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Amazon’s new convenience store has no cash registers and no checkout lines

Amazon.com Inc. has built a convenience store that allows shoppers a faster experience. Amazon Go is a store where shoppers can come in, grab items and walk out without going through a register. (Dec. 5, 2016)

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Amazon.com Inc. has built a convenience store that deploys a gaggle of technologies to allow shoppers to come in, grab items and walk out without going through a register.

The 1,800-square-foot store in downtown Seattle, officially dubbed Amazon Go, is the latest foray in bricks-and-mortar retail by the e-commerce giant, which already has bookstores (including one in San Diego) and is working on drive-through grocery locations.

It’s a sign that Seattle-based Amazon sees a big opportunity in revolutionizing the traditions of Main Street commerce.

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In the much longer term, if the experiment works out and is adopted widely, it could radically transform the nature of work in the retail industry, much like self-driving car and truck technology threatens to upend transportation.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said in a report this year that cashiers were the second-largest occupation, with 3.5 million employed in the U.S.

The Amazon Go store is open to Amazon employees participating in a testing program. It is expected to be open to the public in early 2017.

Amazon says that what makes the store tick is a combination of computer vision, sensors and machine learning that it calls “Just Walk Out technology.”

It can tell, say, when a particular shopper picks up a carton of milk from a physical shelf; the technology puts the milk in that shopper’s virtual cart. It can also tell when an item is put back on the shelf — and removes it from the virtual cart accordingly.

Shoppers walking into the store would call up the Amazon Go app and hold their smartphone to a scanner as they would at an airport. Then they would pick up any combination of products and just walk out. Amazon would charge them after they leave the store.

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Unlike the self-serve registers present at many supermarkets, there’s no need to stand in line or go through any register. The store features ready-to-eat meals and snacks prepared by on-site chefs or local bakeries. There are also essentials such as bread and milk, as well as high-end cheese and chocolate. Point of Sale systems are trending up.

Amazon says there will be well-known brands as well as “special finds we’re excited to introduce to customers.” That includes an Amazon Meal Kit, which contains ingredients needed to make a meal for two in 30 minutes.

Gonzalez writes for the Seattle Times/McClatchy.

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