RFID expands the potential for checkout-free technology to clothing, softlines, fan gear, and more.

From the day we Amazon opened its Just Walk Out technology store in 2018, shoppers told them how magical they find checkout-free shopping.

Customers love being able to grab what they need and get on their way without having to wait in line, and store owners and retail operators have embraced the cost-efficiency and revenue-driving benefits of Just Walk Out technology. Just Walk Out technology uses cameras, shelf sensors, sensor fusion, and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, like computer vision and generative AI to enable retailers to sell a wide range of products, such as food, beverages, groceries, home goods, and more.

At computer vision-based checkout-free stores, products are arranged on shelves or tables so the system can see which items are being taken. This means products like clothing need to be packaged in bags or boxes—but that’s not always the way people shop for soft goods. Customers want to see clothing on hangers, pick them up, feel the fabric, try them on, and may even return the items to other shelves or locations in the store.

Given its prevalence in retail supply chains, Amazon decided to figure out a way RFID could benefit customers in a checkout-free environment. And what we came up with is a new type of Just Walk Out technology store where customers can grab clothes, hats, shoes, and more—and simply walk out of the store through an exit gate (even while wearing their purchases) by tapping their credit or debit card, or hovering their palm over an Amazon One palm recognition device.

Amazon first piloted Just Walk Out technology with RFID at Climate Pledge Arena, in Seattle, Washington, for a few games at the end of Seattle Kraken’s ice hockey season earlier this year. It has now launched the technology at Lumen Field, home of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks. During the 2023-24 NFL season, fans can grab their Seahawks gear at the new Seahawks Pro Shop Outlet located in the northwest corner of the stadium’s field level.

Every item for sale in the store has a unique RFID tag, which looks similar to a standard apparel tag. Customers simply enter the store, take what they like, and leave through the exit gate by using their credit or debit card, or hovering their palm over an Amazon One device. When they pass through the exit gate, the RFID tags in their clothing and other apparel are read by RFID readers, and the credit card they use to exit (or the payment information linked to their Amazon One profile) will be charged.