Amazon Go
Permanently Closed
Cashier-free shop with app entry, grab snacks and meals, walk out
Cashier-free shop with app entry, grab snacks and meals, walk out
"These cashierless convenience stores have already deployed the palm-print payment technology as part of a broader push into identity-based retail. Because the system stores palm data in the cloud, privacy advocates warn it increases the risk of hacking and third-party access and creates an immutable identifier that can’t be changed like a password. The stores also demonstrate the company’s broader use of automated, cashier-less technologies that raise concerns about job displacement." - Jaya Saxena
"Debuted in January in Seattle, this cashier-less brick-and-mortar store from a major online retailer has been hailed as “the convenience store of the future.” The format centers on its “Just Walk Out” technology: shoppers scan an app to enter, grab items, and simply leave while cameras and sensors track selections and automatically charge purchases to their accounts — though the opening still drew long lines of curious patrons. The shop carries typical convenience-store staples like packaged snacks, drinks, beer and wine, while an entire back wall is devoted to prepared foods such as nicoise salads, turkey wraps, butter chicken and lamb sandwiches, positioning it as a potential competitor to grab-and-go salad chains and lunch spots. The company plans to expand with as many as six more locations this year in Seattle and Los Angeles, according to Recode." - Whitney Filloon
"A 1,800-square-foot, fully automated, cashier-free shop in downtown Seattle advertises a literal "Just Walk Out" experience: customers scan a phone at subway-like gates, use complimentary orange shopping bags, and are tracked by overhead cameras and sensors that automatically charge their accounts as they leave. The store feels like an upscale convenience market centered on a back wall of grab-and-go meals — many prepared in a window-lined kitchen at the front — offering items such as Turkey Basil Wraps, Butter Chicken with Cilantro‑Mint Chutney, Simple and Half Simple Salads, and more indulgent options (sold-out items are replaced with playful orange "So Good It’s Gone!" signs). Shelves also hold staples and snacky bits like chips, cupcakes, sandwiches, frozen food, branded meal kits, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Haribo gummies, chocolates, and soda. There are no traditional checkouts: staff primarily restock, answer questions (with staff skittish about journalists), and a single employee checks IDs for the small alcohol selection. Opening-week lines and hesitant customers — many of them tech-company employees, tourists, and novelty seekers — undercut the convenience for now, but the concept is positioned to compete aggressively during lunch rushes; the grocery industry is watching closely as a data-driven retail experiment. The bright, picturesque interior is offset by an ominous ceiling of cameras, sensors, and cables that creates a mildly unsettling, quasi-surveillant atmosphere that some customers describe as feeling like shoplifting without the crime." - Chason Gordon
"Amazon’s cashless convenience store, Amazon Go, is now open to the public after 14 months of testing. The store allows shoppers to purchase items without interacting with a checkout system. Shoppers scan their smartphone upon entry, and items are added to a virtual cart as they’re removed from the shelves. The store then chargers shoppers’ Amazon accounts through the Amazon Go app." - Megan Hill
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