Amazon is getting ready to use its Go technology, which is deployed in 21 stores and allows consumers to grab what they want and leave without stopping to physically check out, in new store formats and also license it as soon as Q1 2020, Bloomberg reports.
The company is said to be developing the technology so it can be used in supermarkets and kiosks, the latter of which could be used in malls and sports stadiums, so Go may be moving beyond the convenience store format that all of the existing Amazon Go locations use.
If Amazon can successfully scale its Go format for supermarkets and license the technology, it will cement its spot at the top of the autonomous checkout market.
A supermarket format would be far bigger than any store Amazon or other autonomous checkout providers have officially launched thus far. Amazon is reportedly aiming to be able to support a 30,000-square-foot store with this expansion — much larger than the largest Amazon Go store's approximately 2,300-square-foot layout.
Amazon and other autonomous checkout providers like AiFi, Standard Cognition, and Zippin have yet to open stores of this size, so this would be a major accomplishment for Amazon. To do this, it'll need to make sure its network of cameras and sensors can track all of the shoppers and their selected products in a store at once, which can prove difficult in a larger format like a supermarket that has nonuniform items like produce.
If Amazon successfully deploys its Go technology in a grocery store and can license it to other retailers, it should gain access to a significant new revenue stream. To take advantage of the opportunity, Amazon would need to be able to retrofit existing third-party stores with Go technology, which may be complicated because it's built its Go stores with the technology in mind. But if it can, other retailers may be highly interested in working with it so they can offer physical checkout-free shopping to their consumers and save on labor costs for cashiers.
This would enable Amazon to potentially rack up revenue from licensing fees or from taking a cut of sales that occur via its technology — especially since it could beat competing technology providers to offering solutions that can be deployed in live stores, giving it a valuable first-mover advantage.
Adding new Amazon Go formats further complicates Amazon's growing brick-and-mortar portfolio, which could confuse consumers. In addition to its Go stores, Amazon owns Whole Foods, is set to open a grocery store that's separate from Whole Foods and won't feature Go technology, operates book stores, and more.
With all of these offerings, many of which are under the Amazon brand, consumers may not know which stores will feature Go technology and which ones won't, potentially causing confusion and frustration, limiting their interest in using the frictionless checkout experience. This could be particularly problematic if it opens its own supermarket that uses Go technology in addition to Whole Foods and its upcoming new grocery store.
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