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Jul 15, 2020
Amazon.com is rolling out a new smart shopping cart — Amazon Dash Cart — that will eliminate the need for customers to stop at registers in order to check out of a store.
Similar in some ways to the Just Walk Out technology used in Amazon’s Go convenience format, Dash Cart is designed for small-to-medium sized grocery trips of up to two bags. It uses computer vision algorithms and sensor fusion to identify items placed by shoppers in the cart. When shoppers are ready to check out of the store, they exit through a marked Dash Cart lane where sensors identify the cart and payment is processed using the credit card they use on the Amazon site.
“We’ve taken some of the core technology as well as our learnings from Just Walk Out technology and applied them to the Amazon Dash Cart where possible,” an Amazon spokesperson told RetailWire in an email. “A good example is how we’ve used some of our sophisticated computer vision algorithms that we’ve advanced over time with Amazon Go and Just Walk Out technology. That said, the Dash Cart presents some entirely new innovations both on computer vision and weight algorithms not used in Amazon Go or with Just Walk Out technology.”
Shoppers using Dash Cart can access its features by signing in using a QR code in the Amazon app. The cart is outfitted with a screen where customers can access their Alexa shopping lists and view the purchase price of items they are placing in the cart. They are also able to use a coupon scanner in the cart to take advantage of store coupons as they shop the store.
Dash Cart will make its debut at the new Amazon grocery store format the company is opening in Woodland Hills, CA, later this year. The spokesperson described it as “a great opportunity to pair a new innovation with a new store format” before adding, “we’re excited to hear feedback from customers.”
Amazon did not offer information on the company’s plans to roll out to any more of its physical store locations or to potentially market the technology. In March, Amazon announced it had begun selling the technology behind its Amazon Go and Amazon Go Grocery concepts to other retailers. At the time, Amazon had said it had signed “several” deals but declined to name the buyers. OTG’s CIBO Express and Cineworld’s Regal cinemas were identified as two possibilities.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Do you expect Dash Cart to be in big demand by customers when Amazon opens its new grocery store format in Woodland Hills later this year? What do you see as the challenges and opportunities behind smart shopping cart technology in general and for Amazon specifically?
” Customers would probably welcome the opportunity to skip checkout, but how well does this work in practice?”
“We do not appear to know how much it costs now to put one of these carts together and how much less it may cost at scale.”
“This is one of the rare times Amazon is a follower. There are at least a few other smart carts in operation by various startups…”
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