Amazon’s checkout-free grocery store opens to the public for the first time

Amazon’s first physical grocery store – which has no check-outs – is finally opening its doors to the public.

The Seattle store, called Amazon Go, has a companion app that customers scan at the entrance in order to get in, and then uses a wide range of sensors, cameras and machine learning to detect when items are picked up from shelves.

Items picked up are then added to a virtual cart, allowing customers to simply walk out of the store when they’re done Amazon says, with the company sending a receipt and charging a user’s Amazon account shortly afterwards.

The experience is made possible by a range of technology that Amazon says is similar to that found in self-driving cars, which the firm says includes “computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning”.

The store, which is close to Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle, has been open to company staff for some time – putting the technology through its paces.

It is said to be able to spot when items are put back on shelves by indecisive customers, but some human staff will also be on hand to ensure everything runs smoothly, as well as carrying out necessary tasks such as confirming age when a customer wants to buy alcohol.

The public opening does come about a year later than Amazon initially predicted – perhaps an indication on how much work has gone in to perfecting the technology in the store – but if it is a success it could be the beginning of the end of queues at the tills.