- Amazon announced that it is launching smart shopping carts that are able to track items as customers add them
Amazon announced that it has launched shopping carts that are able to track items as customers add them. Then the cart can charge the shoppers when they remove the grocery bags. This is all done without having to go through a checkout line.
The Amazon Dash Carts will first be available in the e-commerce giant’s Los Angeles-based grocery store location, which will be opening later this year.
The Dash Carts are building on the “Just Walk Out” cashierless technology — which Amazon rolled out at its Amazon Go grocery stores. The Amazon Go stores first opened to the public in 2018 and it allows customers to buy items without waiting in checkout lanes.
To use the Dash Cart, shoppers are required to have an Amazon account and a smartphone. And after entering the store, customers have to scan a QR code in the Amazon app that allows them to sign in to the cart and pull up your shopping list via Alexa.
The Dash Cart has cameras that utilize computer vision for identifying the items as they are placed in bags in the car. And there is a built-in scale for weighing produce. Plus the cart has a coupon scanner. While items are added and removed, there is a display on the cart that makes adjustments to the updated total price.
Amazon’s vice president of physical retail and technology Dilip Kumar told CNBC that the expanded offerings at the California store presented challenges as it has a large catalog of products.
“You need to be able to add that and keep track of all of that and it just increases the complexity,” said Kumar via CNBC. “Plus, the weighing component of it also has to be very robust to be able to allow for a very accurate receipt experience for a customer.”
