Amazon's biggest story in 2017 was focused on the purchase of food chains, but this year it looks like the online sales giant is ready to reinvent the supermarket concept itself as we know it. Raising interesting questions about the implications of automation and consumer tracking are in process. The conceptual basis for the first opening of Amazon Go's location in Seattle is in its own name. All what customers have to do is scan a QR code (which is a two-dimensional barcode used to scan and buy items through a smartphone), take what they want throughout the store, and simply walk away with it.

Instead of interacting with a human cashier or even using a self-purchasing kiosk, Amazon will use patented technology, directly called "Just Walk Out," which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to monitor hundreds of camera feeds and sensors to keep track of your purchases. Once you leave, your purchases are automatically charged to a connected Amazon account. Most human employees on the site have the task of checking the IDs of alcohol purchases, helping solve potential problems or preparing fresh food in the adjacent kitchen.

Amazon was not the first supermarket chain to achieve automation in a supermarket through a type of barcode. The BingoBox chain currently has almost 300 stores operating in 29 cities throughout China, the size of the stores is smaller than the Amazon store, it can even be considered as a giant vending machine. The purchase process is carried out with an automatic teller machine that is very similar to the one we already see in some hypermarkets, but delegating the surveillance only to a system of security cameras. Each product has a unique card that you bring to the box to register it, and when you finish your purchase the machine will show you a QR code that you will use in the app to make the payment.