Amazon have recently opened their very first UK-based Amazon Fresh store in Ealing, letting customers shop hundreds of food products without the need to pay at a physical checkout.
More stores are expected to start popping up around the country in the near future with Amazon looking to initially open additional stores in the Greater London area, all at a time where not needing to interact with another human when shopping is quite appealing.
The store is roughly 2,500 square feet, the same size as you would expect a convenience store to be and customers will need an amazon account which can then be used to receive their ‘fresh code’ required to open the gate.
Walk out technology
Although this is the first Amazon fresh store in the UK this isn’t the first store with what Amazon call ‘Just Walk Out Technology’. Amazon also have the same set up in their London Amazon Go store. 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. Just Walk Out Technology automatically detects when products are taken from or returned to the shelves and keeps track of them in a virtual basket. When you’re done shopping, you can just leave the store. Later, Amazon will email you a receipt and charge your Amazon account.
The technology does seem interesting and could provide a safe high street payment solution. But should this sort of technology be something developed to cater outside of Amazon if the opportunity arose? How many jobs would be lost through cashier-less technology and would it remain convenient or even logical for other businesses?
3 Responses
What a splendid invention…..more jobs gone forever thanks to Amazon. This stuff needs stopping before there is no way back.
You have to applaud Amazon for the innovation. Makes everything smooth and convenient for everybody.
Just go and simply scan your QR code upon entering the…
..what’s that? Denied entry?
Oh…looks like your jabs aren’t up to date / you said something on twitter 10 years ago that is now deemed inappropriate / you voted for the wrong candidate in the last election / you keep buying too much of the wrong kind of shopping / your friends and other phone contacts are not deemed trustworthy / etc. etc. and on it goes…
Lots of jobs will be lost of course. It is happening anyway. I use my mobile and a self scan app and put what I need in a basket scan card and leave at the supermarket ( not obviously as fancy as Amazon here), but cannot remember last time I used a manned checkout.
Thing is increased online shopping it is not as profitable it take longer to pick pack and deliver, the supermarkets will cut jobs and costs elsewhere…Asda just done this.