Getting ready to go?
Amazon could be set to ramp up the experiment in checkout-less convenience stores which it is currently trialing in its home city Seattle. As previously reported, the “Amazon Go” store uses sensor technology – the exact nature of which has been kept tantalizingly vague – so customers can pick items off the shelves, leave the store without going through the checkout process and then be automatically be billed for their purchases.
At the moment, the Seattle store is only being used by Amazon staff who are testing the system.
However, reports have indicated that Amazon plans to make the service available to Prime members and roll it out to other cities.
Now, eagle-eyed Seattle journalists have spotted that Amazon recently posted a job application notice for a Senior Real Estate Manager for Amazon Go.
The responsibilities for the job include: developing and executing a “strategic real estate plan”; selecting and acquiring sites; and “conducting field tours with key stakeholders of potential locations”.
So, a roll-out of the Go concept could well be on the cards. But there has still been no official announcement and the job spec – although intriguing – gives no indication of the scale of the plan.