(Credit: Amazon)
Amazon is dropping the "Just Walk Out" systems that allow for cashier-free checkouts in its US Amazon Fresh stores in favor of its "smart" shopping carts that let customers scan their own items as they shop, Amazon confirmed to PCMag via email.
Over 130 stores in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia currently have Amazon's Just Walk Out tech installed, from airport snack kiosks to sports stadiums, theme parks, and college campuses. Now, 27 of those will get tech-forward Amazon Dash shopping carts instead. The Information was first to report the news.
Amazon plans to keep its "Just Walk Out" tech alive in its smaller stores internationally. It announced last month that it's using Stripe to handle payments for customers in Canada and Australia, and will continue to offer the tech to third-party retailers abroad as well.
"We’ve invested a lot of time redesigning a number of our Amazon Fresh stores over the last year, offering a better overall shopping experience with more value, convenience, and selection—and so far we’ve seen positive results, with higher customer shopping satisfaction scores and increased purchasing," Amazon tells PCMag.
According to The Information, the "Just Walk Out" technology involved offshore contractors in India, who watched video footage of what people put in their carts on select transactions to make sure tallies were correct. Amazon described them to Gizmodo as "Machine Learning data associates" who would "annotate video images" in order to improve the underlying machine learning model.
Like its "Just Walk Out" system, Dash Carts—which date back to 2020—allow shoppers to leave stores without having to wait to go through a checkout line. But while "Just Walk Out" senses when someone removes an item from a shelf and charges them automatically as they leave the store, the Dash Cart system requires people to scan items as they shop.
Each cart has a screen, cameras, and sensors that allow you to scan a QR code from your Amazon app or start a "guest session" to begin shopping. As you move around the store, you scan each item using the cart's sensor before placing it in the cart. Basically, it's a moveable self-checkout device. For produce or bulk items, the cart also has a spot where items can be weighed. When leaving a store, you exit through the designated Dash lane to avoid confusion.
Buying alcohol still involves waiting for a store employee to check your ID before you can walk out with the item in your Dash cart.
According to Amazon's website, Dash carts are currently available in six US Whole Foods locations and 18 Amazon Fresh locations across the country. Amazon also added the carts to four Price Chopper stores and one Kansas McKeever's Market location.