It wasn’t long ago that paying with a mobile phone was the hottest new technology. Now Hudson Nonstop store at Dallas Love Field is letting customers pay just by holding out their hands.
Hudson Nonstop, which opened an Amazon-powered cashier-less convenience store at Dallas Love Field in January, is taking the technology a step further by installing a touchless, palm-reading device that will scan the contours of a customer’s hand for identification.
The palm prints are tied to Amazon account and payment information, letting customers walk into the store, grab items and walk out without ever having to take out a cellphone or credit card. Customers still have the option of scanning credit cards if they aren’t signed up or aren’t comfortable with handing over biometric information to the tech conglomerate.
But the stores do it all without an employee — or at least a cashier. Humans are still needed to stock the store with snacks, beverages, electronics and gifts.
The Hudson Nonstop retailer is the first store in the travel industry to test the technology, called Amazon One, which Amazon recently started using at some of its self-branded stores, bookstores and Whole Foods locations, including the Amazon 4-Star store in Frisco.
Hudson, the airport retailer with 1,000 stores worldwide, has used Dallas Love Field as a field test for the Amazon “Just Walk Out” technology. It was the first store in Hudson’s network to use Just Walk Out. The second store is at Chicago Midway International Airport.
Amazon and Hudson have installed the palm-reading devices at the entrance to the Dallas Love Field store. Customers sign up by scanning their palm, entering a mobile number and swiping a credit card. For all future visits, customers only need to hover their hands over the palm reader, then grab their purchases and walk away.