By: Nick Gambino
Amazon has created quite the footprint in the world of commerce with the market cornered on almost every good or product the average consumer could hope to buy. As part of this conquer-all strategy, the retail giant has made no secret of their intention of becoming your go-to for your weekly groceries. Not only do they provide their Amazon Fresh delivery service, but they also created waves when they bought Whole Foods a couple years back.
Now, Amazon has taken another giant step forward with the opening of their first Amazon Go Grocery store in Seattle. While the opening of a grocery store is not necessarily noteworthy news, opening a grocery store without a single cashier is.
“Amazon Go Grocery is the first grocery store to offer Just Walk Out Shopping,” the website explains. “Come in, take what you want, and just walk out.”
The whole experience seems easy and the system even gives the impression that shoplifting won’t really be a thing. Shoppers gain access to the store by opening the Amazon Go app and navigating to the key. Simply hold it up to the scanner at the gate and you’re in.
Once you’re inside, you’ll walk around and take anything off the shelves you want, bagging them yourself in your reusable bag or placing them in your cart directly. Sensors track the items that users take off the shelves which is why you won’t have to worry about checking out at the end.
Once you’re done shopping and leave the store, Amazon will charge your Amazon account and whatever card you use, e-mailing you a receipt afterward.
Not only is it an easier system than any contemporary “advanced” supermarket with self-checkout stations, it effectively gets rid of lines. You won’t have to wait to check-out, hence no line.
In addition to shoppers needing the app to gain access to the e-commerce giant’s grocery store (and as a result allowing themselves to be logged as having entered the premises), other deterrents to shoplifting include security cameras and on-site employees to answer questions and stock the shelves.
This is a single store in Seattle but as all pilots go, if this proves to be successful, we can expect to see a wide rollout of Amazon Go Grocery stores in the future.
