Amazon is constantly innovating in order to stay in the race and maintain its current status. Until now, the Seattle firm has mainly concentrated its activities on the Internet, but now Amazon wants to expand its footprint in the real world by presenting its vision of the shopping cart that could be used in any normal supermarket.
It is called the “Dart Cart” that makes a quick grocery trip even quicker by allowing you to skip the checkout line. It is equipped with a touchscreen and uses the combination of computer vision algorithms, smart cameras, barcode scanners, and numerous sensors to identify items you put in the cart.
When you enter an Amazon supermarket, scan the QR code in your Amazon App that will enable you to easily sign in and begin using the cart. If you have your market list on your Alexa Shopping List, it will appear on the screen. After that, you’ll just place your bags in the cart and start shopping. When you find a product you want to take, just put it in the cart. If the product has a barcode, move it closer until you hear a “beep” and then put it in the bag. If the product does not have a barcode – for example, if it is a fruit or a vegetable – select it from the menu, put it in the cart, confirm its weight (the cart weighs it automatically), and voila.
When you’re done shopping, you’ll simply exit through the store’s Amazon Dash Cart lane that controls everything digitally without the presence of a human attendant. Sensors automatically identify the cart, and your payment is processed using the credit card on your Amazon account.
A coupon scanner is also capable of applying discounts to purchases. After the purchase is completed, the customer automatically receives the receipt by email. The system is also able to notice if the buyer puts into the basket a different item than the products available in the store, e.g., a jacket or purse that he does not want to carry with him.
According to the company, the Dash Cart was designed for small- to medium-sized grocery trips and fitted two grocery bags.
The process may seem familiar to what happens in automated Amazon Go stores; however, the Dash Cart has its own intelligence, that is, it does not depend on cameras installed on the roof of the supermarket to carry out the entire process.
The first Amazon Dash Cart will be available in the new supermarket of the Jeff Bezos group in Los Angeles, which is scheduled to open later this year. Amazon hopes that in the future, the smart carts will be used in all grocery stores belonging to the group, as well as in supermarkets of other chains that decide to buy technology from the company.