Amazon imagines having retail where you walk in, pick up what you need (milk, eggs, books, etc.), and walk out. Yes, you skipped self-checkout and cash registers altogether. No, you aren’t shoplifting. Amazon is tracking what you pick up, or put back, and withdrawing the total from your bank account once you leave the store.
Here’s how it works: You walk into a store with Amazon’s propriety technology and flash your personal QR code to a reader. From there you shop for what you need, and once you’re done, you walk out. No dealing with a chatty cashier, long lines, or an infuriating self-checkout machine.
Amazon Go is powered by computer vision, sensors, and machine learning package altogether in a what Amazon likes to call “Just Walk Out Technology,” clever right? Amazon’s piloting the technology in a new 1,800 square-foot retail location in downtown Seattle, Washington. The pilot is limited to Amazon employees, but the company hopes to open the store up to the public sometime in 2017.
I take solace in knowing I can grab a tuna salad sandwich in minutes, instead of waiting 15 minutes in line. On the other hand, this technology could put millions out of work and line the pockets of large fortune 500 retailers. So in the time being, I’ll be conflicted on whether this is something that’ll help advance us.
Tell us in the comments below what you think about Amazon Go, and how you feel about technology taking more jobs!