Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” checkout-free technology will keep working in hundreds of independent stores after the company discontinues its Amazon One palm-recognition service in June, but customers will need to use a card or tap a phone to pay instead of scanning their hand.
Amazon confirmed the plan Monday in response to a GeekWire inquiry based on a question from an interested reader who frequents Seattle sports stadiums and arenas where the Just Walk Out technology is used for grab-and-go food and beverage service.
According to Amazon, the palm-scanning devices will remain physically in place at Just Walk Out locations that have them, but the feature will be disabled. Other payment methods at those stores, including credit and debit cards and mobile wallets, will continue to work.
The company announced last week that it would discontinue Amazon One on June 3, citing “limited customer adoption” of the biometric authentication service. The move coincided with Amazon’s decision to close all 72 of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores.
The Just Walk Out technology, which uses cameras and sensors to let customers grab items and leave without waiting in a checkout line, originated at the Amazon Go stores.
But separate from its first-party operations, Amazon licenses the system to third-party retailers, stadiums, hospitals, and other venues, with more than 360 locations in five countries.
Amazon One debuted in 2020 and wasn’t part of Just Walk Out when it launched at Amazon Go stores in 2018. However, the palm scanning technology became a signature feature of the system after it was introduced, especially as Just Walk Out expanded to third-party venues.
Amazon One also worked independently from Just Walk Out for easy checkout. Most notably, Amazon rolled it out to more than 500 Whole Foods stores in 2023. The technology drew privacy concerns, including a backlash from artists at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado in 2022, after ticketing company AXS announced it would use Amazon One for its pedestals.
In mid-January, just two weeks before announcing Amazon One’s discontinuation, the company touted the expansion of Just Walk Out, announcing new portable RFID checkout lanes that can be deployed in hours for pop-up shops and events.
Amazon said the technology processed 36.7 million items through 17.7 million shopping sessions in the past year, with major deployments including the new Nissan Stadium in Nashville, where all concessions will run on Just Walk Out.
The company cited results including a 47% increase in per-game sales at Seattle’s Lumen Field, wait times dropping from 25 minutes to three minutes at BayCare’s St. Joseph’s Hospital in Florida, and an 83% reduction in retail theft at UC San Diego.
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