We told you data-enabled book stores were just the beginning. Amazon announced it will open its first Amazon Go store in Seattle, Wash., in early 2017. The store will sell prepared foods and grocery staples utilizing the “most advanced shopping technology,” says Amazon, including a “Just Walk Out Shopping” experience that involves no checkout and no lines.
The checkout-free shopping experience is made possible by the same types of technologies used in self-driving cars: computer vision, sensor fusion, and deep learning, said Amazon. The technology automatically detects when products are taken from the shelf, and keeps track of them in a virtual cart. Amazon says the system also knows if an items is returned to the shelves.
When you’re done shopping, you can just leave the store. Shortly after, Amazon will charge your Amazon account and send you a receipt. In other words, shoppers don’t even have to scan items with a smartphone. They simply scan the free Amazon app at a turnstile as they walk into the store, grab the items they want and walk out.
According to reports at Business Insider, Amazon’s internal plans show it could build as many as 2,000 grocery store across the U.S. in the next 10 years.
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