Amazon Go Expansion

E-commerce giant Amazon is set to open its first cashless "Amazon Go" supermarket to the
public on Monday January 22nd, 2018, after the original opening date planned for early 2017
was delayed due to rumored technical concerns.

The outlet, located on street level at the company's Seattle headquarters in the US, has been open
on a trial basis for Amazon staff since December 2016, when the firm first revealed its expansion
plans in the food sector as well as in other shop formats.

Occupying just under 170 square meters of floor space, the supermarket offers pre-prepared
meals for breakfast, lunch or dinner, it also sells a selection of salads, sandwiches and soft
drinks, wines and Peers, and some fresh products such as meat. According to the Amazon Go
promotional video, which mentioned January 22nd as the planned opening date, customers will
be able enter the outlet using the Amazon Go mobile app I loot ion as their access key. Shoppers
will not be able to see their final bill as they leave the store and will be charged automatically
without having to pass through a checkout.

The company explains that the latest technology makes this method possible, as customers'
purchases will go through computerized scanners and sensors, powered by "deep learning"
similar to that used by driverless cars.

Amazon Go's vice president of technology, DIV Kumar, told The Wall Street Journal last week
that the company's staff have 'trained" the technology to work —"an experiment anchored to the
company's drive to reinvent how consumers do their shopping'.

The original opening date, expected in early 2017, had to be postponed because of technical
problems with the "Just Walk Out' technology that automatically charges customers upon leaving
the store, according to a report published in the Journal newspaper in March 2017,

The cameras, sensors and algorithms that follow the buyers and trace the products were falling
when there were many people or when customers "moved too fast", explained the newspaper
report, although Amazon has not commentated publicly on these rumors.
According to Kumar, Amazon had been hoping to open the store earlier and test the technology
with the general public, but decided that it could instead use the high number of employees at its
HQ location to

first "teach" the system, which now 'better identifies' items and fellows the habits and
movements of Shoppers, a complicated endeavor when it [ernes to large groups. To buy in the
supermarket, the company says it is necessary las customers to have an Amazon account and to
install the Amazon Go application on a "recent" i Phone or Android phone.

Upon entering the store, customers scan their phones. The system recognizes them as a "3-0
object" and cameras are then used to track each customer's movements and identity which
products they are buying, according to the report In the Journal newspaper, Instead of facial
recognition, the technology relies on "other visual cues" and continuity between Cameras to
determine customer behavior, Kumar told the TechCrunch website, which made a previous visit
to the store.

According to TechCrunch, even though there are no employees at checkouts, Amazon Go is not
completely automated. The supermarket does have staff to restock shelves. check customers' Iris
in the alcoholic beverages section, and prepare the pre-packaged meals.

In addition, a staff member is available at the entrance to answer questions and deal with items
customers wish to return.

Kumar did not reveal whether Amazon intends to extend the Go' store and lust Walk Out"
concept to other locations and said there are no plans to introduce the model to its recently
acquired Whole Foods Market supermarket chain, but he did say the concept alms to be
"scalable".