- 15.05.24
Wednesday 15th May, 2024 – Today sees the launch of The Corner Store at Unity Place - the first frictionless store designed to eliminate checkout lines in Milton Keynes. Powered by Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, Unity Place will be the first venue in Milton Keynes to launch this service, the latest technological innovation in Milton Keynes since the starship delivery robots, announced in 2018.
Driven by the desire of Unity Place to be pioneers in retail technology within Milton Keynes, the store will further enhance visitors’ food and beverage experience with the introduction of Just Walk Out technology. Shopping at the store is designed to be an effortless experience, speeding up the customer journey by allowing visitors to purchase items without queuing to pay.
Visitors to The Corner Store simply use their credit card or mobile wallet at the entry gate. The Just Walk Out technology detects what shoppers take from or return to the shelves, creating a virtual shopping session. When guests complete their shopping experience, they can leave the store and their chosen payment method will be charged for the items taken. Just Walk Out technology is made possible by artificial intelligence like computer vision and deep learning techniques, including generative AI, 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 Corner Store boasts an extensive retail selection, with something for everyone: hot beverages, nutritious grab-n-go meals, sweet and savoury bakery items, salads, sandwiches, and a wall of fridges stocked with soft drinks and fruit juices. An envious snack range includes fruit, nuts, granola bars, cereal, biscuits, crisps, sweets, and chocolate; plus, essential convenience items from medical supplies and toiletries to reading glasses and umbrellas.
Despite the frictionless technology used at The Corner Store, Unity Place has created a high volume of new job roles throughout the building, for those in the local Milton Keynes community. At least 159 news jobs have been created since launch of Unity Place– this includes front of house and kitchen staff for all of the outlets, as well as roles in security, logistics,, placemaking, engineering, guest services and more.
Kenneth Leamy, Head of Digital and Technology at Restaurant Associates, says “We are constantly looking at ways to further enhance our customer journey and through the launch of The Corner Store, we can now provide a faster and more seamless experience using proven, secure technology. The launch of The Corner Store is a huge milestone for Unity Place and for Milton Keynes, and we are thrilled to offer this technology to improve shopping for our customers”.
