Milton Keynes sees the debut of the first checkout free store, The Corner Store at Unity Place, using Amazon's Just Walk Out technology.

Unity Place, already a pioneer in retail technology, has become the first in Milton Keynes to introduce this innovative service since the unveiling of starship delivery robots in 2018.

The technological advancement aims to simplify the shopping experience by eliminating the need to queue to pay for purchases.

Shoppers can use their credit card or mobile wallet at the entry gate and Just Walk Out technology logs what items are picked up or put back, effectively creating a virtual shopping session.

Upon completing their shopping, visitors can simply exit the store and their preferred payment method will be debited accordingly.

Just Walk Out technology employs artificial intelligence like computer vision and deep learning techniques to meticulously trace customer actions within the store.

Amazon has developed simulated datasets to imitate millions of reasonable shopping scenarios to ensure exactness of calculations regardless of store layout, lighting conditions or crowd size.

The Corner Store offers an all-inclusive retail range catering to a variety of tastes: from appetizing grab-n-go meals and a range of bakery items, salads, and sandwiches to a wall of refrigerators filled with soft drinks and fruit juices.

The store also stocks an assortment of snack items like fruit, nuts, granola bars, cereal, biscuits, crisps, sweets, and chocolate.

Additionally, essential convenience goods such as medical supplies, toiletries, reading glasses, and umbrellas are available.

Despite employing frictionless technology, Unity Place has generated a substantial number of new employment opportunities for the local Milton Keynes community.

Since its inception, Unity Place has created at least 159 jobs, including roles in front of house, kitchen staff for all outlets, security, logistics, placemaking, engineering, guest services and more.

Kenneth Leamy, Head of Digital and Technology at Restaurant Associates, said: "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".