Amazon’s checkout-free experiment could come to larger grocery stores

Amazon’s cashier-less shopping tech could come to a full supermarket.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the tech giant is experimenting with its Amazon Go technology at a larger store.

At the company’s seven Amazon Go stores in Seattle, Chicago, and San Francisco, shoppers scan in with their mobile devices, then pick their product and walk out. 

The technology uses a mix of computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning to register what you’re buying, then charges your Amazon account when you leave. 

According to sources who spoke to the news outlet, Amazon is testing its technology at a space in Seattle, which has been arranged like a large store. 

Higher ceilings and shelves, and a bigger product range means it could take more time for Amazon to get the technology right, which currently works well for smaller stores. There’s also the issue of how the technology would work with items like fruit and vegetables, which unless pre-packed, need to be weighed to determine price.

While Amazon Go is more of a convenience store, with limited groceries and prepared foods, the intention is to apply the technology to Whole Foods, according to WSJ’s sources. An average Whole Foods has 34,000 items.

Both Amazon and Whole Foods declined to comment on the rumor to the news outlet, but given Amazon purchased the supermarket chain for a whopping $13.7 billion last year, the partnership makes sense.

It’s hardly a surprise that Amazon is looking to spaces with a bigger footprint. In July, Microsoft was reportedly in talks with Walmart and other retailers around the world to implement automated, cashier-less technology.