Amazon Fresh Expands Just Walk Out Services with AI
Amazon Fresh stores are revving up its checkout-free experience with a new, more sophisticated AI system.
This could significantly disrupt the grocery landscape, or pose opportunities for major food and drink brands.
Amazon Fresh, the grocery store chain launched by the e-commerce giant Amazon in 2017, has been steadily innovating its checkout-free technology, Just Walk Out.
This technology allows customers to skip checkout lines by using overhead cameras and sensors to track items they take from shelves and automatically bill them upon leaving the store.
Recent upgrades to the AI system powering Just Walk Out have significantly enhanced its accuracy and efficiency.
A key development is the implementation of a new multimodal foundation model.
This model can analyse data from various sources simultaneously, including cameras and sensors.
This allows for a more comprehensive understanding of customer behaviour in-store, leading to more precise product identification and fewer billing errors.
The most innovative aspect of the upgrade is the system's ability to learn continuously.
Unlike its predecessor, which needed frequent retraining, the new model can adapt to changes in store layout or product catalogue without manual intervention.
Benefits of Amazon Fresh’s Just Walk Out technology
The Just Walk Out technology offers several opportunities for the food industry, including:
Improved customer experience: by eliminating checkout lines, Just Walk Out can significantly enhance the customer experience, attracting more shoppers.
Reduced labour costs: the technology can reduce the need for cashiers, leading to potential cost savings for grocery stores.
Enhanced data collection: Just Walk Out can collect valuable data on customer behaviour, which can be used to optimise store layouts, inventory management and marketing efforts.
Innovation catalyst: the success of Just Walk Out could inspire other grocery stores to adopt similar technologies, driving innovation in the industry.
Just Walk Out's capability for continuous learning is another noteworthy advancement.
The system can adapt to changes in store layout or product offerings without requiring manual intervention.
This ensures the technology remains adaptable and efficient even as stores introduce new product lines or undergo renovations.
The race for grocery innovation
Amazon Fresh has been actively expanding its presence through acquisitions, such as Whole Foods Market in the US which allowed Amazon to expand its sourcing capabilities and gain a deeper understanding of the customer food journey.
Amazon has also been expanding its grocery offerings in Europe, including the introduction of Amazon Fresh in Spain and a partnership with local player DIA.
The company has additionally been experimenting with tech-enabled offline formats, such as Amazon Go (physical stores with entirely automated checkouts) and Amazon Fresh stores in the United States.
Amazon leverages its Prime loyalty program to connect grocery and non-grocery platforms, applying its data, analytics, and e-commerce capabilities to improve the food shopping experience.
In response to Amazon's advancements, traditional grocers could use these opportunities to ramp up their own efforts in automation and cashierless technology.
This could lead to a period of intense competition and innovation within the grocery industry.
Jon Jenkins, AWS' Vice President for the Just Walk Out technology wrote in a blog post: "For retailers, the new AI system makes Just Walk Out faster, easier to deploy and more efficient”
“For shoppers, this means worry-free shopping at even more third-party checkout-free stores worldwide.”
"As we scale, the system will continue to learn from everyday shopping scenarios and raise the bar for accuracy and convenience, delivering the benefits of AI to retailers and customers around the world," Jon noted.
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