The process of doing groceries has already changed quite a lot in the recent decade. Self-scan checkouts are common in almost every supermarket, groceries can be ordered online and picked up without even entering the supermarket and recently there is the rise of flash delivery services. For all these innovations human intervention within the grocery process is still needed. There are for example still cashiers available near self-scan checkouts.
This is what makes the Amazon “Just Walk Out” technology so unique. It creates entirely cashierless stores, called AmazonGo, where zero physical presence of employees is needed. A customer enters the shop and then scans a QR code with the AmazonGo app. Then the customer can grab anything he wants from the assortment and put it in his bag. There is no need to scan any of the products. Throughout the whole store cameras are placed that have an overview of each product. With computer vision based on deep learning algorithms every product that a customer grabs can be traced and put in the virtual shopping cart of the concerning customer. Even if a customer grabs a product and puts it back later, the computer vision will recognize this action and remove the product from the virtual shopping cart. If the customer has all the groceries, he can just leave the store without any interaction with checkouts. There is even no need to scan a QR code again. The costs of the groceries will automatically be charged from the customer’s AmazonGo account (Amazon, n.d.).
Besides the usage of the technology within its own AmazonGo stores, Amazon also provides Just Walk Out technology to other retailers like Hudson, a large travel retail in North America. This so-called “Hudson non-stop” store was firstly introduced at the Dallas Love Field airport in 2021 (Berthiaume, 2022). Especially for these airport shops the technology is very suitable. They key function of them according to Amazon is removing any friction. At airports passengers might be in a hurry and want to grab something to drink really fast. This makes these “frictionless” stores a perfect fit for the passengers’ needs.
The usage of the Just Walk Out technology might radically change the way how people do groceries. However, it is important to mention that it is only used in small-sized stores currently and has not been introduced in large-sized supermarket. The question therefore is how impactful this technology might be for such supermarkets in the future.
References:
Amazon. (n.d.). Just Walk Out. Bringing Just Walk Out Shopping to Your Stores. Retrieved October 14, 2022, from https://justwalkout.com/
Berthiaume, D. (2022, September 29). Hudson opening two frictionless stores at LAX, one with Just Walk Out. Chain Store Age. Retrieved October 14, 2022, from https://www.chainstoreage.com/hudson-opening-two-frictionless-stores-lax-one-just-walk-out
Thank you Jordy for this insightful article on grocery shopping. Do you think this technology will further develop to serve the larger-sized supermarkets as well or will it just stick to the small-sized shops? Thereby, it’s interesting to see this automatization proces could serve for the whole retail industry. I think that there is a lot of potential for other retailers other than grocery stores to implement this business idea. Although there might be resistance against this development especially for the elderly who are not tech-savy enough to use some technologies i.e. the Amazon Go-app. In the end, i think the potential for the technology is certainly there but it will take a certain amount of time to adapt and implement the technology on a larger scale.
Hi Jordy, thank you for your interesting article on this new technology regarding grocery shopping! It is itneresting to see how new technologies are implemented throughout different industries and especially, as shown in your blog post, grocery stores. Do you think that there could be any backlash from people who are against the fact that this technology would take away potential jobs that could be filled by people? As I could understand that this would make it harder for some people, especially students who often work at grocery stores as a part time job, to find these kinds of jobs. I get why customers and the grocery stores themselves would like it. I read that grocery stores can save up to $37.7 million due to long checkout lines which demotivate customers to go shopping there. I’m curious to see how the technology in this industry will develop and what innovation it will bring.
Hi Jordy, very interesting blog! The Just Walk Out technology indeed has a lot of potential and could possibly be a radical change for the way people do their groceries. I am curious to see if it will become lucrative in the future, given the combination of artificial intelligence, computer vision, and data from multiple sensors needed to ensure that customers only get paid for the stuff they pick up. In addition, privacy should be considered because of the use of facial recognition, user information, which may include images of the user, details about the user (such as height and weight) or the user’s purchase history. Despite that, I think the technology has tremendous potential!
This is a highly interesting technology, that I’ve been fascinated by for more than 3 years now. When I first heard about Amazon Go, it felt like news from parallel universe, but later a friend of mine visited such a shop in the US and sent me the confirmation: the future is here. Apart from amusement about the state-of-the-art sensors they have in Amazon and fear of losing nice workplaces for students, I happen to see an ethical part of the story. Coming from quite a traditional country (Russia), I have a belief that if stores with a similar to Amazon Go technology appear in the East, women lives may improve tremendously in hygiene aspect. I personally know a lot of stories when women in the Eastern part of the world struggle with purchasing products for self-care or medicine just because they are afraid of social judgement. Being able to merely put the necessary products into your bag and walk away no questions asked would be a game changer. I am looking forward to seeing a spread of stores similar to Amazon Go worldwide.