Amazon Introduces Cashless Stores: A New Era for Shopping
Get ready to ditch the checkout lines! Amazon is revolutionizing the shopping experience by introducing its 'Just Walk Out' technology into two Whole Foods stores, set to open in Washington, D.C., and Sherman Oaks, California, in 2022. This move marks the first time more than 500 Whole Foods locations will adopt this technology.
Amazon, which acquired Whole Foods in 2017, has been testing this technology at various Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh locations. The tech giant has not yet revealed if these "Just Walk Out" stores are the beginning of a broader rollout, but customers can expect their shopping experience to drastically change.
How does it work? Customers simply scan a QR code using their Amazon or Whole Foods app upon entering the store. Throughout their shopping trip, surveillance cameras and sensors keep track of which products they pick up and place in their cart. Upon leaving the store, customers scan their QR code again, and voila! A digital receipt is sent to their email, with no cash required.
However, this tech innovation has sparked controversy over job loss for cashiers. Amazon claims that the two stores will continue employing an equivalent number of workers compared to their counterpart Whole Foods stores of similar size. But without specific numbers provided, it remains unclear how many employees will be impacted.
As Amazon's 'Just Walk Out' technology expands into Whole Foods stores, this could signal a significant shift in the retail industry towards cashless stores. In fact, Amazon has been popularizing this technology by selling its software to other retailers as well.
But Whole Foods is lagging behind when it comes to e-commerce growth. Sales from Amazon's brick-and-mortar locations, mainly composed of Whole Foods stores, experienced a decrease of 0.18% in 2019 and 5.6% in 2020 due to the pandemic, as more customers shifted to online shopping.
Beyond 'Just Walk Out'
While Amazon is not expanding the use of its cashless technology in Whole Foods stores, it is exploring various strategies to revamp the shopping experience. For instance, Amazon One, a pay-with-your-palm technology, is being introduced to select Whole Foods Market stores in Seattle.
Amazon is also testing innovations like the Amazon Dash smart shopping cart devices, enabling Prime members to add items from Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, and Whole Foods in a single cart. Additionally, the company is refining its store formats, such as the Amazon Go Grocery stores, which provide a cashierless shopping experience, but are not yet integrated into Whole Foods or conventional grocery stores.
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