Gridserve has shown its enthusiasm for Amazon Just Walk Out technology by going live with its second electric forecourt with the tap and pay cashless system.
Its Stevenage site, which has 30 electric vehicle charging bays and is at Junction 7 of the A1(M) on the Knebworth Estate, has just opened its convenience shop with Little Fresh branding. Customers pay for their items by tapping their contactless payment card or smartphone wallet when they enter.
The technology detects what the shopper takes from, or returns to the shelves and creates a virtual shopping cart. And when the customer is ready to leave the store they do so without having to queue to pay, instead they are automatically charged fro presenting their payment method earlier. Receipts can be obtained with an instore sign-up option or online.
Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology is made possible by a combination of generative artificial intelligence, computer vision and deep-learning techniques to accurately determine who took what in any retail environment. Amazon built synthetic datasets to mimic millions of realistic shopping scenarios—including variations in store format, lighting conditions, and even crowds of shoppers — to ensure accuracy in any environment.
The first Gridserve electric forecourt to take JWO technology was at Gatwick Airport. And while the two other electric forecourts at Braintree and Norwich now also have Little Fresh Good to Go branded shops, they are not cashless as the JWO technology is difficult to retrofit, says Gridserve. All sites have Costa Coffee.
The Stevenage forecourt features 24 high power bays with up to 360kW of power – some of the fastest chargers publicly available today, capable of adding up to 100 miles of range in 10 minutes. There are also four Tesla Superchargers onsite.
All of the EV charging bays are supplied by 100% net zero energy. The new chargers increase charging in the Stevenage area by 34%, and are accessible to all EV drivers including motorway users, visitors to Knebworth Estate and the local community.
Rebecca Trebble, chief product officer at Gridserve says: “At the Stevenage Electric Forecourt, we aim to deliver the best service, not just with charging but the whole experience. Little Fresh powered by Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology delivers a seamless retail experience which has been popular at our London Gatwick Electric Forecourt.”
Kash Khera, managing director at SimplyFresh, adds: “With Stevenage, we’re excited to lead the evolution of convenience shopping, making it faster and more intuitive than ever, this is more than a store; it’s a glimpse into the future of retail.”
