Autonomous checkout in action: a look inside what’s driving modern retail

Something is missing from an increasing number of stores: checkout lines. Just Walk Out technology by Amazon is transforming shopping today—from convenience stores to stadiums—through advanced AI, computer vision, and RFID that enable fast, secure, shopping experiences. The technology enables customers to enter a store, concession stand, or café, grab what they need, and simply walk out without waiting in line to check out.

Many shoppers are now familiar with self-checkout, where the customer waits in line to scan products at a kiosk and pay before leaving the store. Self-checkout has become ubiquitous across grocery stores and many other types of retail, but bottlenecks still occur. For retailers, self-checkout can lead to increased theft and losses from customer errors. As a result, many retailers are either removing self-checkout kiosks altogether or scaling back their use.

In contrast to self-checkout, autonomous checkout is a frictionless retail experience that detects when customers take items from shelves and keeps track of them in a virtual cart. When the customer exits the property, they are charged for the items they took. Computer vision in retail, along with AI, sensors, and RFID, make it possible to keep track of a customer’s purchases seamlessly and do away with the checkout step.

The first third-party store with Just Walk Out technology launched in 2020, and today, Just Walk Out powers more than 375 stores in five countries. Just Walk Out technology has expanded product capabilities to support new countries, verticals, and use cases. The technology is in use across retail locations in a variety of sectors, including airports, stadiums and arenas, colleges and universities, hospitals, and hospitality. The University of California San Diego, for example, retrofitted three existing stores and built a new one to create four Just Walk Out technology-enabled stores, providing a choice of payment methods and real-time analytics to optimize product mix, procurement, and placement.

The Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport implemented Just Walk Out technology in early 2025, giving guests 24/7 access to snacks and sundries. Before that, the retail experience relied on a modest gift shop operated by a single staff member. If that employee could not work, the shop would close, sacrificing guest convenience and revenue.

And at BayCare’s St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, Florida, Just Walk Out technology allows guests to enter its cafeteria, Season’s Café, by using their credit card, mobile wallet, or team member badge at the entry gate, select their items, and leave without waiting in line. The cafe charges their chosen payment method for the items they take with them.

Just Walk Out technology works by seamlessly combining computer vision, AI, and machine learning technology with cameras and sensors to accurately detect what customers take from the shelves and charge them correctly when they exit the store.

Some stores also use radio-frequency identification (RFID) to automatically detect which items the customer is taking and charge their payment method for the right products, enabling frictionless shopping for clothing and other items. Just Walk Out partners with Avery Dennison, a global leader in RFID sensor and digital identification solutions, to supply RFID tags.

Depending on the implementation, customers can pay using a credit card, mobile wallet, meal plan app, or badge pay.

Just Walk Out technology increases sales for retailers by increasing a store’s number of transactions. More customers make purchases when they can move through checkout faster and eliminate the frustration of waiting in line. The technology also makes it possible for retailers to extend operational hours and allow staff to focus on higher-value tasks, like shopper support, rather than stationing them at cashiers.

When Lumen Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks, Seattle Sounders FC, and Seattle Reign FC opened its first Just Walk Out technology-enabled store, it reported an 85% increase in transactions and a 112% increase in sales, per game.

“Delivering a great fan experience is central to everything we do here at Lumen Field, and our customers love the convenience of Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology. Eight of our concessions locations are already using Just Walk Out technology and seeing great results,” said Zach Hensley, vice president of operations/general manager at Lumen Field.

For first-time users, the concept of scanning a payment method to enter a store and skipping the checkout line may be confusing at first. But successful locations have staff on hand to help shoppers get familiar with Just Walk Out technology, and based on the resulting increases in transactions and sales, customers have caught on quickly.

Particularly in stadiums and arenas, the faster experience offers a huge upgrade for event attendees.

“You have 18 to 20 minutes during period breaks to grab a drink, find friends, tap your card, lift what you want, walk out,” said a hockey fan at the SSE Arena Belfast. The frictionless experience affords more “valuable time watching the game, valuable time with friends.”

At round-the-clock locations such as hotels, airports, and hospitals, Just Walk Out technology enables customers to get what they need at all hours. “The convenience for our guests is significant. Guest perception is very positive,” said Michael Jorgensen, the Omni Boston Hotel’s managing director, calling Just Walk Out technology a “no-brainer” for hotel operations.