Frictionless shopping experience has been a concept for quite some time. Surveys show that shoppers would like the checkout process to be as smooth as possible, and what could be easier than being able to virtually skip the checkout process altogether?

To do this would require some sort of EZ-Pass like system. With EZ-Pass or similar systems, drivers pass through toll gates that have RFID readers installed, and the system charges the credit card that is on file.

There are some small stores open that use optical scanners to track what is in the grocery cart, but that is not a perfect solution, as you need to set up lots of cameras, readers, generative AI and sensors. A camera-based Just Walk Out store must see any theft in order to stop it, but RFID will charge the customer for the item even if it is in their pocket.

For example, Amazon’s Just Walk Out system has been in existence since 2018, using the aforementioned optical scanners, cameras and readers. Amazon is now trying a newer approach, using RFID developed in conjunction with Avery Dennison. The system was first piloted at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, home of the National Hockey League’s Seattle Kraken, and after good feedback, was put into place at Lumen Field, home of the National Football League’s Seattle Seahawks.

With RFID, Just Walk Out works like this: the customer walks into the store and selects a piece of apparel – a team shirt, hat or other item – which has an RFID tag attached to it. When they get to checkout, the item or items are scanned and the customer can either use their credit card or palm recognition to purchase the items.

Amazon reported that the Seattle Seahawks’ store had a 60% increase in customer throughput, with total transactions per game doubled compared to the traditional concession stand that previously stood in the same location. That number grew significantly during the 2023 season.

There are now 70 Amazon-owned stores and 85 third-party stores open with Just Walk Out technology as of late 2023, with more coming online all the time. They can be found in airports, theme parks, stadiums, college campuses, convenience stores and more.

During a panel discussion at the National Retail Federation’s NRF 2024: Retail’s Big Show, held in New York City, Jon Jenkins, vice president of Just Walk Out technology by Amazon, said that his team convinced him that RFID could be a good technology for a store.

“I was skeptical about RFID, but we are customer-centric and RFID had been used to benefit the merchant, but it can also be used to benefit customers,” said Jenkins. “The tags can do a lot more than we thought. My team figured out a way to take products with RFID and walk out without checkout. The customers simply tap their credit card, and they are accurately charged.

“The goal was to make a painless experience for customers,” Jenkins added. “When you have no lines, retailers will sell a lot more items, and there is also a reduction in shrink.

Bill Toney, vice president, global RFID market development, retail at Avery Dennison, joined Jenkins on the Just Walk Out panel. He pointed to three microtrends that are driving Just Walk Out-type technologies.

“The first is consumer experience, as people are coming back to the stores and retailers are looking to drive a frictionless experience,” Toney said. “Labor optimization is second; we want to have employees work with customers. The third is theft; you want to make systems smart and also get data analytics.” 

On the personnel side, retailers can redeploy personnel around the store to help customers with their shopping or save costs by reducing personnel.

“You don’t have to staff up for peak times,” Jenkins said. “It also frees up sales associated to interact with customers.”

There have been new tags released that can be used for metal products, which has been a problem over the years in terms of getting a signal. The same goes for liquids. Toney pointed out that RFID tags have become smaller while also offering improved performance. 

“In retail, the right application should be at the item level,” said Toney. “UHF RFID is a one-to-many sensor – you can collect a lot of data very quickly. You can build up use cases such as theft.”

Jenkins noted that Just Walk Out is past the pilot stage, and it is relatively easy to set up.

“It’s not a prototype technology,” Jenkins said. “All of the technology is in the exit gates. To charge people’s credit cards accurately when they leave the store does require a lot of heavy lifting, such as antennas aiming and only charging the right people. There are no cameras or cables, so it’s much faster to set up. We can retrofit existing spaces by adding the exit gate.”

Jenkins noted that Amazon has been working on its Just Walk Out technology for the better part of a half-decade on this.

“It’s been an adventure,” Jenkins continued. “This was not the first approach we tried. We are excited about some of the new possibilities this brings to merchants. The cost is decoupled from the size of the store, since you don’t have to modify the rest of the store. The gates are also portable – you can plunk the gates down and you have a store.”

It’s a really unique experience,” said Toney. “It’s all about the customer and their experience. There’s a lot of things happening in general merchandise – we are working very hard to make sure that everything in the store can be tagged and identified. We found that 45% of consumers will choose self-checkout, and Gen Z really likes frictionless checkout without barcode scanning and will switch to retailers that offer it.”

“I don’t think that we are anywhere near the end of where this is going to take us,” Jenkins concluded. “Pop-up stores are going to be a piece of cake – new types of selection are going to become available, and this proves the authenticity of the item. We could even combine RFID and computer vision stores.”