Amazon Go to the Polls

Recently Amazon has been making new changes to how retail works. “Amazon Go,” set in Seattle as of right now, is a cashierless retail store ran entirely by technology. Many videos have shown the inside of the store and their “fails” of checking out. Tech Insider  has shown off this new store and gave insight on how it works. They also alluded to the fact that since the store is completely full of tech that it can mess up. That doesn’t mean people can steal though. The store knows where all items are and if any are missing.

The first thing Tech Insider shows is how to get into the store. Amazon made everyone with the app a specialized QR code. It’s only personalized with the users’ Amazon account and pulls money out of the account if an item is bought. The store knows if users’ have picked up an item or put it back. If the customer wants the item, then it’s added to their “virtual cart,” and if the customer doesn’t want the item anymore, the app detects that the item is put back.

The next thing they showed was how the cash registers work. As stated above, it’s cashierless, but that doesn’t mean the items are free. Once a customer gathers all their supplies, they head to the register like usual, but instead of waiting in a line for what some people describe as forever, they just walk out. Everything is already paid for with the app. The users’ account is charged as soon as they walk out, and there is no hassle with money or the wait.

The final thing that Tech Insider showed was the amount of technology used to track customers and items. The amount of sensors and cameras in the store is more than malls will ever have. They track everything in the store, from customer movements to items picked up and put back to possibly more. The cameras and sensors may fail because of all the power used and since technology never is perfect. The videos of people’s Amazon Go fails show how technology can fail even with simple cameras and sensors.