The news: Amazon upgraded its Just Walk Out checkout technology with a more advanced generative AI (genAI) model, per a blog post.

• The new system analyzes sensor data simultaneously rather than sequentially to improve accuracy.
• And the self-learning technology will improve over time and recognize behaviors, even if the store is remerchandised or items are misplaced.

Earlier this year, Amazon revamped its Just Walk Out strategy and is licensing the tech to third-party retailers instead of installing it in new Amazon Fresh stores.

Why it matters: GenAI is transforming checkout.

• GenAI can create images and video clips of synthetic shoppers mimicking realistic and sometimes unusual shopping scenarios to help it recognize those actions in real life.
• This helps autonomous checkout overcome stumbling blocks that add time and frustration to customers’ checkout experiences, like charging shoppers for items they pick up but then put back.

Our take: GenAI-based improvements make autonomous checkout a more viable solution.

• Systems like Just Walk Out have struggled to take off due to high costs, privacy concerns, and receipt inaccuracies.
• But if payment providers can get it right, there is strong demand for the tech: More than half of consumers who have not used cashierless checkout would be interested in doing so, per our December 2023 Ecommerce Survey conducted by Bizrate Insights.