Technology inside Amazon's new store, which opened last Monday in downtown Seattle, allows a different shopping experience - including the absence of a checkout line.

By Nick Wingfield
January 21, 2018

SEATTLE - The first hint that there is something unusual about Amazon's future store surprised you right at the front door. It feels as if you entered the subway station. A row of gates guarding the entrance to the store, known as Amazon Go, allows only people with smartphone applications to enter the store.
Inside is a 1,800 square foot mini market filled with food shelves that you can find in many other stores - soda, potato chips, tomato sauce. It also has some foods that are usually found at Whole Foods, Amazon's supermarket chain.

But the technology that is also inside, mostly stored away from sight, allows a different shopping experience. There is no cashier or register anywhere. Buyers leave the store through the same gate, without stopping to issue credit cards. Their Amazon account will automatically be charged for what they take from the door.
On Monday, the store opened to the public the first time. Gianna Puerini, executive in charge of Amazon Go, recently gave a tour of the store, in downtown Seattle. This is a display of what buyers will find.

There are no shopping baskets or baskets on Amazon Go. Because the checkout process is automated, what's their point? Instead, customers put goods directly into the shopping bag that they will live.
Every time a customer picks up an item from the shelf, Amazon says that the product is automatically put in a shopping basket from their online account. If a customer puts the item back on the shelf, Amazon removes it from their virtual basket.

There were more than 3.5 million cashiers in the United States in 2016 - and some of their work might be in danger if the technology behind Amazon Go finally spread. For now, Amazon says its technology is only changing the role of employees - in the same way describing the impact of automation on its warehouse workers.
"We have just placed partners in various types of tasks that we think add to the customer experience," Puerini said.

These tasks include resetting the shelves and helping customers solve any technical problems. There are store employees who are ready to help customers find goods, and there is a kitchen next to the chef who prepares food for sale at the store. Since there is no cashier, an employee sits in the wine and beer section of the shop, checking I.D.s before customers can take alcohol off the shelf.
Most people who spend time in supermarkets understand how annoying the inspection process is, with long queues for cashiers and confused customers at self-checkout kiosks.

On Amazon Go, checking out feels like shoplifting. Only a few minutes after walking out of the store, Amazon sent an electronic receipt for purchase, then the feeling disappeared.
Shoplifting is actually not easy on Amazon Go. With permission from Amazon, I tried to trick the shop's camera system by wrapping a shopping bag for about $ 4.35 four packs of vanilla soda while still on the shelf, tucking it under my arm and walking out of the store. The Amazon system directly charged me for that.
The big question that hasn't been answered is where Amazon plans to bring technology. It won't say whether it plans to open more Amazon Go stores, or leave this as a unique novelty. A more interesting possibility is that it could use technology in Whole Foods stores, although Ms Puerini said Amazon "had no plans" to do so.
There's even speculation that Amazon can sell the system to other retailers, such as selling cloud computing services to other companies. For now, visitors to Amazon Go might want to see their purchases: Without a cashier looking at their face at checkout, it's easy to over-spend.

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Nick Wingfield is a technology correspondent based in Seattle. He covers Amazon, Microsoft and new technologies and has written about the impact of technology on the economy in the Pacific Northwest. He was previously a reporter at The Wall Street Journal.

Reference
Wingfield, Nick. (2018). "Inside Amazon Go, Store of the Future". Available: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/21/technology/inside-amazon-go-a-store-of-the-future.html 

Question:
1. Describe the architectural scheme of the Amazon Go retail solution above and identify the TPS, FAIS and ERP positions in general!
2. Explain why the TPS, FAIS and ERP are in the architecture diagram and what are their functions?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

The architectural scheme of the Amazon Go retail solutions are they are coming together t... View the full answer