Amazon's cashierless checkout is coming to hospitals
Amazon said a new iteration of the technology lets employees pay for items with their work badge without having to wait in line.
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Customers carry their purchases as they leave the U.K.'s first branch of Amazon Fresh in the Ealing area of London, England, March 4, 2021.
Leon Neal | Getty Images
Amazon is pitching its cashierless checkout technology to hospitals and other healthcare facilities.
The company on Thursday said the latest version of its Just Walk Out system lets healthcare employees pay for items at on-site cafes using their work badge. Hospital visitors will also be able to shop at JWO-enabled stores using credit and debit cards, as well as mobile wallets. It's rolling out the tech at St. Joseph's/Candler Hospital in Savannah, Georgia, Amazon said in a blog post.
Amazon's "Just Walk Out" technology allows shoppers to enter a store by scanning an app and exit without needing to stand in a checkout line. Cameras and sensors track what items shoppers select and charge them when they leave. Some newer iterations of the tech remove the need for ceiling-mounted cameras, and instead use radio-frequency identification, or RFID, tags to keep track of which items are taken off the shelf.
The company debuted its first cashierless store in 2018, and since then it has deployed the technology in its convenience stores, Fresh supermarkets and Whole Foods locations. It also sells the technology to third-party retailers in airports, college campuses, stadiums and theme parks, among other venues.
