How Amazon is streamlining payment at Whole Foods stores
A frictionless payment option will be available at all Whole Foods locations by the end of 2023.
Amazon is rolling out the Amazon One palm-based payment system that allows customers to use their palm to pay for purchases throughout its chain of more than 500 Whole Foods stores throughout the U.S.
Following an initial April 2023 implementation at 11 stores in the Denver market, Amazon One is currently available at more than 200 Whole Foods Market locations across the U.S., including Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
Amazon will continue to roll out its proprietary palm-based payment solution to Whole Foods Market stores in other states and U.S. locations over the coming months.
Amazon One – how it works
To sign up for Amazon One, first customers insert their credit card in the palm reading device. Next, they hover their palm over the device and follow the prompts to associate that card with the unique palm signature being built by the device’s computer vision technology in real time. Customers have the option to enroll with one palm or both.
Once customers have enrolled, they can enter Amazon One-enabled stores by holding their palm above the Amazon One device at entry for about a second or so. The technology evaluates multiple aspects of a customer’s palm. No two palms are alike, so Amazon One analyzes all these aspects with its vision technology and selects the most distinct identifiers on a palm to create a unique palm signature.
Whole Foods customers using Amazon One will shop like normal and at the end of their trip, they scan their palm at checkout to pay. Amazon One has partnerships with American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa, and major banks across the U.S., enabling cardholders to use Amazon One. For Amazon Prime members who link their Amazon One profile with their Amazon account, savings will automatically be applied.
“We are always looking for new ways to delight our customers and improve the shopping experience,” said Leandro Balbinot, CTO at Whole Foods Market. “Since we’ve introduced Amazon One at Whole Foods Market stores over the past two years, we’ve seen that customers love the convenience it provides, and we’re excited to bring Amazon One to all of our customers across the U.S.”