Amazon Opens Completely Cashier-less, Cashless Store in Seattle

The checkout line is no longer necessary. At least, not at Amazon Go, the eCommerce giant and ETA member’s newest storefront in Seattle.

The store — which has been under development for years and available was only to Amazon employees until today — has no checkout lines and no cashiers. Instead, customers use a QR code supplied by the Amazon Go app on their smartphones to gain access to the store. The network of hundreds of cameras takes it from there.

Using sophisticated machine learning and a network of hundreds of cameras, Amazon says, the store is able to track which items a costumer selects and places in their bag. When the customer leaves, the system then charges the customer’s credit card through their Amazon account for the items they’ve taken with them. Having an Amazon app with an up-to-date credit card and the Amazon Go app are the only two pre-requisites to participation, according to reports. The process is as easy as walking in, selecting your items and leaving.

Amazon says their store employs a comparable number of people to a standard convenience store of the same size despite not employing cashiers. Instead, employees restock items and offer technical assistance. Human interaction during the purchasing process is almost entirely non-existent, though there is also a human on staff to check IDs at the small beer and wine section of the store.

Amazon has not revealed any plans to implement their “Just Walk Out” system that powers the Amazon Go store in other locations or in a larger scale, nor have they discussed plans to license the technology to other retailers.