Stores without cash registers and cashiers have become an innovative solution from Amazon Go. But new players will soon appear in this market.
Shopping at the supermarket can be a pain in the long wait in line at the checkout, even if it's a more modern self-service checkout. But Amazon has come up with an interesting solution and is now developing the network. stores Amazon Go, where you can select the products you want and just walk out the door without doing anything else. Payment will be made through the Amazon Go app, which is required on a smartphone to enter such a store.
The idea turned out to be so successful that it would be impossible to expect that other companies would not want to implement it. And startups Grabango and AiFi are already offering their technical solutions for deploying stores without cashiers and cashiers.
Startup Grabango started its activity in 2016. Initially, the area of interest of its creators were technologies for unmanned vehicles and the field of machine learning. But later the work was refocused on the area of optimizing purchases in large retail chains. Grabango's technology is already being tested, with Giant Eagle grocery store in Pittsburgh selected as the first pilot store.
The main difference between Grabango technology and that used in Amazon Go is the use of developments in the field of computer (technical) vision. The store is equipped with a large number of cameras that track the movement of each product in the store and record when it was taken from the shelf or replaced by another. Cameras and sensors are located in shelves, scales, inside the ceiling casing, etc.
AiFi also started its development in 2016. AiFi uses "sensor blending" technology, which combines data from different types of sensors to improve product tracking accuracy. In addition, data from a whole network of cameras is used to record the moments when goods are removed from the shelves.
AiFi does not use facial recognition technology, but can track the movement of thousands of shoppers inside the store based on their physical characteristics, height, hairstyle, clothing color, etc. Through the combination of multiple cameras and sensors on shelves and scales, the technology determines exactly what each visitor is going to buy. Payment is made via Apple Pay or Google Pay.
Big names like Amazon and walmart, also experimenting with various technologies for quick checkout, form a new market and set trends for its development. An actively developing area inevitably attracts serious investors and it can be expected that in the near future large retailers will offer more and more new solutions for more convenient shopping.
