When Amazon announced its “Just Walk Out” technology was being deployed in the company’s Go convenience stores all the way back in 2018, many observers were surprised that the several technologies it used did not include RFID.
Instead, Just Walk Out leveraged a mixed of systems, including cameras, shelf sensors, sensor fusion, and artificial intelligence in the form of computer vision and generative AI to enable retail consumers to purchase items without the need to go through the point-of-sale process.
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| In total, Amazon says there are more than 70 company-owned stores, and more than 85 third-party retailers with Just Walk Out technology located across the US, the UK, and Australia, with new locations launching every month. |
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Making the technology available to other retailers besides its own Go stores, the system handle a wide range of products, such as food, beverages, groceries, home goods, and more.
To make it work, the computer vision-based checkout-free stores must have items for sale arranged on shelves or tables so the system can see which goods are purchased by customers.
But this approach does work for some product categories, notably apparel and other soft goods, which would require the items to be packaged in bags or boxed to be seen by the cameras in the same way as a packaged food product.
But that isn’t how apparel and other soft goods are merchandised. Customers usually want to see clothing on hangers, pick items up, feel the fabric, try them on, and may even return the items to other shelves or locations in the store.
So to address the unique nature of shopping for soft goods, Amazon has added RFID to the Just Walk Out technology mix.
With RFID, Amazon says customers can grab clothes, hats, shoes, shoes and more, and as with Go stores simply walk out of the store through an exit gate (even while wearing their purchases), after by tapping their credit or debit card, or hovering their palm over an Amazon One palm recognition device.
A portal style RFID reader captures the RFID tags (and thus items) being taken out of the store.
A blog post from Amazon says the RFID technology was successfully piloted at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena, deployed for a few games at the end of Seattle Kraken’s ice hockey season earlier this year.
Based on the results of the test, Amazon has now launched the technology at Lumen Field, home of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks. During the 2023-24 NFL season, fans can grab and go with Seahawks gear at the new Seahawks Pro Shop Outlet located in the northwest corner of the stadium’s field level.
Lumen Field had experience with the non-RFID Just Walk Out system, implementing its first store, District Market, on the stadium’s upper concourse in September of 2022.
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During the 2022 season, the store saw a 60% increase in customer throughput, and the total transactions per game doubled compared to the traditional concession stand that previously stood in the same location.
By the end of the season in early 2023, Amazon says the team saw transactions per game in that location increase 85% and total sales per game increase 112%. Following the success of the launch, Lumen Field has added eight more Just Walk Out technology stores in the arena, including the new RFID store.
In total, Amazon says there are more than 70 company-owned stores, and more than 85 third-party retailers with Just Walk Out technology located across the US, the UK, and Australia, with new locations launching every month.
The third-party stores are concentrated in airport travel stores, sports stadiums and convention centers, and a few theme parks and convenience stores.
Is it this checkout-free buying future of retail?
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