There have been some major changes in grocery shopping throughout the last years. From cash to card to contactless payment, and from normal cashiers to self-checkout stations. But one thing remained the same: If you don’t check out, you’re a thief.
That may change in the future: In 2018, Amazon opened up its first Amazon Go store – A supermarket where you just pick up the things you’d like to buy and leave the store. When you enter, the Amazon Go app creates a barcode to let you enter the market. The underlying technology is similar to that of an autonomously driving car. Deep learning algorithms and sensors are used to identify which products you grabbed and are also reacting if you decide to put something back into the shelf (Thales, 2020). Right now, there are 27 stores across the US (in Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Seattle)(CNBC, 2019).
In my opinion, these kinds of stores will also come to Europe, sooner than later. It definitely enhances the convenience of the customer by being so time-saving. I can imagine the Netherlands to be the first ones to adapt this shopping concept, as Dutch supermarkets have also been proven to be very early adopters of concepts like self-checkout station or self-scanners. Next to that, Albert Heijn is already testing a similar store in Zaandam (Retail Detail, 2019).
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=15&v=ZYxz3kdmTHo&feature=emb_logo
On the other hand this might not be the only option, as the dependency on one app might be too big. Furthermore elderly people are left behind without having another option. Also, like in most technological innovations, data security is of course a major concern. Every little movement is being recorded and directly connected to you as a customer.
Do you think this is the future of retail? Will this be an addition or could this be fully replaced by traditional cashiers and self-checkout machines? Let me know in the comments.
Sources:
CNBC (2020). Amazon just opened a cashier less supermarket – Here are all the ways it’s trying to upend the grocery industry. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/25/how-amazon-is-trying-to-upend-the-grocery-industry.html
Retail Detail (2019). This is Albert Heijn’s anger to Amazon Go. Retrieved from https://www.retaildetail.eu/en/news/food/albert-heijns-answer-amazon-go
Thales (2020). How does Amazon Go, it’s checkout-free store, work? Retrieved from https://justaskthales.com/en/amazon-go-checkout-free-store-work/
Header photo: https://www.forbes.com/sites/enriquedans/2020/02/27/amazon-go-grocery-this-is-the-future-of-shopping-whether-we-like-it-ornot/#3d1db80cf6fa
Hi Rabea! It was fun reading your post. I’m personally not fully convinced yet, even though I like the concept. Before I can fully give a go for this idea, I would like to see a total cost comparison between a system with traditional cashiers and self-checkout machines.
Do you personally think this is the future of retail?
Interesting read!
I do this technology has the power of revolutionizing the way we shop in general. When the app is working I think the time saved is a very big factor that would push shops to adopt this technology. However, when the app is lagging or doest not work, you could spend a lot more time trying to fix it or to restart it then going to an automatic cashier for example. You should also take into account that you should always have some battery on your phone in order to do your groceries. Furthermore, as you mentioned some people might not have a smart phone or might not have sufficient knowledge on how to use the latter. Another important to mention is if this system is used in all supermarket, and then adapted to all retail stores in general, this will remove a lot of jobs in the industry. Even though now cashiers are being removed for automatic cashier, there is still always at least one cashier for the people who are not able to use the technology. Lastly, the data collected about the customer will be huge and companies will leverage on that to make us buy more, which is also not good for the environment. Finally, hackers could take possession of these apps which could have negative consequences.
Hi Rabea,
Interesting topic and information about it.
I think checkout systems such as Amazon Go are definitely a potential threat in the Food Retail Industry, for example for grocery stores, convenience stores and quick service restaurants. One reason for this is that Amazon Go is able to cleverly make use of consumer data to make the grocery shopping experience more seamless, in very innovative way by using new technologies. In a short period of time (about 2 years since the first launch of a Amazon Go shop), the number of stores have been increased significantly and consumers seem to be positive about this technology in the United States. Experts expect this to grow even more in the upcoming years. Nowadays, people are very accustomed to using their smartphone and often pay with it in shops already, for example with Apple Wallet digital card. The next step to be charged via the Amazon App account is small and therefore I expect few problems with the acceptance of this new technology. Based on these insights, I think there is a real chance that technologies like Amazon Go could replace the current self checkout systems and cashiers.
However, there are a number of issues that could possibly be a barrier for succes.
One of these is that it is debatable whether Amazon Go complies with the privacy standards. The Netherlands is fairly strict when it comes to privacy of personal data, as evidenced by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that has been in place since 2018. This may be a problem when a system such as Amazon Go is being implemented in The Netherlands.
Another element that may prevent this technology from fully replacing the cashier is that research has shown that people appreciate social human interaction while grocery shopping. By implementing a technology like Amazon Go, the interaction between the customer and retailer changes significantly, which might lead to resistance from a group of customers.
To conclude, this is certainly an interesting technology to implement worldwide. However, good research must be done into the possible downsides of the technology, and it must be investigated for each country separately to what extent the society needs this technology.