MassLive – December 6, 2016
by Phil Demers
Amazon is promoting a new grocery store model employing a phone scan system in place of the traditional checkout line.
Dubbed Amazon Go, the promotional video uploaded to YouTube promises a reimagined shopping experience, where consumers can walk in, grab what they want and “just go.”
Four years in the making, the model employs “the most advanced machine learning, computer vision and (artificial intelligence),” according to the advertisement.
“Anything you pick up is automatically added to your virtual cart,” the ad says.
If the customer decides against a purchase and puts the item back on the shelf, the virtual cart updates itself automatically, according to the ad. …
In a report released in November, the nonprofit Institute for Local Self-Reliance found that nearly $1 out of every $2 spent online flows through Amazon.
The report linked job losses of at least 149,000 directly to the growth and expansion of Amazon, claiming the company has a “stranglehold” on the U.S. economy.
More than 135 million square feet of retail space has become vacant due to Amazon, the report goes on to state, equivalent to “700 empty big-box stores plus 22,000 shuttered Main Street businesses.”
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