Pretty soon you might find Amazon Go-like concepts just about everywhere.
Mastercard on Friday said it’s joining the effort to create more of these kinds of cashierless stores, unveiling a platform it calls Shop Anywhere. It teamed up with retail tech company Accel Robotics to create a handful of new test concepts that let customers check into a store, grab what they want and walk out.
For instance, the team created a new self-service Dunkin’ store that allows people to check in at a kiosk, get doughnuts and coffee, and leave without stopping at a cashier. The store will be staffed with workers to restock items and provide customer service, but there won’t be a register.
Similar small-scale pilots were created with Delaware North, which runs stadiums, and Circle K, a gas station operator. Mastercard said one to three pilot locations is coming to Dunkin’ in Southern California, Circle K in Arizona and Delaware North across the US, and they’ll be rolled out to more places if they are successful.
The payment network pitched these concepts as more flexible than Amazon Go, with Shop Anywhere capable of going into all kinds of locations and being retrofitted into existing stores — something Amazon Go hasn’t yet done. Both Shop Anywhere and Amazon Go are powered by a series of cameras that are kitted with computer vision and AI… MSN News
