A till-free grocery store from Amazon has today launched in Ealing, London, the first for group beyond the United States.
The new store, which is situated at the front of the Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre, is similar to the 20 Amazon Go stores in the US but operates under the same Fresh brand used for its UK online grocery operations.
Shoppers scan a smartphone app when entering and are automatically billed as they leave. They only have to place an item in a bag or otherwise carry it out to be charged by the store.
Other supermarket groups, Marks and Spencer, Tesco and Sainsbury's, require consumers to scan items into a smartphone or other device.
The store stocks hundreds of own-brand items as well as third-party products, and also serves as a place to collect and return goods bought online.
The technology involved was pioneered at the firm's similar Amazon Go stores in the States, which opened to the public in 2018.
However, recent advancements mean the system can now cope with customers selecting from different bouquets of flowers, magazines and greetings cards - it could not distinguish accurately enough between one choice and another before.
It involves the use of hundreds of cameras and depth-sensors, and software developed using deep-learning artificial-intelligence techniques.
Shoppers must identify themselves on arrival by scanning a barcode displayed within their account on the standard Amazon Shopping app.
Matt Birch, the former Sainsbury's executive who now leads Amazon Fresh Stores UK, told PA the company has strived to make grocery shopping 'as convenient as possible'.
Birch said, 'The focus was just creating a really easy shopping experience for customers. We recognise that UK customers want to shop in a convenient way so we really think they will appreciate being able to walk in and walk out with the shopping they need.'