Amazon experiments with ‘grab and go’ shopping

Sometimes one of the most time-consuming shopping experiences is not the selection of products and items to buy but the checkout part. People often have to wait around 30 minutes or more queuing to pay for the goods. Amazon aims to solve this with a new experimental shop that promotes the “grab and go” concept, which revolves around the Amazon Go app and the user’s Amazon account.

Equipped with the app, shoppers can walk into the store, pick out their choice of products, and just head out the door. No cues, no angry people in a hurry, no underpaid slow-moving cashier to get mad at. Amazon just sends the bill and receipt afterwards.

Amazon’s system makes use of technology that can also be found in self-driving cars. Cameras, as well as various sensors around the store, keep track of customers and products. At the same time, computer vision and machine learning help determine what products are being bought and note them down in a virtual shopping cart.

Apart from the staple grocery items, the Amazon Go store also offers freshly made meals prepared by on-site chefs–from sandwiches to Amazon Meal Kits for quick home-cooked dinners.

The experimental store, which is found in Seattle, Washington, is currently only open to Amazon employees as part of the Beta program. Amazon Go is scheduled for the public in early 2017.  Alfred Bayle

Watch the video below to see the system in action: