Amazon Sells Its Check-out Technology
Amazon is selling its cashier-less technology, which combines ceiling cameras, computer vision, and weight sensors for other stores to use. Millions of cashier jobs may likely vanish in the process.
In an interview, Amazon VP Dilip Kumar said this has broad applicability across store sizes across industries. It fundamentally tackles a problem of how you get convenience in physical locations, especially when people are hard-pressed for time.
The company went down 7.1% in stock trading at $1,767,.03 in the wake of its announcement. Amazon Go is estimated to grow $50 billion. However, COVID-19 virus fears caused the company’s stocks to fall despite positive-looking business ventures.
Shares were off about 14% from their all-time highs of $2,185 each on February 11.
Analyst Jim Cramer said the stock market continues to slide as coronavirus concerns persist. However, shares of the ecommerce giant are looking like a buying opportunity. The company, he said, is well-suited to handle the economic change brought by coronavirus concerns.
Cramer added the spread of the virus can change consumer behavior as they would choose to stay home to keep safe from the infection.
Amazon offers a “Stay at Home Economy”
Cramer said world trend has been transitioning to a stay-at-home economy. The coronavirus is accelerating this transition at the same time the company was going to benefit from lower oil prices. He recommends the company’s stock as it is worth buying during the stock market’s major sell-off.
The company had already signed several deals with retailers for the sale of its so-called “just walk out technology”. There are assumptions that it would eventually sell or license it like it did with the cloud computing technology.
This has led to start-ups trying to sell similar technology to other stores. Standard Cognition has already retrofitted three stores with no check-out line technology for a US retailer. Grabango and Trigo are also pursuing similar technology using computer vision software.
Convenient store 7-11 has also started testing their own check-out free system. In the process, the more than 3.5 million cashiers in the US today could become obsolete. With more Go stores and its competitors selling similar technology, they would still need to employ workers for new positions.
The cashierless technology can open new job opportunities, like doing the stock shelves and greeting shoppers as they enter and exit even if they eliminate cashier work along the way.
