Knights points to the proliferation of self-checkout till points in UK grocery stores.

“The UK is the most digitally savvy market because we love click-and-collect and we shop online a lot, I think UK customers are hungry for this technology.” “We have the highest proportion of sales going online than anywhere else in the world – around 40% of total retail sales is going to e-commerce, compared to around 22% in the US,” she says. Knights points out that Amazon always chooses the UK as its first country outside of the US to test its technology because the UK is the most mature omnichannel market in the world. What store model and infrastructure enables the retailer to pick and choose who it lets in and is virtually fraud-proof in terms of what products it lets out?” “Amazon’s till-less store brings its track-record for frictionless online experiences in-store at a time where a positive customer experience trumps everything,” says Tiffany Carpenter, head of customer intelligence at SAS UK & Ireland, pointing out that Amazon’s power to disrupt has been proven time and time again.īut how clever is this technology, really? Miya Knights, retail expert and author, says “very”, adding: “People have tried to fool it and they just can’t.

Amazon then emails a receipt post-purchase. The store claims to use computer vision technology – as opposed to radio-frequency identification (RFID) or weight sensors on shelves – to detect what a customer takes with them. The store concept allows a customer to walk into an Amazon Go store by scanning a QR code from their Amazon app at a gate to allow entry, pick up a product, and walk out again without queuing to pay at a till point. The technology giant now has 27 stores in the US, while its Ealing store is its first foray overseas. Earlier in March, Amazon finally launched its first Amazon Go checkout-less store in the UK – a 2,500 ft 2 convenience store in Ealing in West London, branded Amazon Fresh to coincide with its online grocery offering it currently has in place through an existing partnership with Morrisons.Īmazon opened the doors on its first Amazon Go store in Seattle in January 2018 after a year spent testing its Just Walk Out technology on its employees at its headquarters.

Amazongo