A customer browses as he shops inside the cashierless kiosk, powered by Signpost Corp. on the East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) Akabane Station platform in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018. Cameras and artificial-intelligence software developed by Signpost Corp. track merchandise and purchases. Company founder Yasushi Kambara calls it the “Super Wonder Register,” and says his product can be installed in any store. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg
Amazon.com Inc is betting that stores of the future won’t have any clerks or registers. A company in Japan thinks it can get there first.
Signpost Corp, which has a staff of about 100, has already deployed its technology in a kiosk on the platform of a train station in Tokyo. It’s an ideal testing ground: a small space no bigger than a bedroom with dedicated entry and exit points, and commuters in a hurry.
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