Amazon opening store with no line, no checkout

You give your payment info when you walk in, get what you want and leave.

On Monday, Amazon introduced a new self-checkout technology that — if it works as advertised — could totally transform the retail sector. Called “Amazon Go,” the technology literally allows people to walk into a store, select items they want to purchase, and walk out. There’s no checkout process at all.

This article is part of New Money, a new section on economics, technology, and business.
Amazon is opening an 1,800-square-foot convenience store in Seattle to test out the technology. It’s being beta tested now, and Amazon says it will be open to the general public early next year. If it’s successful, we can assume the technology will find its way into other retailers.

The big mistake past self-checkout systems made was assuming that they needed to create an automated version of the checkout line itself. People have experimented with techniques like attaching RFID tags — electronic chips that can be scanned from several feet away — to every item and installing RFID scanners in the checkout lanes. But the complexity of these systems — as well as practical issues like the tags falling off — has made this approach impractical.

Amazon uses a totally different approach, one that’s reminiscent of the shopping cart approach taken by Amazon’s website. Customers supply their payment information before they set foot in the store. Then they have a panopticon of cameras and sensors that literally follow the customer’s every step as she walks around the store. If she takes an item off a shelf, Amazon’s software figures out what the item is and immediately adds it to the customer’s bill. If she puts the item back, the Amazon’s software deletes the charge.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.