Amazon is about to use technology to turn the traditional shopping experience around. The online retailer has opened a physical store for its employees that removes the need to pay for things at a cashier called Amazon Go; and it plans to build more of these stores for the public.
The trick behind Amazon Go is the Amazon Go app, which is scanned once the customer enters the store. From there, a combination of sensors keeps track of what the shopper picks up and puts into his or her bag. Since everything is electronically tracked, there is no need to scan the items at a checkout counter.
Paying for the items is done automatically by leaving the store; which just charges it to the customer’s Amazon account.
It all sounds incredibly futuristic, but that’s to be expected from the company that changed how people shop online. Amazon understands that some types of shopping will never move online; and is instead bringing the online experience to the offline realm.
Plans are in place to expand the number of stores, although these are likely going to only cater to the US in the near future. Leaked documents discovered by the New York Times suggests that Amazon could have as many as 2,000 stores planned.
There are still a lot of questions as to how the actual stores will work, including about the technology that drives them. For now, it looks like a very interesting concept.
[Source: The New York Times]
