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Amazon Prepares to Disrupt Grocery Shopping

Dec. 6, 2016

Too good to be true? A grocery store with no wait at check out

Amazon, the undisputed king of online retail, is now showing off how it aims to disrupt the grocery store business with a new brick and mortar store it claims will do away with painful checkout lines.

Customers check in at the entrance of the grocery store using a new app called Amazon Go. After grabbing whatever items are desired, the customer then simply walks out the door and is charged for the items on his or her Amazon.com account without needing to wait in a check out. Amazaon claims it can track the items––whether selected or returned to shelf–– and pair with payment information through a combination of computer vision and deep learning technologies, as noted in a recent Fortune magazine article.

The stores offer the usual grocery fare, including staples such as baked goods, cheese and milk. There is also work underway to include Amazon’s own Blue Apron meal-in-a-box items.

The first Amazon Go store, at 1,800 square feet, is located in Amazon’s home town of Seattle and is open only to employees, who will test drive the concept. Amazon says it will open up the store to the public early next year.

Bye, bye checkout lines. Nice knowing you. NOT!

About the Author

Beth Stackpole, contributing writer | Contributing Editor, Automation World

Beth Stackpole is a veteran journalist covering the intersection of business and technology, from the early days of personal computing to the modern era of digital transformation. As a contributing editor to Automation World, Beth's coverage traverses a range of industries and technologies, including AI/machine learning, analytics, automation hardware and software, cloud, security, edge computing, and supply chain. In addition to her high-tech and business journalism work, Beth writes an array of custom editorial content and thought leadership pieces.