AiFi’s Spatial Intelligence: Solving the Toughest Problem in Retail and Beyond

By: Steve Carlin , CEO at AiFi

A few days ago, I received a humorous text from a friend, a renowned venture capitalist, reacting to the news that Amazon is closing more of its "Go" stores. His question was simple: if the largest company in the world struggles with this, why does AiFi believe it can succeed?

Jordan Berke, founder and CEO of the retail consulting firm Tomorrow, describes automating the checkout process as "the hardest problem to solve." Why? Because traditional cashierless systems require a substantial upfront investment that strains store economics.

Take Amazon, for example. Retrofitting existing stores demands specific hardware and lighting, costing up to $1 million per store and forcing closures for months. Additionally, Amazon’s system still requires staff to ensure weight sensors function properly by keeping items in place.

This makes Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology costly, leading to its April decision to remove cashierless checkout from U.S. Fresh and Whole Foods stores. With more store closures recently announced, it’s clear that Amazon faces significant challenges in autonomous retail. In contrast, AiFi is charting a different course, innovating in areas where Amazon has stumbled. As I told my friend, our approach isn’t just different—it’s the future of retail as envisioned by Jeff Bezos.

Doing More with Less

Founded in 2016, AiFi began by developing solutions for hardware-constrained environments, working with basic cameras and limited computing power, like on an iPhone. This forced us to be scrappy and efficient, which ultimately led to our current spatial intelligence platform. Early collaborations with major retailers revealed our potential in the frictionless retail space, an arena where Amazon had already made significant investments.

A Fundamental Shift in Approach

My friend understood we were different, but not why that mattered. I explained that while Amazon and others rely on weight sensors and rigid store layouts to track purchases, AiFi focuses on spatial intelligence. Our system uses only cameras to analyze 3D spaces, objects, and people, combined with real-time behavior analysis. This allows retailers greater flexibility in store design and product placement.

Amazon’s reliance on weight sensors forces products to remain in fixed positions for accurate identification, limiting the ability to rearrange items or introduce new products without costly reconfigurations. Our camera-based system adapts to changing store layouts, enabling retailers to keep up with seasonal items, promotions, and frequent product rotations—essential for staying competitive in the fast-paced world of grocery retail.

Optimizing the Shopping Experience, Not the Technology

By understanding 3D spaces, items, and shopper behavior holistically, our system not only generates accurate receipts but also provides valuable insights into customer interactions and store performance. Retailers can optimize their spaces to enhance the shopping experience, rather than being constrained by the technology.

The hyper-competitive grocery industry demands flexibility to engage shoppers with seasonal or promotional items. Amazon Go’s rigid and costly system simply doesn’t work for this format. It’s too expensive and too inflexible, which is why Amazon is struggling to capture any of the $12 trillion global grocery market with its current technology.

Powered by Spatial Intelligence - Seamless and Invisible Technology

I then explained to my friend what AiFi has truly built: a platform that understands 3D spaces and interactions within them. We've developed sophisticated algorithms that track objects of interest and how people interact with them in real-time. This comprehensive spatial awareness forms the foundation of our system, not unlike how a game-engine is the foundation for our favorite video games. AiFi has built the game engine for real-time 3D spaces. The first “game” we built was called ‘frictionless checkout’. And there are more games we can build, much more, but that is a blog post for another time.

Our system uses ceiling-mounted cameras and relies on sophisticated spatial intelligence to track what shoppers pick up and take with them. This eliminates the need for weight sensors or rigid store layouts, giving retailers the freedom to rearrange products or add new items with a few taps on our mobile app. We achieve this without the upfront costs of electrifying shelves, adding sensors, or requiring extra staff.

Perhaps most impressively, our technology operates invisibly. Shoppers won’t even realize AiFi’s system is at work, allowing retailers to focus on creating engaging experiences without being hindered by technology constraints.

In Conclusion

Amazon’s approach to autonomous retail has been costly and inefficient, often relying on AWS deals to expand. Despite spending up to an eye watering $1 billion annually, they have about the same number of stores as our startup, which has spent a fraction of that in our entire existence. Their store economics don’t work, and even with Amazon’s deep pockets, this won’t be sustainable.

In stark contrast, AiFi has cracked the code on profitability. We’re not just expanding into grab-and-go locations but also traditional grocery stores. With over 30 million items processed across 225 global locations—including stadiums, convenience stores, and universities—our system only becomes more accurate and cost-effective. Amazon could learn from our approach to sustainable growth and efficiency.

Interested in learning more about spatial intelligence? Get in touch.