Amazon's checkout-free store opens to the public January 22nd
Amazon's bid to automate the convenience store is finally ready for the public . The company has confirmed that the Amazon Go store attached to its new Seattle headquarters will be open to non-employees on January 22nd, or more than a year later than planned. The premise remains the same. You have to scan in with a smartphone app when you enter the store, but it's largely friction-free beyond that. A computer vision AI system tracks the items you remove from the shelves, letting you walk out without talking to a cashier or using a self-checkout machine. The only staff you'll likely see are for ID checking (when buying alcohol) and the kitchen. Don't expect to buy everything you'd normally find in a convenience store. Recode likens it to a more elaborate Pret A Manger with ready-to-eat meals as well as drinks, meat, produce, snacks and Amazon's own meal kits . The main allure, of course, is the speed. You can walk in, grab a veggie wrap and walk out in a ma...