The Future of Retail: Checkout-Free Stores and Their Innovative Technologies

In recent years, we've seen a significant shift in the retail industry, with checkout-free stores becoming increasingly popular. These stores are changing the way we shop, making it possible for customers to browse and purchase products without the need for human assistance. One such store that caught our attention is Japka, which has gained widespread success in Poland. This store uses cameras to track customer purchases, allowing them to shop with minimal human interaction.

Upon entering Japka, customers are required to tap their card to gain entry, a process that also involves providing their phone number for future receipts. The store features 24 cameras above the shelves, which track the movement of products and provide an accurate total at checkout. There are approximately 500 different products available in the store, and although the initial inventory is modest, it's clear that the store can scale up or down as needed.

The convenience and efficiency of Japka are evident from the moment a customer enters the store. With no need to interact with human staff, customers can simply browse the shelves and pick out the products they want. The cameras track every move, ensuring that the product is accurately priced and totalled. This technology has the potential to revolutionize the retail industry, making shopping faster and more convenient for customers.

However, some may feel uneasy about having a camera monitoring their every move while shopping. The prospect of being tracked without prior notice can be unsettling. Nevertheless, Japka's system allows multiple people to shop simultaneously, as long as they are under the same tab or party. This feature makes it an attractive option for large groups or events.

To take this technology further, companies can retrofit existing refrigerators and coolers with sensors that weigh products, eliminating the need for new purchases. This adaptation enables businesses to integrate the checkout-free system without significant investments in new equipment.

While Japka's demo setup is impressive, real-world applications require testing and refinement. Our team visited a working Amazon grab-and-go style store at a Convention Center lobby, where customers could purchase snacks quickly and easily. Although minor issues arose during our test, such as needing to know the correct exit path, overall, the experience was seamless.

In this demo setup, customers didn't need to give up much information; simply inserting their credit card was enough. However, some may feel uneasy about the prospect of sharing their phone number or other personal data to shop at these stores. Nevertheless, if technology can save people time and make shopping more convenient, it's likely that they will be adopted widely.

The comfort level of customers with this technology is still evolving. Some individuals may be hesitant to give up personal information in exchange for the convenience offered by checkout-free stores. Nonetheless, as technology advances, we can expect to see a greater acceptance of these innovations. By understanding how these systems work and addressing any concerns that arise, retailers can create a seamless shopping experience for their customers.

As we move forward, it's essential to consider the potential benefits and drawbacks of checkout-free stores. With cameras tracking customer purchases, the need for human assistance becomes redundant. However, there are still ways for businesses to utilize labor effectively in these spaces. The key is to adapt technology to meet the changing needs of consumers.

The impact of checkout-free stores on the retail industry will be significant, and it's crucial to observe their adoption and evolution closely. As we navigate this new landscape, we'll continue to see innovations that blend technology with human interaction. While some may feel uneasy about the cameras watching over them, others are already embracing this technology. The future of retail is looking bright, and checkout-free stores will undoubtedly play a major role in shaping it.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enforeign you could just kind of throw your stuff on as you're shopping I don't know whatever retailers are turning to technology to find solutions to the labor shortage I'm at the big National Retail Federation conference that's held in New York City to see how see how robots and AI are filling in the gaps for humans and to see how this is shaping the future shopping experience over the years we are seeing more robots helping humans at factories doing things like sorting products or pulling boxes from various aisles but in covering this year's NRF show there is way more talk about using computer intelligence for things like image recognition to be a replacement for human eyeballs companies like to talk about finding tools to help in today's labor shortage and sometimes not having enough workers is because companies are not paying a high enough salary to attract those workers regardless the show floor had many examples of expensive systems to keep an eye on store inventory and the checkout process I'm going to show you how image recognition is changing the very annoying self-checkout process here at edify there's a camera always looking down at what you are scanning and it can tell exactly what you're putting down doesn't matter how I put those bananas down it knows they are bananas the camera is good enough to be able to scan that for anyone trying to be sneaky and get diapers but actually just pay for gum it's scanned gum but the image knows it is not gum I try to pay quickly it's not going to let you pay NCR is taking this to another level here you could just throw various items all at once down on the surface at any angle we have a camera up top so you could just kind of throw your stuff on as you're shopping I don't know whatever and uh oh it's already figuring it out I don't have to scan the barcode this kind of system makes sense at places like stadiums or gas stations where maybe you have an item that doesn't typically have a barcode like a plate of nachos it'll be able to recognize it and have you move right along Google is also in the game now using its image recognition smarts it can tell the difference between many different versions of a product on a Shelf at many different angles this is their shelf check solution where you can take fixed cameras cameras that I might already have and be able to scan the shelves know something's wrong something's amiss maybe a kid took the marshmallows and I don't know just put them back where the cream cheese goes well a camera is going to be able to scan that I know something's remiss you know that maybe they're low on stock so what makes more sense is having a big automated robot like brain OS this has a lot of different sensors to be customized to whatever a company needs but it also can stay on the shelves and mop the floor at the same time foreign point for me when I'm shopping when you need something just really quick at the store but they've locked the thing you need behind something because it's high value or maybe it's just stolen a lot so you have the normally request an associate ring a little bell sit there and wait there's cameras and they got a textual code here's how it works so if I need these razors to unlock the case I still could call somebody I can press to request an associate to come by or if I have no patience I could use my cell phone it tells me about privacy that my phone number is not going to be used for anything other than just accessing this merchandise right put the code in right it'll unlock it and grab what you need but if I start grabbing a lot of stuff really oddly I might set something off if I left the door open too long that's another warning sign so that Associates coming by to the tear odd behavior you have a camera right here and I just gave my phone number so the company says that they're starting tests on this kind of Technology at CBS at Walgreens and a lot of other places you may start seeing this pop-up here and there all of this is pitched as a way to help when there are fewer humans in the stores but I also saw more stores that don't need any humans at all we're seeing more examples of stores that are just very small almost like a vending machine type store where you just walk in and cameras are tracking exactly what you're buying here's an example of a store that is all over Poland it's called japka and all you would do to enter is just tap in your card so before I go in I have to also give them my phone number that's where we're going to get the receipt so they can make this store as big or small as they need but in this example there are 24 cameras on top tracking whatever I grab and put back and there are about 500 different products in here that they can do but they could be as big as 5000 if they need it to be so let's see I'm thirsty I think I'm gonna get myself a Capri Sun you know nothing better right so it's going to be able to track what I buy and you know I like to get myself a Snickers oh cool ranch there you go all right so if I'm done I just walk out that fast we're seeing checkout free examples in different forms maybe you're a little uncomfortable with having a bunch of cameras overhead maybe you don't want to enter your phone number in in this particular case all you do is scan your credit card and go in a lot of people can actually be in this space at the same time the computer is knowing who I walked in with we're one party we're one tab but there could be like 20 people all just grabbing things these different types of centers can be customized to what they want it's using a combination of the one camera but also different shelves these are weighted so it knows if I picked up a Monster energy drink or the smart hook nose I picked up a bag of candy or if I put it back even and you can retrofit so in a refrigerator that maybe someone already has one of these types of coolers they don't want to buy a whole new one all you need to do is insert sensors on the bottom for weight that way they don't have to buy a whole new cooler I walk out and that's it it's kind of weird when it comes to the labor shortage we're seeing I'm wondering okay where are the humans and there are still humans in these examples you typically it's someone at the front kind of introducing the whole concept to someone who's new at it but if they come back for snacks say like in the middle of a football game they're a little more accustomed to it they could be a little faster or someone might be at the exit popping the top of the beer and pouring in a cup for them so there are still different ways you can use labor but they're not just stuck behind a cash register doing one thing only okay so these demo setups look interesting but I need a real world test so I went to the Convention Center lobby where there was a working Amazon grab-and-go style store for me to get a quick bite to eat what if I if I messed with it ah yummy is that it am I done I gotta leave this way oh see you gotta know where to go I'm done I didn't have to get my fingerprints but I can choose to get a receipt and give him my email you know buying this was no different than going to a massive vending machine even the sandwiches and the salads weren't that appetizing compared to what you find in a vending machine it's just bigger it's larger and the real world application I didn't have to give up that much information we really just had to put my credit card in that was it but I think we're finding and what else is coming about is where we're comfortable with in terms of how many cameras are there how much do you have to give about your own personal information do you have to give your phone number to enter you have to give your palm to enter that's a territory that is still shaping up and I don't think people are really comfortable giving a whole lot of themselves up then again maybe they are okay with a cell phone number if they've already given that store their cell phone number so if this Tech can really save people time then we're talking then it's going to be adopted more and again when the case was locked took a little bit of fumbling to get in we don't know if that's really going to save enough time to make it worth me to give you my phone number to get in or for me to feel comfortable that it'd be camera staring at me then again we just don't always think about the cameras that are already watching us this is a definite interesting area that is evolving we'll have to see where it goes thanks for watching I'm Bridget Carey Still a human doing a human job I'll see you next time foreignforeign you could just kind of throw your stuff on as you're shopping I don't know whatever retailers are turning to technology to find solutions to the labor shortage I'm at the big National Retail Federation conference that's held in New York City to see how see how robots and AI are filling in the gaps for humans and to see how this is shaping the future shopping experience over the years we are seeing more robots helping humans at factories doing things like sorting products or pulling boxes from various aisles but in covering this year's NRF show there is way more talk about using computer intelligence for things like image recognition to be a replacement for human eyeballs companies like to talk about finding tools to help in today's labor shortage and sometimes not having enough workers is because companies are not paying a high enough salary to attract those workers regardless the show floor had many examples of expensive systems to keep an eye on store inventory and the checkout process I'm going to show you how image recognition is changing the very annoying self-checkout process here at edify there's a camera always looking down at what you are scanning and it can tell exactly what you're putting down doesn't matter how I put those bananas down it knows they are bananas the camera is good enough to be able to scan that for anyone trying to be sneaky and get diapers but actually just pay for gum it's scanned gum but the image knows it is not gum I try to pay quickly it's not going to let you pay NCR is taking this to another level here you could just throw various items all at once down on the surface at any angle we have a camera up top so you could just kind of throw your stuff on as you're shopping I don't know whatever and uh oh it's already figuring it out I don't have to scan the barcode this kind of system makes sense at places like stadiums or gas stations where maybe you have an item that doesn't typically have a barcode like a plate of nachos it'll be able to recognize it and have you move right along Google is also in the game now using its image recognition smarts it can tell the difference between many different versions of a product on a Shelf at many different angles this is their shelf check solution where you can take fixed cameras cameras that I might already have and be able to scan the shelves know something's wrong something's amiss maybe a kid took the marshmallows and I don't know just put them back where the cream cheese goes well a camera is going to be able to scan that I know something's remiss you know that maybe they're low on stock so what makes more sense is having a big automated robot like brain OS this has a lot of different sensors to be customized to whatever a company needs but it also can stay on the shelves and mop the floor at the same time foreign point for me when I'm shopping when you need something just really quick at the store but they've locked the thing you need behind something because it's high value or maybe it's just stolen a lot so you have the normally request an associate ring a little bell sit there and wait there's cameras and they got a textual code here's how it works so if I need these razors to unlock the case I still could call somebody I can press to request an associate to come by or if I have no patience I could use my cell phone it tells me about privacy that my phone number is not going to be used for anything other than just accessing this merchandise right put the code in right it'll unlock it and grab what you need but if I start grabbing a lot of stuff really oddly I might set something off if I left the door open too long that's another warning sign so that Associates coming by to the tear odd behavior you have a camera right here and I just gave my phone number so the company says that they're starting tests on this kind of Technology at CBS at Walgreens and a lot of other places you may start seeing this pop-up here and there all of this is pitched as a way to help when there are fewer humans in the stores but I also saw more stores that don't need any humans at all we're seeing more examples of stores that are just very small almost like a vending machine type store where you just walk in and cameras are tracking exactly what you're buying here's an example of a store that is all over Poland it's called japka and all you would do to enter is just tap in your card so before I go in I have to also give them my phone number that's where we're going to get the receipt so they can make this store as big or small as they need but in this example there are 24 cameras on top tracking whatever I grab and put back and there are about 500 different products in here that they can do but they could be as big as 5000 if they need it to be so let's see I'm thirsty I think I'm gonna get myself a Capri Sun you know nothing better right so it's going to be able to track what I buy and you know I like to get myself a Snickers oh cool ranch there you go all right so if I'm done I just walk out that fast we're seeing checkout free examples in different forms maybe you're a little uncomfortable with having a bunch of cameras overhead maybe you don't want to enter your phone number in in this particular case all you do is scan your credit card and go in a lot of people can actually be in this space at the same time the computer is knowing who I walked in with we're one party we're one tab but there could be like 20 people all just grabbing things these different types of centers can be customized to what they want it's using a combination of the one camera but also different shelves these are weighted so it knows if I picked up a Monster energy drink or the smart hook nose I picked up a bag of candy or if I put it back even and you can retrofit so in a refrigerator that maybe someone already has one of these types of coolers they don't want to buy a whole new one all you need to do is insert sensors on the bottom for weight that way they don't have to buy a whole new cooler I walk out and that's it it's kind of weird when it comes to the labor shortage we're seeing I'm wondering okay where are the humans and there are still humans in these examples you typically it's someone at the front kind of introducing the whole concept to someone who's new at it but if they come back for snacks say like in the middle of a football game they're a little more accustomed to it they could be a little faster or someone might be at the exit popping the top of the beer and pouring in a cup for them so there are still different ways you can use labor but they're not just stuck behind a cash register doing one thing only okay so these demo setups look interesting but I need a real world test so I went to the Convention Center lobby where there was a working Amazon grab-and-go style store for me to get a quick bite to eat what if I if I messed with it ah yummy is that it am I done I gotta leave this way oh see you gotta know where to go I'm done I didn't have to get my fingerprints but I can choose to get a receipt and give him my email you know buying this was no different than going to a massive vending machine even the sandwiches and the salads weren't that appetizing compared to what you find in a vending machine it's just bigger it's larger and the real world application I didn't have to give up that much information we really just had to put my credit card in that was it but I think we're finding and what else is coming about is where we're comfortable with in terms of how many cameras are there how much do you have to give about your own personal information do you have to give your phone number to enter you have to give your palm to enter that's a territory that is still shaping up and I don't think people are really comfortable giving a whole lot of themselves up then again maybe they are okay with a cell phone number if they've already given that store their cell phone number so if this Tech can really save people time then we're talking then it's going to be adopted more and again when the case was locked took a little bit of fumbling to get in we don't know if that's really going to save enough time to make it worth me to give you my phone number to get in or for me to feel comfortable that it'd be camera staring at me then again we just don't always think about the cameras that are already watching us this is a definite interesting area that is evolving we'll have to see where it goes thanks for watching I'm Bridget Carey Still a human doing a human job I'll see you next time foreign\n"