The
first clue that there’s something unusual about Amazon’s store of the
future hits you right at the front door. It feels as if you are entering
a subway station. A row of gates guard the entrance to the store, known
as Amazon Go, allowing in only people with the store’s smartphone app.
Inside
is an 1,800-square foot mini-market packed with shelves of food that
you can find in a lot of other convenience stores — soda, potato chips,
ketchup. It also has some food usually found at Whole Foods, the
supermarket chain that Amazon owns.
But
the technology that is also inside, mostly tucked away out of sight,
enables a shopping experience like no other. There are no cashiers or
registers anywhere. Shoppers leave the store through those same gates,
without pausing to pull out a credit card. Their Amazon account
automatically gets charged for what they take out the door.
On
Monday, the store will open to the public for the first time. Gianna
Puerini, the executive in charge of Amazon Go, recently gave tours of
the store, in downtown Seattle. This is a look at what shoppers will
encounter.
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CreditKyle Johnson for The New York Times
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CreditKyle Johnson for The New York Times
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There is no need for a shopping cart. Products can go straight into a shopping bag.CreditKyle Johnson for The New York Times
There
are no shopping carts or baskets inside Amazon Go. Since the checkout
process is automated, what would be the point of them anyway? Instead,
customers put items directly into the shopping bag they’ll walk out
with.
Every
time customers grab an item off a shelf, Amazon says the product is
automatically put into the shopping cart of their online account. If
customers put the item back on the shelf, Amazon removes it from their
virtual basket.
The
only sign of the technology that makes this possible floats above the
store shelves — arrays of small cameras, hundreds of them throughout the
store. Amazon won’t say much about how the system works, other than to
say it involves sophisticated computer vision and machine learning
software. Translation: Amazon’s technology can see and identify every
item in the store, without attaching a special chip to every can of soup
and bag of trail mix.
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CreditKyle Johnson for The New York Times
There were a little over 3.5 million cashiers in the United States
in 2016 — and some of their jobs may be in jeopardy if the technology
behind Amazon Go eventually spreads. For now, Amazon says its technology
simply changes the role of employees — the same way it describes the impact of automation on its warehouse workers.
“We’ve just put associates on different kinds of tasks where we think it adds to the customer experience,” Ms. Puerini said.
Those tasks include restocking shelves and helping customers troubleshoot any technical problems.Store
employees mill about ready to help customers find items, and there is a
kitchen next door with chefs preparing meals for sale in the store.Because
there are no cashiers, an employee sits in the wine and beer section of
the store, checking I.D.s before customers can take alcohol off the
shelves.
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CreditKyle Johnson for The New York Times
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CreditKyle Johnson for The New York Times
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CreditKyle Johnson for The New York Times
Most
people who spend any time in a supermarket understand how vexing the
checkout process can be, with clogged lines for cashiers and customers
who fumble with self-checkout kiosks.
At
Amazon Go, checking out feels like — there’s no other way to put it —
shoplifting. It is only a few minutes after walking out of the store,
when Amazon sends an electronic receipt for purchases, that the feeling
goes away.
Actual
shoplifting is not easy at Amazon Go. With permission from Amazon, I
tried to trick the store’s camera system by wrapping a shopping bag
around a $4.35 four-pack of vanilla soda while it was still on a shelf,
tucking it under my arm and walking out of the store. Amazon charged me
for it.
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CreditKyle Johnson for The New York Times
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CreditKyle Johnson for The New York Times
A
big unanswered question is where Amazon plans to take the technology.
It won’t say whether it plans to open more Amazon Go stores, or leave
this as a one-of-a-kind novelty. A more intriguing possibility is that
it could use the technology inside Whole Foods stores, though Ms.
Puerini said Amazon has “no plans” to do so.
There’s
even speculation that Amazon could sell the system to other retailers,
much as it sells its cloud computing services to other companies. For
now, visitors to Amazon Go may want to watch their purchases: Without a
register staring them in the face at checkout, it’s easy to overspend. (Via NYtimes)
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