India (Commonwealth Union)_ Amazon’s innovative “Just Walk Out” technology, which revolutionized the shopping experience by enabling customers to bypass traditional checkouts, is the result of the manual work of 1,000 Indian human workers. These workers based in India were responsible for reviewing the items customers picked up and eventually walked out with from Amazon’s “Just Walk Out”-enabled stores.
Also read: Path to India-Pak friendship
Although Amazon asserted that the technology primarily operated on computer vision, a substantial portion of “Just Walk Out” transactions necessitated manual review by the Indian team. Accordingly, a 2022 report indicated that 700 out of every 1,000 transactions underwent verification by these workers. However, an Amazon spokesperson clarified that the team in India solely assisted in training the model utilized for “Just Walk Out”.
Also read: New financial rules in India
According to the spokesperson, associates may also verify a small percentage of shopping visits where computer vision technology is unable to conclusively identify a person’s purchases. However, in a strategic shift, Amazon intends to gradually ease off the “Just Walk Out” technology at its Amazon Fresh stores in favor of its Dash Carts. These smart shopping carts will enable customers to bypass checkout lines by tracking and charging for their products.
According to a spokesperson, this decision is prompted by customer preferences for features such as easy product location, access to deals, receipt viewing during shopping, and awareness of savings. The “Just Walk Out” technology initially made its debut in Amazon Go convenience stores, where customers could enter just with their Amazon account, select items, return them to shelves, and depart without cashier interaction.
In recent years, Amazon has extended the Just Walk Out technology to larger-format stores, with 27 out of 44 Amazon Fresh stores now equipped with the technology. Additionally, Amazon has also integrated Just Walk Out into select Whole Foods stores. Beyond Amazon, startups have developed their own iterations of Just Walk Out and tested them at various retailers, like Aldi and Dollar General.
