On Monday, Amazon unveiled its first "Amazon Go" store — a brick-and-mortar convenience store in downtown Seattle that uses artificial intelligence-powered technology to eliminate cash registers and lines, reports The Wall Street Journal.
When customers enter the store, they scan their phone at a turnstile, which logs them on to the store's network and automatically connects to their Amazon account through an app, according to USA Today. The store relies on machine learning, sensors and artificial intelligence to track what items shoppers take off the selves and add it to their virtual shopping carts. When customers are done shopping, they simply exit the store and Amazon charges their account for the items.
While internal Amazon researchers are currently testing the store, Amazon hopes to open it to the public in early 2017.
The "Amazon Go" store represents one of at least three different types of store formats the company is exploring as a way to boost sales in the grocery business, reports WSJ. The retailer will supposedly open two more prototype locations in Seattle in the next few weeks. These locations would not offer in-store shopping, but rather curbside pickup for online grocery orders, according to the report.
Amazon hopes to open more than 2,000 grocery stores across the country, based on the success of these test locations, reports WSJ.
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