Credit: Online retail king Amazon.com ( AMZN ) on Monday opened its first high-tech convenience store to the public, using computer vision and deep-learning algorithms to let shoppers just pick up what they want and exit the store without any checkout procedure.
[ibd-display-video id=3098125 width=50 float=left autostart=true] The 1,800-square-foot store, called Amazon Go , is located in the company's hometown of Seattle. Shoppers merely need to tap the Amazon Go app on their smartphones, and their virtual shopping carts will automatically tabulate what they owe, and deduct that amount from their Amazon accounts, sending them a receipt. If the item is put back on the shelf, Amazon removes it from their virtual basket. The store is open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Amazon Go store shelves are packed with grocery essentials, ranging from staples like bread and milk to sodas, beer, potato chips, cheeses and locally made chocolates. It also has ready-to-eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack options. The checkout-free shopping experience is made possible by the same types of technologies used in self-driving cars: computer vision, sensor fusion, and deep learning, Amazon said.
Amazon employees have had access to the store as part of a beta test trial when it was first announced 14 months ago . Amazon has not said whether it might use the technology at Whole Foods Market, which Amazon acquired last year for $13.7 billion, making it the fifth biggest player in the U.S. grocery space. Amazon has not said how many Amazon Go stories it intends to open.
IBD'S TAKE:Amazon is a longtime member of IBD's exclusive list of Leaderboard stocks, which investors can use to track stocks and stay a step ahead of the market. The latest breakout was from a shallow flat base, with the stock currently out of buy range from a 1,213.51 buy point.
With the continuing aggression of Amazon, Wal-Mart Stores ( WMT ) is bringing online ordering of groceries and curbside pickup delivery to many of its roughly 4,600 U.S. stores.
Amazon and Wal-Mart have been at loggerheads, with Wal-Mart pushing hard into the e-commerce space as Amazon pushes deeper into the grocery field.
Amazon shares gained 2.5% for an all-time closing high of 1,327.31 on the stock market today. The stock ended at its high for the day and near its all-time intraday record of 1,339.94, reached Jan. 16. Wal-Mart shares were up 0.8% to 105.45, ending the session at a new record high.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
