Everyone has to go grocery shopping sometime. Your family might go once a month and stock up on bulk items. Or, you could be among those who go grocery shopping once a week. Parents realize that grocery shopping can be difficult if you must wait in a long line with a toddler. Amazon Go might change how your family shops for groceries.
Amazon Go describes itself as “the world’s most advanced shopping technology”. It promises there will be no lines to wait in and no checkout area to deal with. Shoppers simply grab the products they need – and go.
Forbes points out that Amazon Go isn’t quite ready for shoppers just yet. The first Amazon Go store will open in Seattle, Washington, sometime in early 2017. Eventually, there is potential that more Amazon Go stores will appear in other locations.
Right now, the Amazon Go store in Seattle is considered to be a beta program. It is only open to Amazon employees. It appears that this is an experiment by Amazon – who may continue it and grow it bigger if things work well.
After more Amazon Go stores open (and the project comes out of beta) anyone can shop there. All you need is an Amazon account, a supported smartphone, and the free Amazon Go app.
The store will offer ready-to-eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack options made fresh daily on site (and from local kitchens and bakeries). It will also have grocery essentials and staples. Amazon says consumers will find brands they love at Amazon Go, and some new brands to try out. In addition, they will have chef-designed Amazon Meal Kits which contain all the ingredients for a meal for two (and that take about 30 minutes).
An Amazon Go shopper can pick up the products they want to buy off the shelves, just like they would at a typical grocery store. Amazon’s “Just Walk Out technology” automatically detects when products are taken from or returned to the shelves and keeps track of them in a virtual cart. When the customer is done shopping, they can just leave the store. Amazon will charge the customer’s Amazon account and send the customer a receipt.
The most appealing part is that Amazon Go will remove the most annoying parts of grocery shopping. There will be no lines to wait in. There are no cashiers. There are no self check outs. Take what you need, walk out, pay automatically. Parents of young children, who don’t handle waiting in long lines very well, might way to give Amazon Go a try (if and when it comes to a location near you).
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