Amazon Fresh

Kenton Reynolds, Writer
@uxconnections

Amazon have opened their second type of physical store, Amazon Fresh.

In Woodland Hills, CA Amazon have opened their first grocery store to the public after a short testing period where entrance was permitted to those with invites only. Opening 07:00 to 22:00, the store is automated and integrated with Amazon tech.

This is not to be confused with the Amazon Go store, these have been open a few years now. First opening in Seattle in January 2018, Amazon Go is a convenience store designed for customers to purchase a handful of products. The low basket-size means that the Go store had no checkout at all; customers walk-in, pick their products and walk-out.

Unlike this, Amazon Fresh will look to allow customers to buy more in one shop using the Dash Cart. These revolutionary shopping trolleys can hold up to 2 bags worth of groceries. It is tech-packed, boasting a plethora of cameras and scanners that can detect the products entering the cart. The scale also helps to measure the mass of any products the customer is buying. When grabbing a trolley, customers scan a QR code in the Amazon app to link to the device alongside this is a coupon scanner where the trolley can scan any coupons you have and subtract them from the total that it will calculate as you move around the store. At the end of you shop, if you have not bought a large quantity of products you do not even have to go to checkout with the total of your shop being deducted from your Amazon account’s credit/debit card.

This is not the only advancement with Amazon Fresh. Brand new Echo Show stations are dotted around the store so that customers are able to ask Alexa to point them in the direction of a specific product. If that’s not a new level of automation, I don’t know what is!

In addition to this, any next day Amazon Prime deliveries can now be delivered to the store for customers to collect during their weekly shop. Those planning to shop soon can also pre-order any deli items they would like through the Fresh app.

There are many more locations coming soon with an Amazon Go store being rumored to open in London, UK as well as Amazon Fresh stores opening in Oak Lawn, Illinois; Schaumburg, Illinois; Naperville, Illinois; Irvine, California; and North Hollywood, California.