Microsoft targets checkout-free retail in race against Amazon
San Francisco — Microsoft is working on technology that would eliminate cashiers and checkout lines from stores, in a nascent challenge to Amazon.com’s automated grocery shop, six people familiar with the matter say. The company is developing systems that track what shoppers add to their trolleys. Microsoft has shown sample technology to retailers around the world and has had talks with Walmart about a potential collaboration, the people said. Microsoft’s technology aims to help retailers keep pace with Amazon Go, a highly automated store that opened to the public in Seattle in January. Amazon customers scan their smartphones at a turnstile to enter. Cameras and sensors identify what they remove from the shelves. When customers are finished shopping, they simply leave the store and Amazon bills their credit cards on file. Amazon Go, which will soon open in Chicago and San Francisco, has sent rivals scrambling to prepare for yet another disruption by the world’s biggest online retail...
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