Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, which powers more than 350 stores in five countries, enables shopping and hospitality experiences where customers can enter a store, concession stand, or café, take what they need, and simply leave. For retailers, Just Walk Out technology offers a variety of benefits, including the ability to increase sales, extend autonomous operating hours, and optimize labor.
Understanding the business case for autonomous checkout
The checkout experience has become a critical factor in shopping decisions. Research also shows that 84% of shoppers consider the checkout experience either very important or important in their shopping decisions. And over a 12-month period, 86% of U.S. consumers walked away from a store because of long wait times, resulting in approximately $38 billion in lost sales.
Retail and hospitality run on notoriously thin margins. Labor shortages make it harder to staff locations, and staffing costs can limit operating hours. Real estate costs continue to rise, making operating margins even more challenging. Shrink continues to rise in retailers of all shapes and sizes, which is creating profit losses across the industry. Just Walk Out technology offers a friction‑free experience that increases customer throughput and optimizes labor.
What technology is required for autonomous checkout?
Just Walk Out technology uses advanced AI, cameras, sensors, and optional RFID lanes to track items in real time and charge shoppers automatically when they exit.
Retailers are provided with authentication pedestals, cameras, entry and exit gates, networking cables, and the AI technology required to operate the stores. Certified partners streamline deployment in new builds or retrofits, so operators can open autonomous stores fast—with reliable cost projections and ongoing support.
In stores that use radio-frequency identification (RFID), the RFID sensors in the gate automatically read the RFID tags and charge their payment method for the right products, enabling simplified shopping for clothing and other items. Just Walk Out technology partners with Avery Dennison, a global leader in RFID sensor and digital identification solutions, to supply RFID tags. This format is particularly well suited to pop-up events.
Just Walk Out technology also includes a suite of analytics and insights tools that go beyond point-of-sale data to deliver information about interactions across the whole store. Retail operators can gain new insights into how products were considered, picked up, returned to shelf, and ultimately purchased. The analytics dashboards provide comprehensive temporal insights—from hourly to monthly views—enabling data-driven decision making across retail operations. The dashboards can help retailers monitor store performance, including shopping trips, conversion rates, and promotion performance; and streamline operations by learning about peak traffic patterns, low inventory on shelves, and product engagement.
How autonomous checkout enables labor optimization
Just Walk Out technology allows operators to optimize labor by freeing up front-of-house staff to focus on higher-value tasks such as shopper support.
The Omni Boston Hotel at The Seaport turned its existing lobby store into a 24/7 marketplace powered by Just Walk Out technology, providing convenient access to snacks, sundries, and Boston-themed souvenirs. This allowed staff to be reassigned to other hotel needs.
And at the University of Pittsburgh, Just Walk Out technology at the campus’s central Market at Towers made it possible for staff to focus on customer-facing tasks.
Just Walk Out has allowed us to reallocate our staffing matrix, removing the traditional cashier and creating Customer Ambassadors. Our staff is now more mobile to stock the store and interact with patrons.
Operators can also train new staff faster: This was the case at TD Garden arena’s MRKT convenience stores, which are powered by Just Walk Out technology. “In truly 15 minutes, we can bring a new associate into our market stores and have them trained and up to speed. So, they’re able to operate, and it’s very much second nature. The best part of that is our associates are able to have a more fan-centric mindset. Instead of being very transactional, they’re able to have their eyes up and ensure fans’ needs are being met, and that their experience is a positive one,” said Jamie Obletz, president, Delaware North Sportservice.
How to pilot, test, and scale autonomous checkout with confidence
Retailers that have adopted Just Walk Out technology often start with one or two stores. It is important to have clear signage and trained staff on hand to introduce customers to the concept.
Before implementing Just Walk Out technology, it is recommended to define and put in place a plan to measure key metrics such as wait time, sales, shrink, and customer satisfaction so that results can be compared with a baseline. Seattle’s Lumen Field, for example, started by replacing a traditional concession stand with a full-service Just Walk Out technology-enabled store. The change more than doubled sales compared to the previous store in the same location, and fan satisfaction survey scores hit an all-time high.
Building on that success, the stadium then rolled out Just Walk Out technology across other concession stands and fan merchandise stores within the complex, adding pre-fabricated stores as well.
“We saw a dramatic increase in throughput in one of our tightest concourses, with less congestion and steadier flow at full capacity,” said Zach Hensley, vice president of operations for the Seattle Seahawks and general manager of Lumen Field. “Just Walk Out is a seamless technology that lets fans get their food and drinks during a timeout as quickly as possible, so they can get back to their seats.”
