Amazon continues opening grocery stores with cashierless checkout
California is getting its eleventh Amazon brick-and-mortar grocery store and its third featuring a fully autonomous checkout.
At 35,000 sq. ft., the new Amazon Fresh store in Moorpark, Calif., is the first Amazon Fresh store in Ventura County and the third store in the area to feature Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” technology. The technology leverages a combination of computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning that enables shoppers to shop the store, pick out what they want and skip the checkout when they’re done.
Anyone shopping at the new Amazon Fresh store can utilize the cashierless technology, which connects to their Amazon account or credit card. Customers are prompted at the store’s entry gates to scan the QR code in their Amazon app, use the Amazon One proprietary palm payment solution, or insert a credit or debit card linked to their Amazon account to open the Just Walk Out gates.
Once inside the store, customers can shop like normal. Anything they take off the shelf is automatically added to their virtual cart, and anything they put back on the shelf comes out of their virtual cart. At the end of their trip, customers scan their QR code, palm or payment card again to exit.
[Read more: First Look: Amazon debuts new high-tech grocery store]
Amazon is opening its latest high-tech Amazon Fresh location with Just Walk Out shopping one day after launching the autonomous checkout experience in its Whole Foods Market division at a store in Washington, D.C. Originally available only in Amazon Go convenience and small-format grocery stores, Amazon then began rolling out Just Walk Out to select Amazon Fresh high-tech grocery locations and also licenses the technology to third-party retailers.
The company now plans to also open a “Just Walk Out”-enabled Whole Foods store in Sherman Oaks, Calif., during 2022. For now, Amazon plans to observe customer reaction to Just Walk Out when it opens the two new Whole Foods locations and then go from there.
In addition to Just Walk Out, the Moorpark Amazon Fresh location also provides shoppers with the option of paying by cash, SNAP EBT, or credit or debit card at traditional, staffed checkout lanes. Employees are also available throughout the store for assistance.
Customers shopping the Moorpark location can also take advantage of a coupon found in their weekly circular for $15 off an order of $35 or more for shopping trips made at the store until March 6. Customers may use the paper coupon at the Just Walk Out exit or at the traditional checkout.
Low-priced items are available to shop every day—including $0.15 cent bananas; $0.89 cent freshly baked bread; $1.79 freshly baked pizza slices; and $4.97 rotisserie chickens. Opening deals include $2.69 for a 12-pack of Coca-Cola. All opening deals can be found here.
The omnichannel giant now operates 24 Amazon Fresh stores across the U.S., including 11 in California, six in Illinois, three in Washington state, and one each in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Amazon Fresh stores are designed from the ground up to offer a seamless shopping experience, with extra perks for members of the Amazon Prime paid loyalty program.