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Just Walk Out technology allowed people to make purchases without cashiers – instead they they simply scanned a QR code upon entering, and Amazon relied on sensors and cameras that tracked what people left the store with.
Overall, more than half of Amazon Fresh stores relied on Just Walk Out. The company positioned the technology as something close to the triumph of AI – although it, as it turned out, was not fully automated. According to The Information, more than a thousand workers in India watched and flagged the videos to ensure accurate calculations – in fact, cashiers were simply moved outside the stores.
Instead, Amazon plans to launch Dash Carts, a smart shopping cart with a built-in scanner and screen.
Amazon Dash Cart
Just Walk Out was first introduced in 2016, and although it seemed cutting-edge, it wasn't without its problems. Customers often received receipts only hours later after leaving the store—sometimes from strangers. The system of scanners and video cameras in each of the stores was also incredibly expensive.
The Information writes that as of 2022, 700 of Just Walk Out's 1,000 sales required reviewers (Amazon's internal target is 50 per 1,000) – but the company denies this data.
“The primary role of our machine learning data scientists is to annotate video images, which is necessary to continually improve the core machine learning model,” an Amazon spokesperson told Gizmodo.
Amazon Fresh, the e-commerce giant's grocery store first opened in 2007, has about 40 locations in the United States alone. Interestingly, the company plans to keep Just Walk Out in select UK Fresh stores, Amazon Go stores and select stadiums.
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