J Sainsbury Plc is preparing to open a cashierless market in London later this month using Amazon.com Inc.’s system of people-tracking cameras, the first known customer outside the U.S. for technology that powers Amazon Go stores.
The grocer’s pocket market in the High Holborn district is already open to Sainsbury employees. A visit to the store on Monday showed a fully stocked small grocery, with stations on the way in for shoppers to scan a mobile phone. Angled cameras suspended from the ceiling track what shoppers pick from the shelves, and they are charged upon exit.
The system of software, cameras and shelf technology is made by “a third-party supplier,” according to a Sainsbury web page that appears to describe the new store, calling the concept SmartShop Pick & go. That technology supplier is Amazon, according to a person familiar with the matter. An employee told Bloomberg on Monday that the store will open to customers on Nov. 29.
Source: Bloomberg
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