The grocery giant is reportedly preparing to open its very first cashierless store in London later this month.
The new store will utilise Amazon’s ‘Just Walk Out’ technology and according to a report from Bloomberg, Sainsbury’s is the first customer outside of the US to adopt the technology used by Amazon Go stores. The technology powered by Amazon will include the store’s software, cameras and shelf technology.
The store will be situated in High Holborn on the edge of the City of London and it is currently only open to Sainsbury’s employees exclusively, with an expected opening to the general public on 29 November.
Sainsbury’s said in a statement: “We regularly trial new and convenient ways for customers to shop with us and we’re currently testing an upgraded version of SmartShop with colleagues at one of our Holborn stores.”
The move from Sainsbury’s move comes just as Tesco launched its first cashierless high street store called GetGo, also in High Holborn. The Tesco utilises technology from Israeli start-up Trigo Vision Ltd.
