Amazon’s first cashier-less grocery store is finally open

The Amazon Go store is the first-ever grocery store which is fully automated, means it doesn’t need cashiers, negating checkout stations, registers and long line wait times. Instead, customers swipe their Amazon app to enter the store and the company’s “Just Walk Out” technology takes care of the rest. Algorithms and sensors keep track of what people purchase and put back on the shelves, creating a virtual shopping cart for each person. When shoppers have everything they need, they simply leave the store and their cart-full of items is billed to their Amazon account.

To enter the Amazon Go store, customers need to download a smartphone app and scan a QR code to open a glass door.
When they leave, they just leave. Amazon Go’s systems automatically debit their accounts for the items they take, sending the receipt to the app.
“The coolness of the technology will undoubtedly get people to check it out,” National Association of Convenience Stores spokesperson Jeff Lenard told the Los Angeles Times. “But the quality is what will get them to come back.”

The 1800 square foot store is on the ground floor of Amazon’s new Seattle headquarters complex.
It will be fascinating to watch how customers acclimate to the Go experience and whether any good faith or bad faith experimenters find ways to undermine it.