Airport hospitality group OTG has announced it will be implementing Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” cashierless payment technology at one of their stores in Newark Liberty Airport.
The store — a CIBO Express Gourmet Market — is located in Newark Liberty’s Terminal C, and will allow customers to enter the store by swiping their credit card. Once the card has been swiped, customers simply take what they want off the shelves, while a combination of cameras, shelf sensors, computer vision and deep learning techniques track what has been taken and charge the customers’ accounts accordingly.
At the OTG stores, the technology will be aimed at greatly speeding up transactions, as travellers are often rushing to pick things up at airport retailers and may be more prone to being deterred by long lineups to pay for their purchases.
“We’re incredibly proud to be integrating Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology into the OTG airport experience,” said OTG CEO Rick Blatstein.
“OTG has always embraced technology as a means of optimizing the airport experience so that we can give our guests their time back. By using the world’s most advanced shopping technology in our CIBO Express Gourmet Markets, we’re doing just that by putting our guests in full control of their time,” he added.
Earlier in the week Amazon announced that it will be selling its cashierless technology to other retailers, with OTG now revealed as one of the first to adopt it.
OTG operates more than 350 restaurants and retail locations across North America, including more than 100 CIBO Express Gourmet Markets in 10 major North American Airports.
The partnership with OTG could potentially serve as a high-profile demonstration of Amazon’s system, as until now it has only been in use at Amazon’s own retail locations with the focus mostly being on allowing employees the freedom to focus more on customer service, and isn’t as much about speeding up the customer experience.
“Starting next week, travelers in the busy Newark Liberty Terminal C will no longer have to assess store lines to determine if they can quickly grab that snack, bottle of water, or travel essential they need before their flight,” said Dilip Kumar, vice president, Physical Retail & Technology at Amazon, in a statement. “OTG’s CIBO Express Gourmet Markets featuring Just Walk Out technology will let them quickly grab what they need and get on their way without standing in line to check out. We can’t wait to hear how travelers like the experience.”
According to OTG, this initial implementation will be followed by a rollout at additional stores in both Newark Liberty and LaGuardia airports.
Sources: VentureBeat, TechCrunch
Follow Us