51吃瓜

Amazon Go has opened to the public, possibly altering the grocery store experience as we know it.

The launch of Amazon Go on January 22 is poised to alter the retail industry by radically simplifying a chore most of us do every day: grocery shopping. Seattle, home to Amazon鈥檚 headquarters, saw the opening of a first grocery store that will operate without a checkout line.

Using the so-called just-walk-out technology, customers simply walk into the store, grab whatever they want and leave without the burden of waiting in line. This system utilizes 鈥渢he same type of technologies used in self-driving cars: computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning,鈥� according to . All you have to do is download the Amazon Go app, scan your phone on the machine at the entrance and anything you pick up will be added to you virtual Amazon account. If you decide to put something back, it is automatically removed from your account.

Amazon became a big league player in the food industry when it it spent $13.7 billion on the acquisition of Whole Foods in 2017, boosting the world’s .

Considering that , it would be nearly impossible for smaller grocers to compete. Last year, Amazon鈥檚 internal plans showed that it could build , Business Insider reported. If Amazon decides to expand its new grocery line across the country, local shops could be in trouble.

Anyone working in the retail industry will start feeling the pressure of automation. A major decline in the human labor market is already being felt. In January this year, were employed across America, 1.1 million fewer than in January 2008. Amazon Go is destined to only exacerbate the decrease in the need for human laborers across the board.

As the Amazon giant continues to expand, The National looks at the evolution of shopping and the possible ramifications this new step ahead could have on local communities.

The views expressed in this article are the author鈥檚 own and do not necessarily reflect 51吃瓜鈥檚 editorial policy.

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