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Many people may have heard about the words “Walk-Through Cashless Payment” or “Cashierless Technology”. It is a technology to support shopping behavior of current people which tend to do online shopping at home instead of going outside because they don’t want to go out and meet a lot of people. Besides, they are bored of queuing up and waiting at the cashier for payment.
The first companyadopting this technology was Amazon.com. Amazon Go was opened officially on 22 January 2018. When customers come to the store, they can pick up the desired product and walk out of the store without queuing at the cashier. Once they leave the store, they are automatically billed for the items in their virtual cart.
Nowadays, more and more companies have started using cashless payment technology like this.
Samples of stores using walk-through cashless payment technology are as follows:
Amazon
Amazon.com, an American famous e-commerce company launched “Amazon Go” the first cashierless smart convenience store.
Currently, there are more than 20 locations of Amazon Go. In 2020, Amazon started selling a “Just Walk Out” system that uses the same cashierless technology as Amazon Go, so other retailers can purchase this system to use at their stores. It is also used at Amazon Fresh stores in the USA.
This “Just Walk Out” system utilizes technology which combines camera, sensor fusion technology, computer vision and Deep Learning processing to help customers shop and go without queuing at the cashier.
Now this Just Walk Out system is used in supermarkets like Whole Foods Market, coffee shops like Starbucks, and some sport stadiums like Major League Baseball Stadium in the USA.
In April 2021, Amazon launched the first Amazon Salon in London, UK. This is not only a hair salon, but it also utilizes Augmented Reality (AR) application to let customers experiment with different virtual hair colors and hair styles. In addition, “Point-and-learn” technology is used at Amazon Salon to sell hair care products.
Customers can simply point at the product on a display shelf, then the product information, including brand videos and educational content will be shown on a display screen. Customers can also buy the product on Amazon website by just scanning the displayed QR code, then the product will be delivered to their home.
Lawson convenience store
On 11 Oct 2022, Lawson Japan opened the first Lawson Go store at the Mitsubishi Foods headquarters in Koishikawa, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo. It is a walk-through cashless payment store to create a cashless shopping experience with no cashier staff. This helps customers to reduce waiting time at the cashier. Customers must download a “Lawson Go” application and register their credit cards in advance. Then the application generates a QR code for each customer to scan at the store gates.
Lawson Go store is now under testing at the pilot store, after that it is planned to expand to other stores. There is some feedback during the test, for example, it can improve convenience for customers who want to make purchases in the shortest amount of time at the stores, store staff have more free time during their lunch break. However, some people are concerned about countermeasures against fraud and theft, and sensor error.
Sensei
Cashierless startup from Portugal which was launched in mid of 2021 since the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic. It was believed that cashierless payment can reduce contact between people which may cause COVID-19 infection.
At present, there is only one Sensei store located in Sonae department store in Lisbon, Portugal. Just like Amazon Go, the system uses cameras, sensors, and AI algorithms to track customer movements and detect when a customer picks an item off or returns it to the shelf. The development team of Sensei plans to expand and launch more stores in the future.
JD.com
JD.com which is China’s second-largest e-commerce company also uses a technology called “Unmanned Store”. The first store was opened in Beijing in October 2017, and the overseas store was opened in 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Customers in China must register their information on “WeChat” application before entering the store. The store uses RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) systems, facial recognition cameras, and sensors to detect movement when customers pick up or place the product on the shelf.
Moreover, it can track the shopping behavior of customers so that the store owner can completely fulfill the required products to meet the needs of customers.
Currently, JD has more than 20 cashierless stores in China. It sells products of more than 350,000 SKUs in Indonesia to serve more than 20 million consumers nationwide.
These are some examples of stores using walk-through cashless payment systems. It becomes a good time for consumers to start using financial technology that provides them with more convenience, especially after COVID-19 situation which consumer behavior has changed. In the future, we may see many stores as well as entertainment facilities offer more and more cashierless payment services.
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