Amazon.com Inc., has developed a new version of its cashierless shopping technology for clothing retailers — in an effort to expand the system beyond convenience and grocery stores.
The retail and cloud computing giant said that its newest Just Walk Out technology employs radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to track clothing.
Until now, Amazon’s technology has depended on shelf sensors and cameras positioned on the ceiling to monitor who is grabbing what. Upon leaving the business, the system charges a swiped payment card automatically. However, the system may have trouble differentiating between items that are identical in weight and appearance.
Instead, RFID tags that are attached to specific objects and tracked by stationary scanners inside the store have been employed. The technology has been available for a while, and its main applications are in inventory tracking and thwarting shoplifters. Amazon stated in a blog post that Avery Dennison Corp., provided the RFID equipment.
