In 2016, Amazon touted the miraculous automation technology of its grocery stores that allowed people to “Just Walk Out,” but the company has since admitted that it was supported by 1,000 live workers in India.
About half of the Amazon Fresh stores in the U.S. utilized the Just Walk Out program, but the company now says that it will phase it out in favor of a high-tech cart that includes a scanner screen.
The behemoth company’s decision was first reported by the Information.
Amazon spokesperson Carly Golden said that customers told them they wanted to see a running total of the cost of their items as they shopped.
Some customers reported on social media that it would take hours for their receipts to arrive after they left the Amazon Fresh stores. As it turns out, the delay was caused by their live workers in India reviewing video in order to ensure that customers were being charged for the correct items.
“In theory it’s all automatic, but I would not be surprised if there are human checks going on too,” posted Dan Barker in 2021 on social media.
“I’d mentioned my receipt arrived 2 hours after my visit,” he added. “I can’t think of a reason that would happen, with Amazon who are very ‘realtime’, unless 1) there’s some extraordinary heavy computer processing going on that can’t be done realtime,…
More information can be found here
