Amazon has found the first customer outside the U.S. to use its cashier-less technology on the Amazon Go model. According to Bloomberg News, an artificial intelligence camera system will be introduced at Sainsbury’s, Britain’s second-largest supermarket chain.
The company said that the new store without cash registers and salespeople would open in London on November 29, 2021. Although officially, the information about connecting Sainsbury’s to the Amazon system is not officially confirmed, sources claim that the technology provider for the new store is the American giant.
The new-format supermarket will open near Sainsbury’s headquarters in High Holborn in central London. The store will use machine learning technology and cameras to track customers’ actions. To make a purchase, it will be necessary to scan a QR code at the entrance to the store, and after leaving the sales area, the system will automatically debit the funds for the purchased items. The company states that in buying, the design of face recognition and the received data will be deleted from the system within thirty days.
The cashier-free and merchant-free service technology was first introduced at Amazon Go in 2018. Today, the company operates dozens of such stores in the U.S. and six in the U.K., where the chain operates under the Amazon Fresh brand. The technology is also used by Hudson markets, OTG CIBO Express, and Delaware North.
There is still no consensus on whether using Amazon’s technology is economically viable while the development of the Amazon Go network itself is moving at a slow pace. Nevertheless, many retailers are trying to keep up with the American giant. For example, British giant Tesco recently opened its first store using the same model, intelligent cameras, and sensors to enhance machine learning and artificial intelligence.
