Amazon Go: Futuristic supermarkets with no checkouts could soon launch in UK

Customers can walk in, take what they want and walk straight out

Amazon appears to be preparing to brings its unusual Go stores to the UK.

The company has filed several Go-related trademark applications with the UK Intellectual Property Office, which have now been approved, suggesting a launch announcement could be imminent.

Amazon wants to trademark the following slogans, according to Bloomberg:

• “No Lines, No Checkout. (No, Seriously)” 
• “No Queue, No Checkout. (No, Seriously)” 

Amazon Go supermarkets let you walk in, grab products and walk straight out without having to go through a checkout.

All you need to do is check in to the store at the entrance by scanning the Amazon app on a sensor, and a range of technologies will make sure you pay the right amount for your shopping.

They’ll automatically know which products you’ve left the supermarket with, and charge you through your Amazon account afterwards.

They can even detect when you pick up a product and then return it to the shelves.

The speculation will concern traditional UK supermarkets, which already face competition from Amazon in the form of Amazon Fresh, which launched in London last summer.

“Our checkout-free shopping experience is made possible by the same types of technologies used in self-driving cars: computer vision, sensor fusion, and deep learning,” the company says.

An Amazon Go test supermarket in Seattle was due to open to the public earlier this year, but the launch was pushed back because of technical issues.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the system can’t handle more than 20 shoppers at a time.