Amazon to ditch Just Walk Out tech in US stores

Amazon is reportedly set to ditch its grab-and-go checkout system, Just Walk Out, across its US Amazon Fresh stores in favour of newer technology. Tony Hoggett, Amazon’s senior vice president of grocery stores, told The Information that the company’s Just Walk Out technology, which relied on cameras and sensors to monitor shoppers, was being phased out, with the retailer instead prioritising smart trolley technology.

The smart trolley technology, known as Dash Carts, was launched in 2020 and sees shopping carts equipped with scanners and screens, allowing customers to pay as they shop and receive real-time receipts. 

According to The Telegraph, the shift will not affect Amazon outlets in the UK. 

An Amazon spokesman told the paper the company had invested “a lot of time redesigning a number of our Amazon Fresh stores over the last year”.

They added: “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.”

Amazon’s first Amazon Fresh store in the UK closed last July, having opened only two years prior.

The till-less store opened in Ealing Broadway in March 2021 and was the retailer’s first store of its kind to open outside of the US.

The store was permanently shuttered, along with the closure of two other Amazon Fresh stores in Wandsworth and East Sheen.

In 2022, the retailer also paused its plans to expand its checkout-free convenience stores, amid weaker sales and the economic climate at the time.