Amazon announced it was launching a new version of its automated contactless cashier system that will allow people to purchase clothes without standing in line.
These will be implemented through Amazon’s Just Walk Out system, which is already operating in an increasing number of Amazon stores, such as Fresh supermarkets, Amazon Go stores, and some Whole Foods locations. Customers enter such stores by waving their Amazon card or scanning the palms of their hands over an Amazon One device; they then take what they want off the shelves, and walk right out of the store without having to check out.
Previously, a system of cameras mounted to the ceiling tracked what people walked out with and charged it to their account. Now, Amazon is planning to use radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology to keep track of the items by placing an RFID tag on each commodity. When the commodity passes through the doorway, a reader will send a signal to the corporation’s system and subtract that amount from the customer’s account.
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Amazon also sells Just Walk Out technology to third-party companies that operate in airports, stadiums, theme parks, and other venues. It will likely sell the RFID technology to other companies, too. In fact, Amazon said it has already tested its new RFID system at its Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle and at the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks’ Lumen Field.
Amazon is still going to hire about 250,000 temporary workers to keep up with high demand during the holiday season, as it usually does (although this is up from 150,000 temps hired last year). These hires for both full-time and part-time and for both seasonal warehouse and delivery jobs will be complete with sign-on bonuses of $1,000 to $3,000 depending on locations, with hourly wages between $17 and $28. Additionally, it announced that warehouse and delivery positions will have their wages bumped up from $19 to $20.50 an hour. Some locations will offer employees up to $28 an hour.
Nevertheless, one can imagine that Amazon is more than willing to replace such workers with state-of-the-art technology, such as self-driving trucks, automated warehouse machines and now contactless stores. Much of these pay increases are the result of organized labor strikes conducted by unions, but machines don’t go on strikes.
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