'Grab and go' shop using deep learning tech planned by Amazon

No need even to use the self-service check-out at Amazon Go - provided it works

Amazon is planning to open a shop that won't need cashiers or even a self-service checkout. Customers will simply take what they want and have their credit or debit cards automatically billed as they walk out.

If it works, it will be the fulfilment of many decades of research into shop technology, which instead of using so-called 'supertags' on goods will use computer vision systems, sensors and deep learning to enable shoppers to waltz in, scan their phones, pick up what they want and to walk out again.

Amazon Go will arrive in the form of an 170-square-meter retail space located in the company's hometown of Seattle, and is described by the company as a "new kind of store".

"Our checkout-free shopping experience is made possible by the same types of technologies used in self-driving cars: computer vision, sensor fusion, and deep learning," Amazon explains.

"Our Just Walk Out technology automatically detects when products are taken from or returned to the shelves and keeps track of them in a virtual cart. When you're done shopping, you can just leave the store. Shortly after, we'll charge your Amazon account and send you a receipt."

If you're fine with Amazon tracking you in real life as it does online, it will have plenty to offer on its shelves, which presumably will be stocked by robots.

"We offer delicious ready-to-eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack options made fresh every day by our on-site chefs and favourite local kitchens and bakeries. Our selection of grocery essentials ranges from staples like bread and milk to artisan cheeses and locally made chocolates," the firm said.

A public opening of Amazon Go is scheduled for 2017, although it's unlikely that it'll be coming to the UK anytime soon.

Nevertheless, the technology could one day cause the end of the cashier job, a means of employment to millions that, like truck drivers under threat from self-driving vehicles, could become redundant in the mid-to-long term future.