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Here is a List of Cashierless Tech Companies Gunning for Amazon Go

Bloomberg has a story up today about the Portugal-based startup, Sensei, titled “Amazon Go Faces Unlikely Challenge From Checkout-Free Startup.” The headline caught my eye because it isn’t unlikely at all, in fact, it’s quite likely. While Amazon has a substantial headstart in getting cashierless stores to market (10 and counting), Bezos’ behemoth faces all kinds of technological challenges from companies big and small in the checkout-free space.

As a quick refresher, cashierless checkout stores are retail environments that allow the shopper to walk in, grab what they want and leave without standing in a checkout line. Some combination of high-tech sensors and cameras keep track of what you buy and charge you automatically. Different companies have different approaches, some of them more advanced than others, but here’s who’s out there right now:

Caper: Rather than installing cameras and sensors in the store, Caper shifts that technology to its smart shopping carts, so retailers don’t have to spend a lot of money to retrofit their locations. Current versions of the cart require the user to scan items, but they’ve said computer vision is coming to make recording what you put in your cart automatic. Caper has raised $3 million raised and says it is in use by two major unnamed grocery store chains.

DeepMagic: Rather than scaling up, DeepMind scales down to create unattended kiosk shopping experiences that are meant to live inside existing locations (think: Hotel or office lobbies). Even these mini, mini shopping stores will face off against Amazon, as the company is reportedly looking to shrink Go stores to fit inside offices to feed hungry workers. DeepMagic is self-funded and has been used by Cisco to sell swag at one of its conferences.

Grabango: A relative newcomer to the cashierless space, Granbango came out of stealth earlier this year. It uses lots of tiny smartphone camera-sized cameras mounted on the ceiling to saturate its computer vision field and keep track of purchases. Grabango’s hook is that it integrates with the store checkout system, so when shoppers are done, they can still pay with a credit card or cash without a cashier scanning each item. Grabango has raised $17.3 million and says it is in pilots with three major grocers and one convenience store chain.

Microsoft: Microsoft isn’t one to let a cross-town rival like Amazon dominate a market without putting up a fight. But right now we’ve only heard reports of the Redmond giant working on cashierless tech with Walmart (another Amazon rival). Another clue that Microsoft cashierless tech could be forthcoming is its recent partnership with Kroger to pilot a new type of tech-forward, smart stores.

Sam’s Club: The Walmart-owned Sam’s Club opened up an experimental store last year, which requires the use of Walmart’s Scan & Go app to pay for items.

Skip: Similar to Sam’s Club approach, Skip is another small entrant in the cashierless space that is targeting convenience stores. Shoppers download and use the Skip app to scan and purchase items in the store. Skip is currently iN use in several western convenience store chains and has raised $5 million in seed funding.

Standard Cognition: While Standard Cognition has its own working store in San Francisco, it’s mainly there to showcase its cashierless chops. Standard Cognition’s website makes a big deal about it not using facial recognition and being built around privacy. The company has raised $51 million in funding and says it has agreements with four retailers across Asia, North America and Europe.

Trigo Vision: Israel-based Trigo Vision retrofits existing stores with off-the-shelf cameras and computer vision to create its cashierless experience. The company has raised $7 million, is in a pilot with an unnamed European retailer and last November signed a deal with Israel’s Shufersal to implement checkout free shopping across all of that chain’s 272 locations.

V7 (formerly AI Poly): We haven’t covered this company fully here at The Spoon yet. AI Poly recently rebranded its retail efforts as V7, and now uses AI Poly for vision AI for the visually impaired and blind. The V7 website says its AI system can plug into and work with existing security cameras, depending on the number a store operates.

7-11: The convenience store chain’s tech works more like a self-checkout than true grab-and-go retail. In the pilot store the company launched towards the end of last year, shoppers use the 7-11 app to scan items and then manually pay for them at separate checkout stations.

And now we can add Sensei to this list. Are there any others we’re leaving out? Any stealthy ones you want to spill the beans on? If so, drop us a line and let us know!

Check it Out, Skip’s Cashierless Tech Targets Convenience Stores

Amazon kicked off the cashierless checkout craze a year ago with its Amazon Go stores. Now a number of cashierless players are coming to market, each with their own solution. Amazon uses a combination of cameras and sensors to automatically keep track of what you buy, while Grabango uses lots of small cameras, and Caper employs a smart shopping cart.

Skip is another entrant in the increasingly crowded field of startups looking to retrofit existing retail outlets with cashierless checkout systems. But Skip’s approach is decidedly less tech intensive. However, this lack of high-end installation could be what gives it an edge in the market. (Hat tip to The Shelby Report for bringing Skip to our attention.)

The Skip checkout system has three parts: a mobile app for the consumer, an app for the store clerk and a cloud cam. Once the shopper downloads the Skip app, they use it to scan and pay for items they are taking. As a shopper scans items, the store clerk’s app gets a notification and a running tally of the items the shopper is taking. This helps the clerk know what is being paid for and helps prevent people from saying they are just picking up milk, but walking out with an armful of goodies.

The Cloud Cam is a wall-mounted camera and screen installed above the store’s entrance that displays the username of the shopper and the number of items they paid for. This display shows the clerk and other shoppers that the person leaving isn’t stealing, and acts as another theft deterrent by letting shoppers know that they are on camera.

If Skip’s approach to cashierless checkout sounds familiar, that’s because 7-11 launched a similar scan-and-go system last year. Convenience stores like 7-11 are actually Skip’s main target, with the company saying the convenience segment has the largest footprint for growth. Skip says its solution will be in roughly 150 convenience stores and 83 grocery stores by the end of this month.

Skip generates revenue through a Saas model, charging stores on a sliding scale anywhere between $15 and $50 a month. The company says it’s seeing ten percent month over month growth.

Like with any new technology, Skip’s solution has pros and cons. On the plus side, there’s really no infrastructure for stores to implement other than some software and the cloud cam, so any store could be easily retrofitted. Additionally, Skip’s system allows existing checkout systems to remain in place, so stores can continue to take cash or credit cards.

Downsides seem to be that the technology still relies on the clerks to help monitor what people are buying. That’s easy when there are one or two people in the store, but it seems like a dozen or more shoppers could overwhelm a lone clerk. Additionally, there are some privacy considerations that don’t seem to be fully thought out. The Cloud Cam displays the username of the person as they exit the store, but people could be using their real name which would then get flashed on a screen for everyone to see.

Right now Skip is available in different regional chains, mostly in Western states, though that will change quickly over the coming months as stores across the country come out of testing and go live. Skip itself is based in Salt Lake City, UT and has roughly 15 employees. The company raised roughly $5 million in seed funding two years ago.

The cashierless tech space may be crowded, but Skip’s low-fi approach and convenience store targeting might be enough to get retailers to check it out.