Cashierless store
A cashierless store (also called a till-less store, checkout-free store or Just walk out store) is a store which allows customers to shop their products and leave without having to wait in line and pay at a checkout. Cashierless stores can currently be found in the United States, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Process
The process of shopping in a cashierless store can be broken down into four phases: the before-purchase phase, the check-in phase, the product selection phase, and the check-out phase.
Technology
Sensor fusion
In cashierless stores, most systems mark each customer with defining features and use cameras and pressure sensors together to keep track of where each customer goes and takes from the shelves.
Deep learning for computer vision
Deep learning for computer vision is used in cashierless stores to track customers and products. Computer vision is the computer’s ability to interpret real-life images and video feeds.
Regions
United States
In 2016, Amazon announced the opening of its first cashierless store, Amazon Go, which opened in 2018. To shop, customers were required to have the Amazon app (formerly a specific Amazon Go app) so that they could be billed for their purchases afterward through their accounts.
In January 2021, the Hudson Group, a travel retailer, announced that it would be implementing Amazon's Just Walk Out technology in select airport convenience stores, branded as Hudson Nonstop.
In June 2021, San Diego’s first fully automated and cashierless store, Valet Market, was opened to the public.
Cashierless stores have also been established in sporting and event arenas. In March 2021, Delaware North opened two cashierless MRKT convenience stores at TD Garden in Boston (only open during arena events).
Asia
Japan introduced cashierless shopping to their country by implementing New Zealand start-up, Imagr’s, scalable autonomous checkout technology. However, Imagr’s technology in Japan is not fully cashierless. Customers have to go to a checkout operator to accommodate Japanese customers’ shopping behavior of paying with cash and having a cashier.
In Singapore, the first cashierless convenience store named Cheers launched in 2017, where it saves 180 man hours per week through their autonomous format.
Europe
In 2019, Sainsbury's opened the first cashierless store in the United Kingdom. However, it closed a few months later due to customer dissatisfaction with the lack of additional payment options.
A Finnish company called Korttelikauppa opened a cashierless store in Helsinki in 2020, followed by six more stores in 2021 in Helsinki, Espoo, and Vantaa. Also in 2021, another Finnish convenience retailer, R-kioski, opened a cashierless store called R-kioski Go! in Helsinki.
In the Netherlands, Aldi Nord opened the first cashierless store in Utrecht as a 12-month trial in 2022.
Middle East
In September 2021, French conglomerate Carrefour opened the first cashierless store in the Middle East called Carrefour City+, located in the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai.
In 2019, Israel opened their first cashierless store Nowpet, a cashierless pet shop, which uses the technology developed by startup Cyb-Org.