Those keeping track of Amazon’s technological innovations can add another pioneering idea and service to the list. After postponing the project last March, Amazon Inc. has been developing and testing Amazon Go, a physical retail store that features no cashiers or checkout lines.
Instead of having consumers undergo the standard process of lining up for an available cashier or self-service register after collecting one’s groceries, Amazon intends on nixing the process entirely.
As reported by Bloomberg, Amazon Go customers will download an app on their phones which tracks items picked up and taken out of the store, then charging your bank account. Amazon employees have also reportedly tried using costumes in order to hide body features, attempting to make the system miscalculate purchases, but thus far they have failed.
The technology which makes such an idea possible apparently utilizes algorithms similarly used in self-driving cars to recognize and record the movement of products. Amazon has yet to identify a date when Amazon Go will be open to the public, but a flagship store in Seattle has been the testing ground for the venture.
Since it was revealed that Amazon would be acquiring Whole Foods for $13.7 billion in August of this year, consumers and analysts alike have speculated the various ways in which Amazon could alter the grocery buying experience, from home delivery to Amazon Prime member discounts.
While the company has stated that it will not be implementing the technology being developed for Amazon Go into Whole Foods locations, only time will tell.
