go Grocery store near its Seattle headquarters.
The concept is for Amazon Prime users to scan a member’s QR code to enter, pick up the items they want, and fill up a cart full of groceries without having to check out or swipe through items. We are committed to delivering a new era of grocery shopping where you simply leave the store with your credit card.
After a futuristic system of cameras and sensors calculates what grocery shoppers have left, they’ll be notified of their bill later via their Amazon account.
However, Amazon is actively working on this technology, stating: bloomberg The company said it will discontinue use of the program when renovating existing Fresh grocery stores and will not implement the program in new stores opening later this year.
Amazon declined to comment on when the technology would return.
Currently, there are approximately 40 large Amazon Fresh stores in the United States (including Oceanside, New York, Paramus, New Jersey, and Blue Mall and Walling, Pennsylvania) that use “Just Walk Out” technology. There are only 27 stores.
‘Just Walk Out’ technology will continue to be available in Amazon Go stores and small Fresh shops across the UK.
The Information first reported on the retirement of the “Just Walk Out” technology.
Tony Hoggett, Amazon’s senior vice president of World Supermarkets and a 30-year veteran of British retail giant Tesco, said: told the information “Just Walk Out” makes sense for small stores where customers buy a few items, but it’s not ideal for a large grocery store like Fresh.
Budget-conscious shoppers have expressed concerns about the program, which emails receipts until hours after customers leave the store. They want to see what they’re spending on in real time.
As a result, Amazon will now rely more on its Dash Cart feature, which allows shoppers to scan items on the go using a scanner in their shopping cart.
However, Dash Cart’s functionality will also be reduced, Bloomberg reported.
Previous versions of high-tech carts used a series of cameras to automatically identify what shoppers took off the shelves and put them in their carts.
The new version of the Dash Cart does away with cameras and requires shoppers to hold their items in front of a scanner. Scanners then read barcodes or are equipped with touchscreens to search for items without barcodes, such as produce or ready-to-serve hot foods.
Amazon spokeswoman Carly Golden told the Post that smart shopping carts still allow customers to skip the checkout line and offer other benefits, such as being able to see their receipt while shopping.
“We have spent a lot of time over the last year redesigning many of our Amazon Fresh stores to provide more value, convenience, and a comprehensive shopping experience. We are seeing positive results, including an increase in shopping satisfaction scores and purchase volume,” Golden added.
The “Just Walk Out” concept will continue to be marketed to smaller retailers and convenience stores that can deploy the technology more nimbly, but it is expensive to implement and relies on humans double-checking the accuracy of transactions. was. A program designed for use in large supermarkets.
As a result, sales efforts for “Just Walk Out” have been transferred from Hoggett’s team to Amazon Web Services, the tech giant’s cloud computing subsidiary, the Information reported.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos initially scoffed at the idea of cashierless supermarkets.
After the Post first reported in February 2017, Amazon cited sources as saying it was developing a “supermarket-sized version” of Amazon Go Shops, with the robots at the top of the two-story concept. Items were grabbed and bagged on the floor, and shoppers picked up the following items: Bezos slammed the ground floor, which sells produce, meat and alcohol.
In a rare Twitter post at the time, the paper’s source said, “We mixed up the drugs.”
News of a high-tech grocery store also raised concerns among consumers that Amazon relies more on technology than human workers, a controversial and job-killing business model.
“It is inaccurate and misleading to suggest that Amazon is destroying jobs. The fact is that no U.S.-based company has created as many jobs as Amazon.” the company said in a statement in 2020, after reporting the opening of Fresh Restaurant. Stores equipped with “Just Walk Out” technology.
