Tired of standing in line? Wait a bit longer, and you may never have to again. Everyone from Amazon to Silicon Valley startups is trying to eliminate lines in retail (零售) stores.
Amazon has opened 24 of its Amazon Go stores, which use cameras and artificial intelligence to see what you've taken off shelves and charge you as you walk out. Some startups are closely copying Amazon's approach to using AI-powered cameras fixed in ceilings. But others are trying an entirely different way to skip the checkout: smart shopping carts. These companies have added cameras and sensors（传感器） to the carts, and are using AI to tell what you've placed in them. A built-in scale weighs items, in case you have to pay by the pound for an item. Customers pay by entering a credit card, or through an online payment system. When a customer exits the store, a green light on the shopping cart indicates that their order is complete, and they're charged.
The startups behind the smart carts, including Caper and Veeve, say it's much easier to add technology to the shopping cart than to an entire store. Amazom's Go stores rely on hundreds of cameras in the ceiling. The shelves also include sensors to tell when an item is removed. Ahmed Beshry, co-founder of Caper, believes the technology to run Go is too expensive to use in a large format grocery store. Neither Caper nor Veeve have said how much their smart shopping carts will cost, making it difficult to compare the different formats. Shariq Siddiqui, CEO of Veeve, said he's finding increased interest from retailers given Amazon's steady expansion of Go since opening the first store in Seattle in 2018. "We're always happy when Amazon is doing something," Siddiqui said. "They force retailers to get out of their old school thinking."
Each time a business uses artificial intelligence and cameras, it raises questions about customer privacy and the impact on jobs. Beshry notes that the cameras in his shopping cart point down into the cart, so only a customer's hand and part of their arm will be captured (拍摄) on camera.
