Author:

Amazon plans to introduce the unchecked technology behind Amazon Go into places such as airports and cinemas, and is in talks with retailers, according to people familiar with the matter.

Amazon intends to expand its offline retail business at a faster rate and at a lower cost, thereby reducing its dependence on online retail business. That means it will build partnerships with retailers that have traditionally been seen as competitors. Potential further cooperation is also a huge growth opportunity for Amazon's cloud business.

Amazon has announced a total of 18 Amazon Go stores and actually opened 16. In these stores, customers only need to scan the QR code in the mobile phone app at the entrance to buy at will and leave directly, and then the store automatically sends bills to the customer's mobile phone and deducts the corresponding payment. Amazon is eager to open the technology to other physical retailers to speed up its popularity, three people familiar with the matter told CNBC.

One person familiar with the matter said that the company had been negotiating to introduce Amazon Go's technology to OTG's CIBO Express store at the airport and the Ringer Theatre in Ceneworld. Another person familiar with the matter claimed that it was planning to open the technology to small stores in baseball stadiums.

Two people familiar with the situation said Amazon plans to launch the system for customers from the first quarter of 2020 and cover hundreds of stores by the end of 2020. One person familiar with the matter said Amazon wanted to quickly promote the technology at the rate of upgrading a store every two weeks.

To keep the plan moving forward, Amazon has developed a variety of flexible ways of working with third-party partners. Two people familiar with the matter said it intended to charge by pumping out of sales, or by charging a portion of the advance and then a monthly fee each month. There is no indication whether the smart hardware installed in third-party stores will use Amazon's brand, and it is unclear which app consumers will use to shop in the future.

CNBC confirmed Amazon, OTG and Cineworld to the news and has yet to receive a clear reply.

In fact, Amazon's unmanned cash register technology will enter the airport news is not the first time. As early as last December, foreign media reported that Amazon was considering introducing its unmanned convenience store, Amazon Go, into the airport.

At the time, people familiar with the matter confirmed that Amazon had repeatedly contacted several airport operators in the United States to discuss and assess the possibility of setting up a Amazon Go convenience store in the airport scenario.

On June 27 last year, store rental staff at Los Angeles International Airport also received an email from Amazon's technical consultant hoping to hold talks about opening the store Amazon Go.

After the meeting, the airport information technology manager also expressed interest. In addition to Los Angeles International Airport, San Jose International Airport is also interested in introducing Amazon Go.

To this end, Amazon has also appointed an employee with relevant business development experience to take charge of the work.

After initial contacts at the two airports, officials from both sides said they had not communicated with AmazonGo next, it was reported. According to internal processes, retailers must go through a competitive bidding process to become an airport concessionaire.

Although the authenticity of the information is still uncertain for the time being, there are two points to be sure:

First of all, the market demand for unmanned cashier technology is very urgent, which is why Amazon Go unmanned cashier technology will be developed outside the news again and again.

Compared with China, the population in overseas markets is less and the population aging is more serious. There is a stronger demand for saving manpower costs and relieving employment pressure.

Secondly, the reliability of the low-cost unattended cash register scheme still needs to be tested by the market, which is the fundamental reason why rumors have repeatedly chosen closed space such as airports as its landing scene.

Once Amazon Go encounters excessive human traffic, there may be system crash and false recognition. As a more closed scene, the airport does not need to deliberately limit the current, so it can ensure a better user experience.

In addition, stop loss is an eternal problem for both large supermarkets and small convenience stores. The slight fluctuation of stop-loss ratio is fatal to the retail industry, and the stop-loss problem that no one retails is facing is even more serious.

In contrast, the overall quality of airport passengers is higher, stop pressure will be significantly reduced.