Amazon Go is an upcoming brick and mortar service from the online retailer which is looking to nullify the need for cashiers, lines and checkouts, by way of providing a grocery store that allows you to purchase an item as soon as you’ve picked it up from the shelf.
In its current form Amazon has made a significant negative impact on the high street, routinely providing better offers than physical stores along with the convenience of home delivery. However, if Amazon Go eventually receives a larger roll-out than its current Seattle home, we could be looking at the beginning of the end for traditional grocery stores altogether.
Amazon Go allows customers to buy their groceries without having to wait in lines, check out their items or deal with human staff, with them simply “checking in” to the store via the Amazon app and with all items immediately being added to their shopping cart when they’ve been picked up from the shelves. The items each come equipped with sensors that identify when they have been moved from their position on the shelf, and customers need only return them to the shelf if they decide that they don’t want to buy them. When a customer leaves the store, the cost of their items will immediately be deducted from their account.
This system ensures that cashiers aren’t required for customers to make a transaction, presenting a significant threat to the profession in general. While Amazon hasn’t announced any plans to develop other stores outside of Seattle’s 7th Avenue, it’s inevitable that the retailer will be fine-crafting this new technology for an eventual wider launch in more territories. The first Amazon Go store is currently in its beta phase and is only accessible to the company’s employees, but a public launch is set to take place in early 2017. According to the service’s page on the Amazon site, the store will sell “ready-to-eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack options made fresh every day by our on-site chefs and favorite local kitchens and bakeries.” along with “staples like bread and milk to artisan cheeses and locally made chocolates.” The debut ad for the store also features a variety of well-known brands.
Take your first look at Amazon Go in the ad below:
