Amazon ‘explores cashierless store partnerships’

Amazon is planning to bring its Go store cashierless technology to the likes of airport and cinema retail.

This is according to CNBC, which reported that the sensor, camera and checkout components would be shared in the US with OTG’s CIBO Express stores at airports, Cineworld’s Regal theatres, and even concession stands in baseball stadiums.

Amazon already has 16 Go stores across America, where customers scan their phones, pick up products and then walk out, receiving a digital receipt for their items. It is apparently hoping the external partnerships will help speed up transaction time for the technology.

The plan is to start this roll-out in the first quarter of 2020 and have hundreds of stores working by the end of next year.

Amazon sources said that it has explored various different business models for its third-party Go strategy – asking for a percentage of sales from the goods people purchase through the Go-equipped stores, or charging retailers up-front and then taking a monthly fee.

An Amazon spokesperson told Retail Systems that it does not comment on speculation.

Amazon opened its first bricks and mortar bookstore in 2015, then made a big move into physical retail with the $13.2 billion acquisition of Whole Foods Market in 2017.

The following year, the e-commerce giant opened its first Amazon 4-Star store, which displays products with positive online customer reviews. Also in January 2018, the company opened its first cashierless Go store at its campus in Seattle, gradually expanding to other major cities across the country.

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