Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is set to open its first checkout-free supermarket location in the U.S on Monday, as it looks to revolutionize retail. The online giant is opening its first AmazonGo location in Seattle, with staff having tested out the concept over the course of the last year. Gianna Puerini, head of Amazon Go, said the store testing phase had gone well: “This technology didn’t exist – it was really advancing the state of the art of computer vision and machine learning.” Through the use of ceiling cameras and electronic sensors to identify each customer, their purchases are tracked and they are billed accordingly. Shoppers who have downloaded the AmazonGo can immediately make use of the Seattle store. Purchases are billed to customers’ credit cards once they have left the store. As of yet, Amazon has yet to announce the opening of any further AmazonGo locations. Amazon has also moved to open more physical stores, with 13 bookstores across of U.S since 2015. Back in october, Brian Olsavsky, Amazon chief financial officer, suggested that customers should expect to see more Amazon shops in months ahead. “You will see more expansion from us – it’s still early, so those plans will develop over time,” he said last year. Last year the company confirmed its plans to buy organic grocer Whole Foods, which it now sells online on its website. However, Whole Foods customers have been complaining as of late, with food shortages at its locations across the U.K. Whole Foods have pointed to its newly implemented inventory-management system called order-to-shelf, or otherwise referred to as OTS. The retailer has said that OTS reduces unnecessary waste, lowers costs, and frees up employees to focus on customer service. However, the service has led to the adverse effect of empty shelves and out of stock items, much to shoppers dismay. Shares in the company are currently trading up marginally by 0.097 percent as of 12.38AM (GMT).  

Over 8000 Carillion workers are being faced with the prospect of their wages being stopped, as tougher demands from the company’s banks pushed the bank into insolvency. Minister David Lidington has confirmed that the Government will continue to pay Carillion’s 11,000 staff who who work in public services jobs, but the clock is ticking for those who work for Carillion’s private sector companies. Around 8,000 of them face having their wages stopped on Wednesday unless other firms take over the work. According to insolvency documents, the firm is set to run out of cash by the end of the day. The company entered insolvency on Monday, after insolvency experts skipped the administration process because there was simply not enough cash in the business to keep it running. The depth of the group’s problems, revealed in the insolvency documents, show there is no hope for Carillon’s 30,000 trade creditors to regain the cash they are owed.

Average UK property prices were up £2,000 in January, according to data from Rightmove. Britain’s biggest property website said average asking prices rose 0.7 per cent month on month in January to £297,587. Conversely, asking prices fell 2.3 per cent in December. However, property prices in the capital were dragged down by falls in Zones 2 and 3. Sellers in Zone 3 witnessed the largest drop, with prices dipping 7.7 percent, and Zone 2 prices falling 6.4 percent. Remaining cautious over future outlook, Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst, warned: “Considering some of the gales that buffeted the market in the latter part of 2017, these early readings for 2018 show that there is currently a good following wind of search activity. To keep this year’s initial buyer momentum with you rather than against, serious sellers should note that all regions are currently selling at a slower rate than a year ago, indicating choosier buyers”. Rightmove revealed that the average asking price for a home in London in January was £600,926, 3.5 percent lower than a year previously, and marking the biggest drop since June 2009. In the November Autumn Statement, The Chancellor Philip Hammond announced a cut in stamp-duty for first time buyers for properties of up to £300,000. This reduction in stamp duty and low supply has in turn offset “stretched buyer affordability” and and continued political uncertainy, Rightmove said. In addition, the website data revealed that visits this month thus far are over nine per cent higher than the same period a year previously, averaging over four million visits each day.