Is Amazon Go the Ultimate Future of Traditional Retail?

We always thought of traditional shopping as a highly social and physical experience. We walk into a store, interact with the salesperson, enquire about products, and, sometimes, patiently await our turn in a long billing line. However, the last decade saw a steep decline in traditional shopping as online stores gained wide acceptance.

eCommerce has delivered a great deal of comfort, reliability, and security for online shoppers in the last ten years. Technology experts believed this to be the crucial step forward towards the future of retail business.

But, Amazon has different plans for us. Earlier this year, Amazon opened its first cashierless store in the United Kingdom. It endorses the ‘Just Walk Out’ policy, which will likely get globalized in the coming years. These stores revolutionize the very idea of shopping by creating a hybrid shopping model bridging traditional and online commerce.??

Earlier in 2021, as we took our first step forward, Amazon introduced Amazon Go which sent shockwaves across the retail sector. In the coming years, we will possibly see these shops in almost all the metropolitan cities. This article will explore this revolutionary cashierless store that takes traditional retail to the next level.

Check-in With Your Amazon Go App

Firstly, you need to install the app and sign in to your account. After integrating your credit details with the payment process, you can enter the store. These stores have electronic gates with code scanners where you need to place the phone face-down towards the sensor. Once your code is scanned, the gates open up, and you can enter.

In this process, the core system identifies you and monitors your movement and activity in the store.

Machine Learning Powered Cameras and Sensors Monitor Your Activities

You need to look at the ceiling in the store to find cameras and sensors monitoring your movement and activities from a bird’s eye view. The shelves have weight sensors that detect the items lifted by the customer.

When you check in, you are assigned a unique customer ID shared with the ML-powered system. The cameras identify you with the respective UID and register all your crucial actions, such as lifting an item and keeping it in your bag.

Along with the weight sensors and PLU codes, the products are marked with unique patterns that help the AI system accurately identify the items. The sensors, camera devices, and special PLUs are part of the cohesive AI system that tracks your movement in real-time precision. This system ensures that the products you selected (not the ones you kept back on the shelf) are added to your virtual cart.

Dash Carts for Easy Shopping

Amazon Go offers its customers automated Dash Carts. When it comes to shopping a vast number of items, these carts can provide a great sense of ease in shopping. Once you scan your QR code and activate the cart, you can start shopping with it.

Dash carts come with in-built sensors that register the items to your account. If you change your mind and take the extra bag of chips out from the cart, the sensors will delete the items just as quickly. These Dash Carts add a great deal of comfort for the customers. Furthermore, they offer a new layer of precise monitoring of customer movement.?

Just Walk Out – What Do I Make of It?

Is this the end of the traditional way of shopping? I sincerely hope not. Something is charming about conventional shopping. The social interactions we make in the store while shopping adds to a great sense of community.

However, from a broader perspective, I see Amazon’s ‘Just Walk Out’ as a significant step forward in shaping the dynamics of traditional commerce.

I don’t see contactless shopping replacing traditional stores entirely. But, we will witness a crucial change in the industry. Perhaps, this will create hybrid platforms that allow the coexistence of both these ideas of shopping. One thing is sure; the future holds some fascinating advancement in store for us.

What are your thoughts on Amazon Go, and how will it alter the course of retail business? Do share your thoughts on this concept in the comment section. We can always participate in a meaningful discourse on the future of eCommerce.