Skip to main content

Amazon Go customers are still adjusting to the grab-and-go model

Amazon Go
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Apparently, our parents have taught us well. While Amazon’s new cashless grocery store, Amazon Go, has encouraged folks to just walk out the door without paying, it would seem that folks aren’t quite on board with that model yet. According to Gianna Puerini, vice president of Amazon Go, it has taken shoppers a bit of time to get used to the fact that walking out of a store without stopping by a cash register is not, in fact, immoral or illegal.

At Shoptalk, a retail industry event in Las Vegas, Puerini noted that she has been struck by the number of customers who have second-guessed their ability to take advantage of the cashless convenience offered by Amazon Go. ‘‘What we didn’t necessarily expect was how many people would stop at the end on their first trip or two and ask, ‘Is it really OK if I just leave?’’’ Puerini said of the new-age store that opened in January in Amazon’s hometown of Seattle.

Recommended Videos

She also noted that thus far, the most popular grab-and-go item has been the chicken sandwich. In fact, most of the best-selling items are in the food category — other popular purchases have been meal kits and fresh fruit. This actually doesn’t come as much of a surprise to the executive, who noted that the whole idea of the store is to cater to folks who are hungry but in a rush. But clearly, the chefs supplying Amazon Go know what they’re doing — apparently, many customers are not only repeat customers, but frequent customers, too.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Thanks to the Amazon Go app, the ecommerce giant always knows what is flying off the shelves and what to restock. The app allows customers to provide real-time feedback and is, of course, also key to ensuring that folks are ultimately paying for what they take. When you enter an Amazon Go store, you scan your phone, and the technology within the store keeps tabs on what you pick up, and sends you a bill when you leave.

Although it’s taking folks a little bit of time to get used to this concept, it’s obviously far more time-efficient than the current checkout-line model. But when it comes to actually applying this technology to Whole Foods, the grocery chain Amazon acquired last year, Puerini says that we shouldn’t hold our breath.

‘‘The work we do with them (Whole Foods) is focused on making natural and organic food available to more people,’’ she said. On the other hand, if you’re looking for an Amazon Go store to come to a location near you, the executive says simply, ‘‘Stay tuned.’’

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
Model train set looks like the real thing in this GoPro video
model train set looks like the real thing in this gopro video railway realism

Canadian Jason Shron eats, sleeps, and dreams trains. He also builds replicas of full-size ones and puts them in his basement.

And it doesn’t end there. With the pandemic keeping him home over the last year, Shron turned his attention to another project that he says has been on his mind since he was a kid: Creating a model of the Kingston Subdivision railroad that runs from Toronto to Montreal.

Read more
PS5 deliveries via Amazon lead to surprises for some U.K. customers
PS5 and DualSense art.

Imagine a delivery driver turning up at your door with that PlayStation 5 you ordered. Exciting stuff, right? Now imagine tearing open the box to find not the much-sought-after gaming console but instead a large bag of rice. Or a Nerf gun.

A number of customers in the U.K. claim to have experienced this bizarre outcome after the PS5 launched there on Friday, November 20, with all of the erroneous deliveries apparently the result of orders placed with Amazon.

Read more
HBO Max has finally come to Amazon Fire TV, still not on Roku
HBO Max

Nearly six months after its launch in May 2020, HBO Max has finally come to Amazon's Fire TV.

According to an Amazon blog post, the HBO Max app should now be available for download on Fire TV devices such as the Fire TV Cube, Fire TV Sitck/Stick Lite, Fire TV Stick 4K, as well as Fire TV Edition smart TVs. Users who subscribe to HBO through Amazon's Fire TV platform, Hulu, DirecTV, and other bundled services can also access HBO Max content on Fire TV devices.

Read more