Amazon’s checkout-free stores are coming to Toronto and Calgary sports arenas

In this Jan. 22, 2018, file photo, workers as seen from a sidewalk window as they assemble sandwiches in an Amazon Go store in Seattle. Toronto and Calgary sports fans will soon be able to skip the lineup when purchasing snacks before or during games. The Scotiabank Arena in Toronto and Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary are rolling out Amazon technology allowing some of the venue’s stores to offer fans checkout-free shopping. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Elaine Thompson

Toronto and Calgary sports fans will soon be able to skip the lineup when purchasing snacks before or during games.

The Scotiabank Arena in Toronto and Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary are rolling out Amazon’s technology allowing some of the venue’s stores to offer fans checkout-free shopping.

The “Just Walk Out” technology requires fans to gain entry to a store with their credit or debit card and then uses computer vision, machine learning and generative artificial intelligence to track what they pick up and return to store shelves.

When fans are done shopping, they simply leave with their purchases in hand and the technology charges the card they used for entry and sends them a receipt.

The technology will make its Canadian debut on Sept. 29 at the Saddledome, where it will be available to Market 213 shoppers.

It will then launch at the Scotiabank Arena’s 100-level Grains and Greens and the Molson Market on the 300 level on Oct. 10.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2023.

The Canadian Press