Amazon’s automatic payment feature is coming to large supermarkets soon

Amazon will soon introduce the cashier-free payment technology at its grocery chain Fresh.
According to Bloomberg, Amazon is ready to bring automatic payment technology into large-scale supermarkets. This is seen as a milestone in the race to revolutionize the way people buy groceries.

Amazon introduces automatic payment technology into large-scale supermarkets Features of Amazon’s automatic checkout technology, called “Just Walk Out”, appear in the planning document for a store under construction in a suburban mall in Brookfield, Connecticut. This technology allows customers to bypass checkout items by tracking any items they pick up and bill when they leave. Shoppers simply swipe their smartphone at the store entrance, where shoppers will likely scan apps or credit cards when they arrive. Inside, cargo is monitored by cameras, software algorithms and shelf sensors. Ceiling-mounted cameras are capable of tracking items that buyers pick up in the store. Amazon seems to have tackled a significant technical challenge, creating a take-and-go system that can handle shoppers’ scores at the same time and cover major supermarkets without too much cost to construction and operation. This breakthrough will push Amazon ahead of competitors, which are experimenting with similar camera-based technology developed by various startups. The executives of these companies have admitted that they may not be able to install cashier systems in large supermarkets in a year or two. The widespread adoption of automatic payments is likely to lead to criticism from labor unions that accuse Amazon of seeking to eliminate cashiers. Because this is one of the most popular jobs in America. The goal of the Just Walk Out program, the company says, is convenience for shoppers, not cutting labor or costs. Amazon has created thousands of grocery jobs since the launch of its first Fresh store last year. Planning brochure for a shop under construction in Brookfield, Connecticut. Photo: Brookfield Public Records. Industry’s miracle? Since the launch of the Fresh chain in southern California, Amazon has opened 12 stores, with 37 more under development across the US. But beyond testing at a Fresh suburban Chicago store, the new chain doesn’t feature Go-style automated payments, surprising industry followers with a less traditional approach. Instead, Amazon developed the Dash smart cart, which has sensors and cameras that help replenish purchases as shoppers move through the aisles. The shopping cart stops in a seamless shopping experience. They only hold a few bags of food and shoppers are unable to take them out, forcing them to move the bags into a low-tech trolley or transport their food to the parking lot. Keeping track of dozens of people in a large store is a technical challenge. Along with that, cost also slows down the adoption of non-cashier technology. Equipping a camera for a 2,000 square meter convenience store can be done with several dozen devices. However, the coverage of a full-service supermarket is much bigger. With the trend of large area supermarkets in the US, the requirement for more cameras and servers has to be exponentially larger for video processing and storage. That could quickly erase the benefits of hiring fewer cashiers or attracting more people into the store with the promise of seamless payments. Amazon has worked for years to streamline its Just Walk Out system, making it more cost-effective for its own stores and attracting other companies that might license the technology. this. Even as Amazon exclusively opened small convenience stores, the company’s engineers were asked to build a version of the technology that would be available in stores larger than 2787 square meters or more. Smart Shopping Cart Dash. Photo: Amazon. If Amazon completes rolling out the cashier-free payments technology in its Fresh stores, it represents an industry feat. Startups like Standard Cognition, AiFi, and Grabango have all developed autonomous systems for retailers, but widespread adoption of the technology is still costly and challenging to implement in large store format.