Amazon opening four new cashierless grocery stores
Amazon continues expanding the presence of its Amazon Fresh high-tech grocery banner.
One week after introducing a new Amazon Fresh grocery location in Huntington Beach, Calif., Amazon is opening one Amazon Fresh store in North Riverside, Ill., and three in the Northern Virginia area. All four sites will feature Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” frictionless, cashierless shopping technology, as well the option for traditional checkout.
The North Riverside store, which is the eighth Amazon Fresh location in Illinois, measures approximately 40,000 square feet and is open Thursday, June 9. The three new Northern Virginia Amazon Fresh stores are located in Manassas, Arlington, and Lorton. The Manassas store, open June 9, is about 45,000 sq. ft.; and the Lorton store, set to open Thursday, June 23, is about 38,000 sq. ft. The Arlington store will open in the coming weeks.
There are now 33 Amazon Fresh stores that are officially open and two more set to commence operations soon (locations at end of article). In addition, Amazon recently announced it is now hiring for hundreds of full- and part-time employees for two Amazon Fresh grocery stores that will open in Paramus, N.J., and Oceanside, N.Y. These will be the first Amazon Fresh store locations in each state, and both will feature Just Walk Out shopping.
Customers who opt for Just Walk Out shopping can enter the store by scanning the in-store 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.
Just Walk Out 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.
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 or palm again to exit.
[Read more: First Look: Amazon debuts new high-tech grocery store]
Originally available only in Amazon Go convenience and small-format grocery stores, Amazon then began rolling out Just Walk Out to select Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods locations, and also licenses the technology to third-party retailers.
Amazon now operates 35 Amazon Fresh stores across the U.S. with two to open soon, including 15 in California, eight in Illinois, four in Washington state (including one designed to be zero net carbon), five in Virginia (three open and two to open soon), and one each in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. Amazon Fresh stores are designed from the ground up to offer a seamless shopping experience, with extra features for members of the Amazon Prime paid loyalty program.