Amazon Waves Goodbye to Checkout Hassle

The evolution of payment methods continues to develop. From barter system where people exchange goods for goods, barley took over until alas, coins were created and assigned with value! While this type of monetary entity remained, other payment methods joined the world of commodity. On top of cash, cheques were created and by the 20th century, digital payment has been introduced and carried on to the 21st century. Thanks to technology, there is an option to pay without using cash and for most people, this is more convenient.

Year after year, the innovation never cease to amaze consumers of the incessant addition to the payment options. Technology's objective is to fit the needs of a customer’s busy and fast-paced life. However, even with a cashless payment, human seem to be always battling with time considering the effort and duration it takes to juggle work, family, and personal needs. Simply going to the store to buy daily and weekly necessities can add up to the stress of the day when you have to go through the checkout hassle; you have to line up, wait for your turn, either pay cash, use a credit card, debit card, or an app that scans and pays for your purchases. Yes, despite the digital payment methods, time is still a consumer’s nemesis for a simple transaction as doing the groceries or buying lunch.

All thanks to Amazon, frictionless checkout was made possible since 2016 when the first Amazon Go location opened in San Francisco. To this date, there are 18 locations in the United States where people are enjoying the most advanced shopping experience that completely removed registers and checkouts. Consumers just need to download the Amazon Go app, go to the store, take whatever products are needed, scan the barcode in the app and the next thing you know, you’re walking out of the store and headed to your home. The receipt will be sent within a few minutes so you can relax and conserve your energy for the next day.

Amazon Go also expanded in London as reported by Grocery Drive in February 2019. It is the first time Amazon has done that outside the United States. Soon, there will be more frictionless checkouts and in fact, other retails are trying to adopt the same concept because it is the most innovative invention that took e-commerce to the next level.

If you’re wondering about how it works because just walking in and out of the store seems too good to be true, that's the power of technology we have today. There are smart sensors that will track the items that are being taken out of the shelves. It also tracks the items when you put them back. This retail store experience was designed using the same technologies that brought self-driving cars like computer vision and sensor fusion.

Another good thing about using Amazon Go is the fact that it doesn’t require Amazon Prime. Just download the app, sign in with your information, and that’s it!