United StatesRetail and e-commerce2020–2024Amazon
Just Walk Out checkout in Amazon Fresh stores
Amazon took its camera-based Just Walk Out checkout out of its US Fresh grocery stores and switched to scanning carts
Problem
Checkout queues are a common complaint in grocery stores. Amazon wanted shoppers in its own grocery chain to take items and leave, with payment charged automatically.
Approach
Amazon used Just Walk Out, its system of cameras and sensors that tracks what shoppers take, in Amazon Go convenience stores and then in many US Amazon Fresh grocery stores. Amazon said human "machine learning data associates" annotated video and checked a small share of visits. In April 2024 it said it would remove the system from its US Fresh stores and replace it with Dash Carts, on which shoppers scan items with a camera on the cart and pay in a dedicated lane. Just Walk Out stayed in Amazon Go and some smaller UK stores.
Results
No figures published
Takeaway
Amazon framed the change as a response to shoppers who wanted to see prices, deals and a running receipt, which a checkout-free store did not show. The system still relied on human reviewers behind the cameras, and in large grocery stores the simpler scanning cart replaced it.
Categories
- Size
- Large enterprise
- Industry
- Retail and e-commerce
- Business function
- Customer serviceProduction and quality
- Innovation type
- Product and service innovation
- AI technology
- Computer vision
- Adoption
- Built in-house
- Evidence
- Company's own claim
Sources
Source summaries
Retail Dive reports that Amazon was removing Just Walk Out from its US Fresh stores and replacing it with Dash Carts, while keeping it in Amazon Go and some smaller UK stores. An Amazon spokesperson said shoppers wanted to find nearby products and deals and see their savings. Amazon said human associates annotate video and validate a small share of visits, a number it said was falling. An analyst said the carts could carry paid advertising.
FOX 35 Orlando reports that Amazon was removing Just Walk Out from its Fresh grocery stores as part of an overhaul of the chain. Dash Carts, tested in some Fresh and Whole Foods stores, let shoppers scan items and check out. Amazon said the decision followed customer feedback.
Full details are in the original sources.
