U.S. retailers large and small are pressing ahead with testing the use of AI to track what products shoppers pick up and to automatically bill their accounts when they walk out the door, eliminating the need for checkout lines. The concept got a push from Amazon Go stores, which Amazon launched in early 2018; there are now 15 stores, A new study found that 28% of retailers are testing cashierless systems
Sam’s Club is offering AI-powered cashierless shopping this month at a 32,000-square-foot store in Dallas, reports The Wall Street Journal (Aug. 13, 2019). Currently, customers shop at the store by scanning barcodes on the products, an older cashierless-checkout technology. With the AI system is in place, customers use their smartphone cameras to scan the product itself. The cloud-based system, which uses computer vision and machine learning, recognizes products by matching them to a database of stored images. This is different from Amazon Go, where cameras installed in the stores do the work of scanning the products.
Not every type of store is suited for cashierless technology. Walmart tried out a cashierless system based on scanning barcodes for about six months in more than 100 stores but discontinued it in 2018. The technology proved impractical for pricing produce and other items that had to be taken to a cashier to be weighed, causing delays. Theft is also a concern. Manual scanning operates on an honor system and some customers don’t scan every item, often requiring stores to validate purchases.
Still, the potential benefits include speed and convenience. Even small companies are testing the waters.
Classroom discussion questions:
- Why is this an important OM issue?
- How does this AI approach differ from self-checkout?