Amazon is bringing its cashierless technology to Whole Foods next year, but it's starting small.
The system is called Just Walk Out, and it enables customers to make in-store purchases without going through a traditional cashier. Instead, the technology relies on cameras, AI-powered algorithms, and a mobile app to detect and log what a consumer pulls off a store shelf. The customer’s credit card is then charged for all the items once they leave the store.
The system is already available in Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores in the US and the UK. But for the first time, the company is preparing to expand the technology at Whole Foods, which Amazon acquired in 2017. However, the system is only headed to two new stores to start: One in Washington D.C. and the other in Sherman Oaks, California.
A customer leaves an Amazon Fresh cashierless convenience store in London. (Photo: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The system will also be optional to customers. But it seems the D.C. and Sherman Oaks Whole Foods stores will mostly do away with human-run checkout counters.
“At these two Whole Foods Market stores with Just Walk Out Shopping, customers will be greeted by a Team Member at the store’s entry gates and can then choose if they want to shop using Just Walk Out technology or the self-checkout lanes,” Amazon notes.
That said, Whole Food staffers will still be on hand to assist customers. If necessary, shoppers can also buy their items through the traditional checkout process at the customer service booth.
The big question is whether existing Whole Foods stores might one day get the technology. Amazon’s announcement refrained from offering a definitive answer. “For now we’re excited to see how customers like being able to skip the checkout and use Just Walk Out Shopping when we open our doors in Sherman Oaks and Washington, D.C. next year, and we’ll go from there,” the company says.
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According to Amazon, it usually takes a “few weeks” to refit a retail store with the Just Walk Out technology. However, phasing out the traditional cashier system would likely face protests from Whole Foods employees concerned about losing their jobs.
"How (Whole Food) Team Members in the store spend their time is simply shifting, allowing them to spend even more time interacting with customers and delivering a great shopping experience," Amazon says in response.
Amazon adds that anyone will be able to shop at the cashierless Whole Food stores. But to use the Just Walk Out system, you’ll need an Amazon account.
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