29.03.2024

Tesco trials Amazon Go-style checkout-free supermarkets

Standing in huge queues at the supermarket checkout could soon be a thing of the past, if Tesco’s latest trial is rolled out.

Dave Lewis, CEO of Tesco, has confirmed that the firm is testing Amazon Go-style checkout-free supermarkets, where your shopping is processed by artificial intelligence.

While it is unclear how long the trial has been running, and in which stores, Mr Lewis added that Tesco has been ‘doing it for a while.’

Checkout operators in Tesco supermarkets could soon be out of a job, if the supermarket’s latest trial is rolled out.  Dave Lewis, CEO of Tesco, has confirmed that the firm is testing Amazon Go-style checkout-free supermarkets (stock image)

TESCO’S CHECKOUT-FREE SUPERMARKETS

Speaking to Business Insider, Dave Lewis, CEO of Tesco, said: ‘We’re trialling lots and lots of things – the thing you refer to, yes – but we’ll only talk about it when we’ve done it everywhere.

‘The idea that I would come to the market and say, in this one shop we are – I’ve got 3,600 shops.

‘When we’re at a place where we’ve got something we want to launch to all customers, we’ll launch it and we’ll communicate it.

‘We’ve been doing it for a while. Nothing to announce.’

Mr Lewis was speaking at a press conference in London this week where he answered several questions about competition with Amazon.

Amazon recently acquired the Whole Foods franchise and has been experimenting with checkout-free supermarkets in the US already.

Mr Lewis confirmed that Tesco was looking at similar technology.

Speaking to Business Insider, Mr Lewis said: ‘We’re trialling lots and lots of things – the thing you refer to, yes – but we’ll only talk about it when we’ve done it everywhere.

‘The idea that I would come to the market and say, in this one shop we are – I’ve got 3,600 shops.

‘When we’re at a place where we’ve got something we want to launch to all customers, we’ll launch it and we’ll communicate it.

‘We’ve been doing it for a while. Nothing to announce.’

Mr Lewis did not elaborate on how Tesco’s checkout-free system works.

In December, Amazon unveiled a convenience store in downtown Seattle that replaced cashiers with technology found in self-driving cars.

Dave Lewis, CEO of Tesco (pictured), did not elaborate on how Tesco's checkout-free system works. While it is unclear how long the trial has been running, and in which stores, Mr Lewis added that Tesco has been 'doing it for a while.

Dave Lewis, CEO of Tesco (pictured), did not elaborate on how Tesco’s checkout-free system works. While it is unclear how long the trial has been running, and in which stores, Mr Lewis added that Tesco has been ‘doing it for a while.

Called ‘Amazon Go’, customers enter the store using an accompanied app, grab the items they need, and are able to walk out without stopping at a register.

The app uses a range of sensors that detect what shoppers take off shelves and bills it to their Amazon account if they don’t put it back.

It is unclear if Tesco’s system will work in a similar fashion.

The news comes just a week after a survey revealed that 70 per cent of the US fears that their role will soon become automated.

AMAZON GO STORES

In December, Amazon unveiled a convenience store in Seattle that uses technologies found in self-driving cars to replace cashiers.

To enter the store, customers simply open the Amazon Go app and place it to a sensor located on what appears to be a turnstyle in the entrance.

The app uses computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning to detect what customers take off the shelves and what they end up putting back.

When you’ve found the items you need, just walk out of the store and everything is charged to your Amazon account – the system will also send you a receipt.

Although there are no cashiers – there are staff on the floor to help.

In December, Amazon unveiled a convenience store in Seattle that uses technologies found in self-driving cars to replace cashiers

In December, Amazon unveiled a convenience store in Seattle that uses technologies found in self-driving cars to replace cashiers

More than half of respondents said that they expected that fast food workers, insurance claims processors and legal clerks will be mostly replaced by robots and computers during their lifetimes.

And nearly two-thirds think that most retailers will be fully automated in 20 years, with little or no human interaction between customers and employers.

‘The public expects a number of different jobs and occupations to be replaced by technology in the coming decades, but few think their own job is heading in that direction,’ Aaron Smith, associate director at the Pew Research Center, said.

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