Amazon Go coming to San Francisco and Chicago

Earlier this year, Amazon launched the first Amazon Go cashierless convenience store in its hometown of Seattle. And it is now set to bring the concept to San Francisco and Chicago in the latter part of 2018.

The Seattle store opened its doors to the public in January, following a nearly 14-month trial involving Amazon employees at its HQ. Shoppers open the Amazon Go app on their phone and scan a QR code at the entrance, at which point the store’s electronic arm barriers open. 

Amazon says: “Our checkout-free shopping experience is made possible by the same types of technologies used in self-driving cars: computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning. Our Just Walk Out Technology automatically detects when products are taken from or returned to the shelves and keeps track of them in a virtual cart. When you’re done shopping, you can just leave the store. Shortly after, we’ll send you a receipt and charge your Amazon account.”

Alibaba is also a key player here, with the Chinese e-commerce giant offering a virtual tour of its new cashierless store, situated at its Hangzhou HQ. Futuremart sells a range of Alibaba merchandise. Customers use facial recognition to enter the store and scan a QR code with their Taobao, Tmall or Alipay apps so they can shop. A Happy Go meter measures how happy they are, with big smiles earning discounts. Facial recognition and RFID technology at the exit recognise shoppers and the products they want to purchase. Then the store charges their Alipay accounts.

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