Amazon removing ‘Just Walk Out,’ installing Dash Cart at Amazon Fresh
Amazon is scaling back the use of its proprietary "Just Walk Out" frictionless checkout technology.
In an email to Chain Store Age, Amazon spokesperson Jessica Martin confirmed multiple media reports that as part of a broader effort to redesign its Amazon Fresh high-tech grocery banner, the company will remove its “Just Walk Out” frictionless, cashierless shopping technology from Amazon Fresh stores.
Martin added that Amazon will instead deploy its Dash Cart smart shopping cart device at Amazon Fresh stores. First announced in July 2020 and officially launched in September 2020 with a reboot in 2022, the Dash Cart operates on a technology infrastructure similar to “Just Walk Out” (see more below) using a combination of computer vision algorithms and sensor fusion to identify items customers put in the cart and allow them to shop, pay for their items and leave without having to wait in a checkout line.
"We’ve invested a lot of time redesigning a number of our Amazon Fresh stores over the last year, offering a better overall shopping experience with more value, convenience, and selection—and so far we’ve seen positive results, with higher customer shopping satisfaction scores and increased purchasing," Martin said in the email.
"We’ve also heard from customers that while they enjoyed the benefit of skipping the checkout line with Just Walk Out, they also wanted the ability to easily find nearby products and deals, view their receipt as they shop, and know how much money they saved while shopping throughout the store," said Martin. "To deliver even more convenience to our customers, we’re rolling out Amazon Dash Cart, our smart-shopping carts, which allows customers all these benefits including skipping the checkout line."
This change in automated checkout technology follows a February 2023 decision to pause expansion of the Amazon Fresh format, which made its debut in 2020, in Woodland Hills, Calif. There are currently about 44 Amazon Fresh locations, with close to 20 in California.
At the time Amazon announced it would temporarily halt opening new Amazon Fresh stores, CEO Andy Jassy said that to have a mass physical store offering, “You need a different offering. And that’s what we’ve been working on with Amazon Fresh.”
"We’re doing a fair bit of experimentation today in those stores to try to find a format that we think resonates with customers," Jassy told analysts on an earnings call. "It’s differentiated in some meaningful fashion and where we like the economics."
Just Walk Out – a primer
Customers who opt for Just Walk Out shopping can enter the store by scanning the in-store QR code in their Amazon app, using the Amazon One proprietary palm payment solution, or inserting a credit or debit card linked to their Amazon account to open the Just Walk Out gates.
Just Walk Out leverages a combination of computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning that enables shoppers to shop the store, pick out what they want and skip the checkout when they’re done. Anyone shopping at the new Amazon Fresh store can utilize the cashierless technology, which connects to their Amazon account or credit card.
Once inside the store, customers can shop like normal. Anything they take off the shelf is automatically added to their virtual cart, and anything they put back on the shelf comes out of their virtual cart. At the end of their trip, customers scan their QR code or insert their payment card again to exit. Traditional shopping and checkout are also available.
Originally available only in Amazon Go convenience and small-format grocery stores, Amazon then began rolling out Just Walk Out to select Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods locations, and also licenses the technology to third-party retailers.