Amazon Go expands to two new cities outside Seattle

Touted as the future of convenience store, Amazon’s (AMZN) latest experiment the cashier-free, camera and sensor-filled Amazon Go stores has apparently been a success in a short span of time as the company now considers having such similar high-tech stores in Chicago and San-Francisco.

Wondering what’s this new experiment or service is all about? Here’s a quick overview. Amazon launched its pilot store early this year in Seattle to much fanfare. This convenience store comprises zero check-out lines. The high-tech store has sensors and cameras, and allows customers to scan their phones on entrance and pick items off a shelf. Amazon’s AI keeps track of the items picked by the customers. The customers are then automatically charged the right amount via the app on the phone. Once out of the store, the customers receive an e-rceipt. Employees present at the stores mostly assist in technical issue or are present to restock shelves.

Given the success of the pilot store, Amazon is now planning to expand Amazon Go stores outside its home base. The hint came from the company’s new job listings that show it is ramping up its efforts to roll out more stores to other cities.  The company is looking for store managers for the new Amazon Go stores in Chicago and San-Francisco. Recode had earlier reported that Amazon plans to roll out the new services to nearly six cities in 2018.

With Amazon Go, the store of the future, the retail giant hopes to increase the trips made to convenience stores.  Just like how the company has a significant influence on online shopping via Prime, it hopes to raise the bar for brick-and-motor shopping via Amazon Go. To compete with Amazon in this space, it’s arch-rival Walmart is also working on developing a similar cashier-free store.