Amazon Go

I remember the time when my ex-colleague gave a talk on BI/DW during the year 2000. He was talking about how retail companies are making use of it etc. He quoted an example: How retail outlets are placing nappies & beer bottles next to each other to see the sales soar on Friday evenings. He talked about how shoppers are saving time & reminded of some items (nappies).

He also spoke about how Amazon was using tech to recommend products to buyers then. “People who bought this item also bought……”.

We have come a long way. Let’s talk about saving time.

Enter “Amazon Go”.

A checkout-free store. What? Yes, there’s no checkout. You can just steal the items from the store. Jus’ kidding. You pick up the items and walk through exit where your account will be debited for the products in your cart or bag.

Tech used: computer vision, sensor fusion & deep learning, much like self driving cars.

Amazon calls it “Just walk out technology”.

When you’re done shopping, you can just leave the store. Your amazon account will be debited & you’ll be sent a receipt.

If buyers get accustomed to this tech, they might be booked for shoplifting when they go to other stores that do not use such hightech & they walkout without billing.

#retailtech #innovation #technology