Amazon introduces next-gen grocery store concept

Friday, December 9, 2016 - 09:16 by Graham Miller

Although it began life as an online bookseller in the 1990s, Amazon has grown to dominate both the worlds of safe shopping online and a number of other emerging markets, including cloud computing. But while its digital presence has become ubiquitous, it has largely steered clear of entering the world of bricks and mortar retail.

Aside from a handful of popup shops and a book store in Seattle, Amazon has focused its attentions on continuing to increase its e-commerce influence. But in a video released this week, it has introduced a new service which looks set to revolutionise grocery shopping, according to the Express.

Amazon Go is both a store and a concept; one which provides customers with the ability to arrive, browse the items on offer, select the ones they want and then leave, all without having to queue to use a checkout.

Powered by the firm’s machine learning platform and QR codes, the Amazon Go experience will arguably make shopping much less of a hassle. Once people have gathered the goods they want and exited the store, they will automatically be charged the value of their shop, but will not have to fork out cash or even scan a payment card.

The first Amazon Go store will be set up, as expected, in the company’s native Seattle. And if it proves to be a success, it could spread across the US and eventually reach the UK.

Standard grocery items will be offered to customers, along with things like ready meals and other instantly edible items to keep customers satisfied.

Interestingly, the tech underpinning this system is the same as that which is going into the development of self-driving cars and the delivery drones that Amazon is trialling, ahead of a wider rollout.