Amazon Checks Out From ‘Just Walk Out’ Stores—Which Were Allegedly Human-Powered

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Amazon’s store of the future is now a thing of the past. The e-commerce giant has decided to pull the plug on its ultra-modern ‘Just Walk Out’ technology, which allowed shoppers to breeze through grocery stores without waiting in checkout lines. The company’s ambitious experiment, once hailed as the future of retail, has now met its demise.

Back in 2018, Amazon unveiled its Just Walk Out system, promising revolution in shopping at Amazon Fresh stores. Cameras and sensors tracked customers’ movements, allowing them to grab items and exit the store without scanning or paying.

At first sight, it was a seamless artificial intelligence-powered experience, but the dream of full automation was an illusion. Behind the scenes, the system reportedly relied on over 1,000 human contractors in India who acted as remote cashiers, according to The Information.

The system also stumbled on practical challenges, proving too slow and expensive to implement. Outsourced cashiers took hours to process data, delaying receipts for customers. Critics also raised concerns about privacy, as Amazon collected sensitive data on in-store behavior.

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Carly Golden, a spokesperson for Amazon, attributes the departure to customer feedback. While shoppers appreciated the convenience of skipping the line, they also expressed a desire to track their spending in real-time—something the Just Walk Out system didn’t readily offer.

Walked Out to Dash

Amazon isn’t abandoning click-and-mortar reinvention altogether. Instead of Just Walk Out, the tech giant is placing its bets on ‘Dash Carts’—shopping carts embedded with scanners and screens. These carts allow guests to scan items as they shop, keeping a running total and enabling them to pay without waiting in a traditional checkout line, while avoiding the pitfalls of their predecessor.

The company isn’t completely walking out on Just Walk Out, either. Amazon Go stores, known for their wider variety of grab-and-go options, will continue to utilize this technology. It will also remain available in some smaller Amazon Fresh stores in the UK, and Amazon is still offering it to interested third-party retailers.

As the brand changes gears, the retail landscape faces a seismic shift. Other companies, including Walmart, trailed closely with their own cashier-less stores, but Amazon’s retreat signals a reality check. While it’s still evolving, the future of retail may not be entirely automated anytime soon.

[via Futurism, The Information, Payments Dive, Associated Press, images via Dreamstime.com]