The web giant has just opened its very first Whole Food store equipped with Just Walk Out technology.
Little by little, Amazon is rolling out its payment system without cashiers. Remember for a few years now, the web giant had tested its autonomous payment device in its own Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh grocery stores. A little later, the firm even announced a collaboration with the fast food group Starbucks. After the takeover of Whole Foods in 2017 for 13.7 billion dollars, it was therefore logical that the supermarket chain was also entitled to its full-scale tests. For the first time on February 23, an entirely renovated brand store opened its doors in the Glover Park district of Washington, more than twenty years after its initial inauguration.
Whole Foods and Amazon finally consummate their marriage
It was time for Amazon to bet on Whole Foods. More than 5 years after its takeover, the company had made very little use of its merger with the supermarket chain, contenting itself with offering free delivery and some on-site benefits to Amazon Prime subscribers. With its 20,000 m², this first store without a cashier is however not the largest invested by Amazon. Also in Washington, the firm had already opened a 23,000m² Amazon Fresh store already equipped with the Just Walk Out payment system. Now established at Whole Foods, the device should quickly be deployed in a second store of the brand in Los Angeles, California. Amazon, however, did not specify whether it was counting the generalize to all of the brand’s stores.
Pay with your smartphone or your hand
According to a journalist from New York Times present at the inauguration, this new cashier-less Whole Foods will offer customers the option of paying automatically via a smartphone linked to their Amazon account, but also directly with the palm of their hand. The sign however specified that automatic checkouts would remain available for customers not wishing to use the Just Walk Out system, and that several employees would be present on site if necessary.
