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Pinterest expands shopping features with in-app checkout
It'll also offer personalized shopping recommendations.
Amazon's cashierless 'Just Walk Out' tech is coming to Whole Foods stores
After it launched its "Just Walk Out" tech in Go stores and then brought it to larger Fresh supermarkets, Amazon's cashierless tech will soon arrive at a pair of Whole Foods locations.
Amazon UK's first checkout-free Fresh grocery store opens in London
Amazon has opened its first checkout-free Go grocery store in the UK in the West London borough of Ealing.
Amazon's 'Just Walk Out' tech is coming to airport stores in March
That didn't take long. One of the first stores in the US to feature Amazon's Just Walk Out checkout-free technology will open on March 16th, one week after the company announced it was licensing the platform to retailers. You'll find the store, a CIBO Express Gourmet Market, at Newark Liberty International Airport Terminal C, with more locations to follow. When you visit the store, you'll be able to buy food and drinks without interacting with a cashier.
Amazon's checkout-free tech is heading to other retailers
Checkout-free, cashless supermarkets -- a novelty shopping experience or the future of bricks and mortar retail? According to Amazon -- which turned the concept into a 10,400-square-foot reality -- it's the latter. After announcing its plans to license its automated checkout technology to other retailers, the company has revealed it has "several" signed deals with customers, and has launched a new website inviting inquiries from others interested in the "Just Walk Out" experience.
Amazon may open checkout-free supermarkets early next year
There have been plenty of rumors about Amazon's plans to shake up the grocery industry with cashierless stores. The latest is that Amazon plans to launch checkout-free supermarkets in the first quarter of 2020. The company may also license its Amazon Go cashierless tech to other retailers, a person close to the project told Bloomberg.
Major credit card companies launch a one-click checkout button
If you're shopping on Cinemark, Movember or Rakuten any time soon, you might see a new click-to-pay button at checkout. American Express, Discover, Mastercard and Visa have teamed up to create the new option for fast, secure online purchases. Their vision is to have one standard checkout button across all online retail websites, similar to the PayPal experience.
7-Eleven's cashier-free mobile checkouts are available in NYC
If you're in such a hurry that you can't even talk to a cashier at a convenience store, you're in luck -- 7-Eleven has formally launched its Mobile Checkout feature in New York City after some testing in Dallas. Locals can use the 7-Eleven app for Android or iOS to scan any product with a barcode and buy it on the spot, no store staff required -- the only extra step is scanning a QR code at a "confirmation station" to let the store know that you're not shoplifting. It's not quite as seamless as something like Apple's old grab-and-go purchasing, but it beats waiting in line to pay for a bag of potato chips.
The UK gets its first checkout-free grocery store
The days of spending your precious lunchbreak standing in line for a sandwich are increasingly numbered, as supermarket chain Sainsbury's has launched the UK's first ever till-free grocery store. The busy store in London's Holborn Circus has been given a mobile-first makeover, so customers can scan and pay for their goods via their smartphone, while staff previously chained to checkout areas are free to spend time helping customers on the shop floor.
Amazon is preparing another checkout-free retail store in Seattle
Amazon's experimental checkout-free retail store in Seattle formally opened to the greater public back in January and pulled off its liberating -- if unnerving -- concept: Scan the dedicated app upon entering, slip groceries in your basket and walk out the door, with a suite of cameras and facial recognition tech ensuring you're charged for what you walk out with. In light of its success, the company planned six more to open in 2018, and it seems one of those has just been spotted. A second Amazon Go appeared in downtown Seattle, and according to a statement provided to GeekWire, it's slated to open in Fall 2018.
The checkout line’s death knell | The Future IRL
We're all only about ten years away from sauntering into stores, grabbing whatever it is we want, then quick-stepping out like we stole it. It'll be possible because many shops will be ringed with machine vision-enabling cameras and sensors that keep tabs on what you take while inside and then charge it to the corresponding app as you leave. Analysts say the big shift is being ushered in by retailers trying to stave off the online shopping explosion. People tend to cite crowds and lines as reasons they avoid stores, so the hope is that tech will be the savior of the remaining brick and mortar mainstays. But while that checkout change might thrill some customers, it'll also dramatically change employment for low-skilled retail jobs and comes with a host of privacy concerns.
Panasonic checkout machine also bags your items
The rush to automate manual labor jobs has reached new heights in convenience stores. Self-service checkouts are hardly new, but Panasonic and Lawson are taking them one step further in Japan. They've developed a new basket system which can detect the items you've placed inside and then, once you've reached the till, bag them up automatically. It's an elaborate concept -- the bottom of the basket slides out, allowing your chosen goods to carefully fall into a bag underneath. The basket then slides away from you, creating a space to pick up the bag and walk out.
Android Pay automatically adds Walgreen loyalty points
Despite Android Pay's promise of simplicity, getting loyalty points is still a small hassle -- you either have to carry the store's card or have the cashier scan it from your phone. Walgreens has revealed that it's the first retailer to integrate rewards points directly with Google's payment system. All you need to do is place your phone near the payment terminal to scan in your card, then tap it again to actually pay. "Walgreens customers can speed through the entire checkout process in as few as two taps with their Android phones," says Google Senior Director Pali Bhat.
Self-checkout concept makes your phone the cash register
Even with modern self-checkout machines, every quick shopping trip comes to a screeching halt when it comes time to pay -- every single item needs to be scanned all at once, consecutively. This is why you have to wait in line at the grocery store, but it doesn't have to be that way: Diebold wants to revolutionize shopping by having customers scan each item individually as they place it in their shopping cart.
Tesco's self-service checkouts are getting a lot less irritating
You don't step up to a self-service supermarket checkout unless you're ready to gamble. Either you hit the jackpot and escape in record time, or you end up wildly hailing the nearest assistant while the infernal machine's repetitive accusations slowly chip away at your sanity. While Tesco can't make its automated checkouts any better at weighing up your loose veg, it can train them to be less annoying. So, for the first time since Tesco introduced self-service checkouts over a decade ago, it's changing their voice alerts, which the supermarket admits "has become a source of frustration for customers." Most importantly, you'll never have to listen to chants of "unexpected item in bagging area" ever again, as well as six other "unhelpful phrases" like "please take your items."
Visa's latest stab at online payments is all about checking out faster
Remember V.me, Visa's big attempt at conquering the online payment space? You'll be forgiven if you don't -- it quickly fizzled out, in part because it was a digital wallet that sometimes made shopping more complicated. The company may have learned its lesson, though. It just launched Checkout, a considerably simpler approach to e-commerce. The focus here is purely on getting through the checkout process as quickly as possible. Once you've put in the details of supported credit or debit cards (including non-Visa cards), you just have to log in to complete a purchase, whether it's on a website, Android or iOS. There's no in-between wallet, and you won't get kicked over to another page just to wrap up a transaction.
PayPal unveils Beacon: a USB stick that powers hands-free checkout (video)
PayPal's offered its Here service since last year to simplify buying items in brick-and-mortar shops, and today they've just unveiled their latest crack at in-person shopping: a USB stick dubbed Beacon. Business owners running a compatible Point of Sale system (Booker, Erply, Leaf, Leapset, Micros, NCR, PayPal Here, Revel, ShopKeep, TouchBistro and Vend as of now) just plug the dongle into a power source and they'll be ready to offer hands-free payments. By using Bluetooth LE, the hardware detects when a customer wielding the PayPal app walks in, but won't go so far as tracking their location within the establishment. A person's photo will appear on the PoS setup when they mosey inside, and they'll only have to give a verbal confirmation for payments to go through. Naturally, waltzing into a store that can charge you so easily raises some concerns, but the outfit's application will allow for levels of trust. Users will have control over what retail locations can register their presence, if they want to be prompted with on-screen alerts to confirm payments and which businesses can charge them automatically. The setup will be put through its paces in Q4, and is expected to roll it out early next year, but 100 lucky developers will get the dongle and accompanying API early. PayPal hopes Beacon and its API will lead to new checkout experiences, such as having your usual meal ordered as soon as you walk in. If you're a dev or shop owner yearning to give the contraption a shot, click the link below for more.
gdgt's best deals for August 12: Epson Expression Inkjet, Panasonic 50-inch 120Hz Smart 1080p LED HDTV
Ready to save some cash on your tech buys? Then you've come to the right place. Our sister site gdgt tracks price drops on thousands of products every day, and twice a week they feature some of the best deals they've found right here. But act fast! Many of these are limited-time offers, and won't last long. Today's hottest deals include a remarkably cheap Epson Inkjet printer/scanner/copier, as well as an impressive 50-inch Panasonic Smart HDTV at a hefty discount. Join gdgt and add the gadgets you're shopping for to your "Want" list. Every time there's a price cut, you'll get an email alert!
gdgt's best deals for July 24: 47-inch LG LED 3D HDTV, HP Officejet Pro All-in-one
Ready to save some cash on your tech buys? Then you've come to the right place. Our sister site gdgt tracks price drops on thousands of products every day, and twice a week they feature some of the best deals they've found right here. But act fast! Many of these are limited-time offers, and won't last long. Today's hottest deals include an eye-popping price on a sexy 47-inch LG LED 3D HDTV, an intriguing sale on HP's high-end all-in-one and a slew of cheap products for students and professionals. Want the latest deals delivered to your inbox? Join gdgt and add the gadgets you're shopping for to your "Want" list. Every time there's a price cut, you'll get an email alert!
Google Checkout for web merchants to be retired on November 20th
Although Google Checkout was rolled into Google Wallet at the end of 2011, it's still been an option for folks who peddle their wares online to collect payments. Come November 20th, however, the service will officially shut down. While Page and Co. recommend US-based merchants switch to the revamped Wallet, they're partnering with Braintree, Shopify and Freshbooks to offer discounted migration options as well. As for developers using Checkout for transactions through the Chrome Web Store, Google Play and Offers Marketplace, they'll be automatically transitioned to the Google Wallet Merchant Center in the coming weeks. [Image credit: StockMonkeys.com]
