Amazon makes cashierless shopping tech available to other retailers

Amazon has made its cashierless, grab-and-go technology found in the Amazon Go stores available to other retailers. The Seattle-based retailer calls the technology “Just Walk Out” technology, in reference to how shoppers who download the Amazon Go app can simply use it to scan their way into the store and then just walk, grab what they need and leave, with items automatically tracked and paid for via the app.

The stores leverage ceiling computer-vision cameras and shelf sensors to track what shoppers put in their carts or baskets.

Now, retailers interested in adopting the technology can reach out to Amazon directly, as they have created a website called justwalkout.com to promote it, and according to a Reuters article, have already settled on “several” deals with other retailers.

Amazon currently runs 26, smaller Amazon Go locations and just opened its first Amazon Go Grocery location in Seattle.

Standard Cognition, a challenger to Amazon Go with its own cashierless technology platform, says a drawback of retailers working with the Amazon Go platform is that it can't be retrofitted into a store's current footprint and can only be used for building new stores.