Amazon has revealed plans for a grocery shop without a checkout process, where customers will instead pay for the goods they have selected via an app. The just-walk-out shopping experience uses the same types of technologies found in self-driving cars.

    The system detects when items are taken or returned to shelves and tracks them in a virtual shopping trolley.

    Once the shopper leaves the store, their Amazon account will be charged and receipt sent to them.

    The first shop is expected to open to the public in Seattle in the United States in early 2017.

    "Grocery retail is a crowded sector, and customers have incredibly high expectations of the Amazon brand," said Natalie Berg, an analyst at Planet Retail.

    "If they're going to differentiate, they'll need to translate the fantastic customer experience that they have created online in a physical store setting. This is no easy feat. Removing the traditional checkout process does exactly that."

    Customers will swipe into the store using the Amazon Go app. It will use computer vision, sensors and deep learning algorithms to keep track of what customers are taking off the shelves. Amazon has spent four years developing the shop.

    "Despite significant investment in store technology, the checkout experience has been largely ignored," Berg said.

    "Retailers have made a lot of progress on mobile payments as a standalone option. However, very few have been successful in moving towards a comprehensive mobile wallet and thereby addressing the problem of long queues. This is where Amazon comes in."

    The shop will offer ready-to-eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack options made fresh every day by on-site chefs or by local kitchens and bakeries.

    Grocery essentials such as bread and milk will also be on sale alongside Amazon Meal Kits, with all the ingredients needed to make a meal for two in about 30 minutes.

    This is not the first time a grocery retailer has attempted innovation.

    Tesco disposed of its Fresh & Easy shops in 2013 after the small convenience stores focused on healthy foods proved unpopular with U.S. shoppers more used to extensive choice.

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

    结帐

    jiézhàng

    checkout

    the act of itemizing purchases and collecting the amount due

    孤立的

    gūlì de

    standalone

    self-contained and usually independently operating

    亚马逊将开线下杂货店 不设结账台自动扣款

   亚马逊计划开设一家不设收银台的实体杂货店，顾客挑选好商品后通过应用支付即可。

    这种“即选即走”的购物模式使用了与无人驾驶汽车同类型的科技。

    当顾客从货架上取下或放回商品时，该系统可以检测到变化，并在虚拟购物车中跟踪商品。

    一旦顾客走出商店，他们的亚马逊账户就会被扣除相应的消费额，并送达收据。

    明年年初，位于美国西雅图的第一家亚马逊实体杂货店将有望对公众开放。

    星球零售咨询机构分析师娜塔莉?伯格说，“百货零售市场竞争激烈，顾客对亚马逊的线下销售格外期待。”

    “如果亚马逊想要独树一帜，他们需要将其在线上创造的超凡购物体验落实到实体销售中。这绝非易事，但摒弃传统收银程序却做到了这一点。”

    顾客将通过Amazon Go的APP扫码进入商店。系统将会使用电脑视觉、感应器和深度学习算法来跟踪记录顾客从货架上选取的商品。

    亚马逊已投入四年时间研发这一实体百货店。

    伯格表示，“尽管其他商家在商店的技术层面投资巨大，但顾客的结账体验却一直以来被忽略了，”

    “零售商在移动支付方面有巨大进步，却寥寥有人致力于全程电子支付以解决排队问题。这是亚马逊的独到之处。”

    亚马逊这家店将提供即食的一日三餐和零食小点，均由厨师现场制作或当地的餐厅和西点店烹饪。

    诸如面包牛奶一类的基础食品以及快速制作一顿二人餐所需的食材也将在餐包一旁出售。

    这并不是食杂零售商的首次创新。

    乐购旗下的新鲜便利超市（Fresh & Easy）主营健康食品，但在美国消费者中遇冷，遂在2013年被转让。美国消费者习惯提供多样选择的大超市。