Shoppers check out items on sale as they wait in line for the opening of the new Amazon Fresh store on E. Colorado Blvd in Pasadena, Calif., Thursday, September 15, 2022.
Medianews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images | Medianews Group | Getty Images
Amazon is removing its cashierless checkout systems at Fresh supermarkets in the United States, the company has confirmed, marking the latest recalibration of its grocery strategy.
The company will not include the system, called Just Walk Out, in existing Fresh stores or new locations scheduled to open later this year. Instead, it will rely more on Dash Carts, which track and count items as shoppers place them in their cart, allowing people to avoid the checkout line .
“We have invested significant time in redesigning a number of our Amazon Fresh stores over the last year, providing a better overall shopping experience with more value, convenience and selection – and up “Now we’ve seen positive results, with higher customer satisfaction scores and increased purchases,” Amazon spokesperson Carly Golden said in a statement.
Golden added: “We also heard from customers that while they loved the convenience of skipping the checkout line with Just Walk Out, they also wanted to be able to easily find products and deals at proximity, view their receipt while they were shopping and know how to proceed. a lot of money they saved by shopping in the store.
The Information previously reported on Amazon’s decision to remove Just Walk Out from some Fresh stores.
Amazon’s Go convenience stores will continue to use Just Walk Out technology, along with smaller Fresh stores in the UK. The company will also continue to license the cashierless system to third parties.
Amazon launched cashierless technology in 2018 at a convenience store on its Seattle campus. The system relies on an array of cameras and sensors throughout the store that monitor the items shoppers take with them and automatically refill them when they leave. It was a pet project of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who saw it as a way for the company to differentiate itself in the grocery market and “get rid of the worst in physical retail.” “.
“No one likes waiting in line,” then-CEO Bezos wrote in his 2018 letter to shareholders. “Instead, we envisioned a store where you could walk in, grab what you wanted, and leave.”
Since then, Amazon’s strategy around Just Walk Out has changed. The company in 2020 began selling the systems to food and retail stores at airports and sports stadiums, and more recently to hospitals. The unit was also taken out of Amazon’s retail group and folded into its cloud computing division.
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