How Does Amazon Go Work? (Here Comes the Guide)

Learn how Amazon Go works and discover the convenience of frictionless shopping. Explore the technology behind the Just Walk Out shopping experience and how it allows you to simply grab what you need and go, without stopping to check out.

Amazon Go is a new kind of store featuring Just Walk Out Shopping. All you have to do is pick up the items you want from the store and walk out. Amazon will charge you automatically once you leave the store; exciting, right? In this post, you will learn all there is to know about the new stores.

Amazon Go was first launched in Beta in 2016 in Seattle. The store was the first of its kind, and most people viewed them as the end of checkouts. The stores featured new technology that only required customers to scan their phones and walk out once they were done shopping. This completely revolutionizes the checkout process since customers no longer need to wait in long queues when checking out. If you are curious about how the technology works and how to shop in an Amazon Go store, this post is for you.

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What Is Amazon Go?

It's no secret no one enjoys the checkout queue, whether waiting for a human cashier or one of the newer self-checkout terminals. Most customers often struggle with the scan-and-go technology used at self-checkout registers. With Amazon Go, customers can skip the checkout process entity—they pick the products they need and then simply walk out. After leaving the store, Amazon will charge you and send you a receipt through the Amazon Go app.

Even though Amazon popularized cashier-less stores, it is not the only company offering the service. With the checkout-less technological war between Amazon and traditional retailers heating up, two software startups, AiFi and Grabango, are developing autonomous systems for large stores. Other large retailers, such as Walmart, are also testing this new shopping approach. For instance, Walmart’s Sam’s Club has successfully deployed such automated shopping technology.

How Does Amazon Go Work?

Experience hassle-free shopping at Amazon Go stores, the innovative chain of automated convenience stores. With no need for a cashier or self-checkout, you can effortlessly purchase groceries. Advanced AI, sensors, and cameras track your selections and automatically charge your Amazon account when you leave the store with your purchases.

To shop in an Amazon Go automated store, you must first install the Amazon Go App and create an account. To enter the store, you need to open your Amazon app and select the In-store code from the bar on top of the screen. Once the key loads, hold it over the scanner at the entry gate.

In select Amazon Go stores, you can enter using your bank credit card or, alternatively, Amazon One—a no-cost service that works by transmitting a signal through the user's palm to authorize monetary transactions, access restricted areas or verify their identity. Once you have entered the store, it’s time for shopping. The store is organized just like any other traditional store.

You can therefore shop just as you would in any other store. Once you pick up an item, it will be automatically added to your virtual cart. Picked the wrong item; no need to worry; just put it back on the shelf, and it will be removed from the cart. Even though it might feel quite unnatural at first, you can put the items you purchase in your pocket— even when in the store. Alternatively, you can carry your own bag or bag pack to put the items you purchase.

In case you have forgotten a bag, worry not; Amazon has conveniently placed bags in the stores. You can pick up a bag and reuse it at a later date. Amazon uses the same advanced technology used in self-driving for the checkout process. This includes artificial intelligence, deep learning, sensor fusion, and computer vision. For instance, there are sensors placed under every product. This enables Amazon to detect when you pick up an item and put it back. The technology also detects when you leave the store and charges you.

How to Shop with Friends And Family?

Shopping with friends and family is also made easy and convenient. You can use either your credit card, Amazon One, or scan your phone to first let your friends in. Use the same method to get in.

Your virtual shopping basket will automatically update to include any things picked up from the shelf by any of your accompanying loved ones. Your virtual shopping basket will be emptied if any of your friends or relatives put the things back on the shelf. Once you leave the store, all items you and your friends picked up will be charged to your account.

How to Get Your Amazon Go Receipt?

Depending on how you got into the store, there are different ways of getting your Amazon Go receipt.

If you use the Amazon Go shopping app: Amazon Go receipts are available under Your Orders.
If you used Amazon One to enter the store: For customers who have linked their Amazon One ID to an Amazon account and have their Amazon One payment card in their Amazon wallet, receipts from Amazon Go purchases can be viewed in the Amazon shopping app or in Your Orders.
If you used a credit card to enter the store: You can see your Amazon Go receipts in Your Orders if the credit card you used is stored in your Amazon Wallet.

Backlash Against Cashless Stores

Politicians have voiced concern that the checkout-free technology employed by Amazon Go and other businesses could lead to economic inequality by excluding people who only have access to cash payments. New Jersey and Philadelphia have passed laws prohibiting the use of cashless checkouts, and New York City is evaluating whether to follow suit.

Grabango and AiFi, two competitors to Amazon Go, both have systems in place to collect cash payments. Using Grabango, you can make a cash purchase at a cash register: Rather than scanning and re-bagging your purchases, you may simply pay the cashier your money, and the system will know exactly what you've picked up.

AiFi's turnstile technology allows customers to enter the business with a swipe of a card after loading it with money at a kiosk. When you leave the store and swipe your card, your transaction amount will be subtracted. In May 2019, Amazon said that its new NYC Go store would accept cash payments. Cash payments can be made by contacting a store employee who will scan you in and out of the store.

Bottom Line

Amazon Go is a new kind of cashier-less store. The store allows customers to pick up the items they need and simply walk out of the store. To enter the store, you must first install the Amazon Go app on your phone and scan it at the entrance. Alternatively, you could use your credit card or Amazon One in select stores. You will get the receipt just after you leave the store.