What is Just Walk Out technology, and how does it work?

Have you ever walked into a store, taken one look at the checkout line, and turned on your heel to leave?

It’s an all-too-common experience that translates to frustration for customers and lost sales for retailers. But the landscape is shifting. Increasingly, Just Walk Out technology by Amazon is removing the checkout hurdle so that shoppers grab what they want and get back to life while retailers grow sales and cut costs.

Just Walk Out technology is a checkout-free shopping and hospitality experience that 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.

Just Walk Out technology uses a combination of artificial intelligence (AI), computer vision, object recognition, and radio-frequency identification (RFID) to detect when customers pick up items, keeping track of the items in a virtual cart. When the customer exits the property, they are charged for the items they took.

The Just Walk Out technology checkout-free shopping experience is quite simple, with three key parts:

1. Enter the store. Depending on the store configuration, customers may authenticate their payment method when entering or exiting using a credit card, mobile wallet, QR code in the retailer’s mobile app, or employee badge (where applicable).
2. Pick up items. Once inside, customers can shop as they normally would. Items can go into a cart, a bag, a pocket—whatever is easiest for the customer.
3. Good to go. When customers have what they need, they simply leave the store and are charged to their payment method. For stores with entry authentication, payment is automatically processed as they exit. For stores with exit authentication, customers scan their payment method at the exit gate before leaving.

Computer vision powered by Amazon Web Services seamlessly combines advanced AI and machine learning technology with computer vision cameras to accurately detect what customers take from the shelves and charge them correctly when they exit the store. Retailers are provided with authentication pedestals, cameras, entry and exit gates, networking cables, and the AI technology required to operate the stores. Networking and connectivity hardware fit into pre-fabricated cabinets.

Just Walk Out technology can accurately determine who took what in any retail environment. To achieve a high level of accuracy, the system uses a multimodal approach with layers of inputs.

Those ”layers” of input include:

1. A digital twin or 3D map of the store
2. Integration of the product catalog
3. Weight sensors for added precision for small, palmable items
4. Overhead-mounted cameras

Some retailers opt for RFID lanes. In this case, each product has an attached RFID tag that allows the lanes to instantly recognize items as the customers leave. These lanes can pair with traditional checkout systems or operate independently as the sole point of service.

Just Walk Out technology removes a key friction point for customers: the checkout line. At best, it’s an extra step between purchasing items and getting on with the day. At worst—if the setting is a sporting or entertainment event—time spent in line can mean missing critical moments. For businesses, lines eat up precious break time, and for students, lines force a decision to be late for class or skip eating. The technology also makes it possible to increase store hours, expanding access and convenience. “When you come in, you just grab what you want and go. It just makes life easy,” says one student of Bowling Green State University’s Just Walk Out technology-enabled campus store, which is open 24/7.

In healthcare settings, the benefits are even more meaningful. “With this technology, Candler Hospital co-workers needing a quick snack or a meal during the third shift, as well as visitors taking care of friends or family members, have a convenient way to purchase the meals, snacks, and drinks they need so they can quickly get back to their loved ones,” says Paul P. Hinchey, president and CEO, St. Joseph’s/Candler Hospital in Savannah, Georgia.

Just Walk Out technology can boost retail and hospitality sales by increasing the number of transactions a store can process. Because customers can move through checkout faster, more customers can make their purchases. Store operators can optimize labor by freeing up front-of-house staff to focus on higher-value tasks such as shopper support. Operators can also train new staff faster.

Entry and exit gates control store access, which can reduce theft and loss and increase retailer operating margins. The average rate of inventory loss due to shopper theft was less than 1% in stores that used Just Walk Out technology from June 2024 through May 2025 when stores complied with operational requirements.

Just Walk Out technology allows retailers to extend operational hours in around-the-clock locations like airports, hospitals, and college campuses so that businesses can offer food and retail options whenever shoppers need them. Stores using Just Walk Out technology to operate without staff during extended hours (9:00 pm – 7:00 am) saw an average 18% increase in sales from June 2024 through May 2025.

Now available in over 375 third-party locations in the U.S., UK, Australia, France, and Canada, Just Walk Out technology is growing. Its benefits, flexibility, and ease of setup are leading to increased adoption, particularly at event spaces, movie theaters, and resorts. Customers can expect to see fewer checkout lines at stadiums, airports, and other places where time is of the essence.

Amazon has continuously innovated on Just Walk Out technology, which launched in 2018. In 2024, we rolled out a new multi-modal foundation model that further boosts accuracy by using the same transformer-based machine learning models underlying many generative AI applications and applying them to physical stores. As more and more stores remove the checkout, the technology will continue to learn how products are considered and selected from everyday shopping scenarios and deliver convenient, seamless retail experiences to customers around the world.