Amazon Go
{{short description|American convenience store chain}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Amazon Go
| logo = File:Amazon Go logo.svg
| logo_size =
| logo_alt =
| logo_caption =
| logo_padding =
| image = Amazon Go in Seattle, December 2016.jpg
| image_size = 260px
| image_alt =
| image_caption = The first Amazon Go location, at Day 1 in Seattle
| type = Subsidiary
| industry = {{ubl|Retail|Convenience stores}}
| founded = {{start date and age|2016|12}}
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
| num_locations = 43
| num_locations_year = {{small|2024}}
| area_served = {{ubl|Seattle|New York City|Chicago|Los Angeles|London}}
| products =
| brands =
| services =
| parent = Amazon
| num_employees =
| num_employees_year =
| website = {{URL|https://amazon.com/go}}
}}
Amazon Go is a chain of convenience stores in the United States and the United Kingdom, operated by the online retailer Amazon. The stores are cashierless, thus partially automated (having an added option in some locations to manually checkout if desired), with customers having the ability to purchase products without being checked out by a cashier or using a self-checkout station.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/technology/amazon-moves-to-cut-checkout-line-promoting-a-grab-and-go-experience.html |title=Amazon Moves to Cut Checkout Line, Promoting a Grab-and-Go Experience |work=The New York Times |author=Nick Wingfield |date=December 5, 2016 |access-date=March 8, 2017 }}{{cite news |url=https://www.theverge.com/2016/12/5/13842592/amazon-go-new-cashier-less-convenience-store |title=Amazon just launched a cashier-free convenience store |work=The Verge |author=Natt Garun |date=December 5, 2016 |access-date=March 8, 2017 |publisher=Vox Media}} As of 2023, there are 43 open and announced store locations in Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles, London and New York City.{{Cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=16008589011|title=List of Amazon Go Locations on Amazon.com|date=July 22, 2019|website=GeekWire|language=en-US|access-date=August 14, 2019}}
Amazon Go stores were conceptualized and tested by a team of Amazon executives, who constructed a {{convert|15000|sqft}} mock supermarket in a rented warehouse in Seattle, before revealing the work to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2015. The first store, located in the company's Day 1 building, opened to employees on December 5, 2016, and to the public on January 22, 2018. The flagship store sells products such as prepared foods, meal kits, limited groceries and liquor.{{Cite news |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/amazon-go-cashierless-convenience-store-opening-to-the-public/ |title=Amazon Go cashierless convenience store opening to the public |last=Day |first=Matt |date=January 21, 2018 |work=Seattle Times|access-date=January 21, 2018}} A larger variant, Amazon Go Grocery, opened in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood on February 25, 2020. The following month Amazon began to offer its technology to other retailers so that their customers could make purchases without the involvement of cashiers or Amazon accounts.{{Cite news|last=Kelion|first=Leo|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51801674|title=Amazon offers till-free shop technology to rivals|date=2020-03-09|work=BBC News|access-date=2020-03-10|language=en-GB}}
Technology and implementation
Amazon described Go stores to have used several technologies, including computer vision, deep learning algorithms, and sensor fusion for the purchase, checkout, and payment steps associated with a retail transaction,{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrmMk1Myrxc |title=Introducing Amazon Go and the world's most advanced shopping technology |date=December 5, 2016 |publisher=Amazon |via=YouTube}} which was later revealed to be supported remotely by a team of people in India. The store concept is seen as a revolutionary model that relies on the prevalence of smartphones and geofencing technology to streamline the customer experience, as well as supply chain and inventory management.{{Cite journal |last1=Grewal |first1=Dhruv |last2=Roggeveen |first2=Anne L. |last3=Nordfält |first3=Jens |date=March 2017 |title=The Future of Retailing |journal=Journal of Retailing |volume=93 |issue=1 |pages=1–6 |doi=10.1016/j.jretai.2016.12.008|doi-access=free }} However, public rollout of the Seattle Amazon Go prototype location was delayed due to issues with the sensors' ability to track multiple users or objects within the store,{{cite web |url=https://www.recode.net/2017/3/27/15072084/amazons-go-future-store-delayed-opening |title=Amazon's store of the future is delayed. Insert 'Told ya so' from skeptical retail execs. |last=Rey |first=Jason Del |date=March 27, 2017 |website=Recode |publisher=Vox Media|access-date=June 15, 2017}} such as when children move items to other shelves or when multiple customers have a similar body habitus.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-42769096 |title=The supermarket with no checkouts |last=Johnston |first=Chris |date=January 22, 2018 |work=BBC News |access-date=January 22, 2018}}
The Amazon Go app for iOS and Android links to their Amazon account and is the primary method of paying for items at the store, alongside cash at certain locations. The app is required to enter the store, which has turnstiles that scan a QR code generated on the app.{{Cite news |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/21/amazon-go-automated-grocery-store-is-poised-to-launch.html |title=Amazon's automated grocery store will launch Monday after a year of false starts |last=Bosa |first=Deirdre |date=January 21, 2018 |work=CNBC|access-date=January 21, 2018}}{{Cite news |last=Angus |first=Isabela |date=August 23, 2019 |title=SF 'Cashless Ban' FAQ: How to pay cash at Amazon Go, and more questions answered |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Cashless-ban-FAQ-food-truck-amazon-go-no-cash-14373909.php |work=SF Gate |agency=Associated Press |access-date=November 5, 2019}} The app allows users to add others to their Amazon account, so a family's purchases can be charged to the same bill.{{cite news |url=https://apnews.com/b242616659954f08966b1e68cd479444 |title=Amazon opens store with no cashiers, lines or registers |date=January 22, 2018 |work=Associated Press News|access-date=January 22, 2018}} The ceiling of the store has multiple cameras and store shelves have weight sensors, to detect which item(s) a customer took.{{Cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/amazon-go-grocery-store-1.4497862 |title=Amazon's 1st high-tech grocery store opens to the public |date=January 22, 2018 |work=CBC News|access-date=January 22, 2018}} If a customer takes an item off the shelf, it will be added to the customer's virtual cart. Similarly, if a customer places an item back on the shelf, it is removed from the customer's virtual cart.
Locations
{{As of|March 2024}}, there are 22 store locations in the United States{{cite web |title=Amazon Go |url=https://www.amazon.com/b/ref=s9_acss_bw_cg_FYS_md1_w?node=16008589011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-14&pf_rd_r=1QA7TSSSF2M2N2529P67&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=52825b74-a3d7-47e7-a36d-d19570af8be2&pf_rd_i=17608448011 |publisher=Amazon |accessdate=August 31, 2023}} and 20 in the United Kingdom.
Amazon Go's cashierless layout and technology, branded as "Just Walk Out", is also used in cashierless stores with other brands and inside facilities such as airports and sports venues.{{cite news |last=Schlosser |first=Kurt |date=March 28, 2023 |title=Amazon's tech is a hit: Seattle Mariners add three more stadium stores featuring 'Just Walk Out' |url=https://www.geekwire.com/2023/amazons-tech-is-a-hit-seattle-mariners-add-three-more-stadium-stores-featuring-just-walk-out/ |work=GeekWire |accessdate=August 31, 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://www.tdgarden.com/news/detail/delaware-north-opens-bostons-first-checkout-free-store-experience-using-amazons-just-walk-out-technology |title=MRKT Powerd By Amazon's Just Walk Out Technology |date=March 29, 2021 |author=Delaware North}}
Stores
File:Amazon Go Grocery - 610 Pike Street, Seattle - interior with carts and shelves.jpg
In its report on the opening of the first location, The Wall Street Journal said that Amazon planned to open at least three stores, each with a different format. In October 2016, Business Insider reported that they had seen internal Amazon documents detailing plans to open as many as 2,000 stores over the next ten years.{{cite news |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-2000-grocery-stores-10-years-2016-10 |title=Internal Amazon documents reveal a vision of up to 2,000 grocery stores across the US |publisher=Business Insider |author=Eugene Kim |date=October 26, 2016 |access-date=March 8, 2017 }} This was refuted by an Amazon spokesman, who insisted the company was still learning.{{cite news |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/amazon-no-were-not-building-2000-stores/ |title=Amazon: No, we're not opening 2,000 stores |publisher=CNET |author=Ben Fox Rubin |date=December 7, 2016 |access-date=March 8, 2017 |quote=Two days after The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon plans to open "more than 2,000 brick-and-mortar grocery stores under its name," the company knocked down the idea as false.}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theverge.com/2016/12/8/13883304/amazon-says-no-plans-2000-grocery-stores |title=Amazon says it has 'no plans' to open 2,000 stores |work=The Verge |author=Jacob Kastrenakes |date=December 8, 2016 |access-date=March 8, 2017 |publisher=Vox Media}}
File:Amazon Go - Seattle (20180804111407).jpg at the first Amazon Go store]]
The Verge reported that the first store was scheduled to open to the public in early January 2017, preceded by a December 2016 beta version for Amazon employees only. At {{convert|1800|sqft}} it was only the size of a corner convenience store.{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-grocery-store-concept-to-open-in-seattle-in-early-2017-1480959119 |title=Amazon Working on Several Grocery-Store Formats, Could Open More Than 2,000 Locations |publisher=The Wall Street Journal |author=Laura Stevens, Khadeeja Safdar |date=December 5, 2016 |access-date=March 8, 2017 }} By October 2017, the store had yet to open to the public due to issues with the technology tracking over 20 people at one time.{{Cite news |url=https://www.theverge.com/2017/3/27/15073468/amazon-go-shopper-tracking-store-opening-delay |title=Amazon's cashier-free store reportedly breaks if more than 20 people are in it |last=Kastrenakes |first=Jacob |date=March 27, 2017 |work=The Verge|access-date=October 8, 2017}} The public opening finally took place on January 22, 2018.{{Cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2018/01/21/amazon-set-open-its-grocery-store-without-checkout-line-public/1048492001/ |title=Amazon set to open its grocery store without a checkout line to the public |last=Weise |first=Elizabeth |date=January 21, 2018 |work=USA Today|access-date=January 21, 2018}}
In addition to stocking name brands and local brands, the store sells many of Amazon's house brands, such as Wickedly Prime and 365.{{Cite news |url=https://qz.com/1184978/amazon-gos-ai-powered-grocery-store-is-opening-to-the-public-in-seattle-tomorrow/ |title=Amazon's AI-powered grocery store is opening to the public tomorrow |last=Gershgorn |first=Dave |date=January 21, 2018 |work=Quartz|access-date=January 21, 2018}} A second Downtown Seattle location at the Madison Centre opened on August 27, 2018.{{cite news |last=Day |first=Matt |date=August 27, 2018 |title=Amazon has a second Go at cashierless convenience store in downtown Seattle |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/amazon-has-a-second-go-at-cashierless-convenience-store-in-downtown-seattle/ |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=August 27, 2018}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12083549 |title=Amazon Go to open second store in Seattle |last=Prigg |first=Mark |date=July 5, 2018 |work=New Zealand Herald|access-date=July 5, 2018}} The third Amazon Go store, at the Troy Block complex in South Lake Union, is the second largest at {{convert|2,100|sqft|sqm}} and opened in September 2018.{{cite news |last=Lerman |first=Rachel |date=September 4, 2018 |title=Amazon opens third cashierless Go store in Seattle, this one in South Lake Union |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/amazon-opens-third-cashierless-go-store-in-seattle-this-one-in-south-lake-union/ |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=August 4, 2018}}
In May 2018, The Seattle Times reported that Amazon was planning to open Amazon Go stores in Chicago and San Francisco;{{cite news |last=Day |first=Matt |date=May 14, 2018 |title=Amazon Go targets Chicago, San Francisco for new stores |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/amazon-go-targets-chicago-san-francisco-for-new-stores/ |work=The Seattle Times |access-date=May 14, 2018}} and in September, it was confirmed that the company planned to open a store in New York City.{{cite news |title=New York is getting its very own checkout-free Amazon Go store |url=https://mashable.com/article/amazon-go-store-coming-new-york-city/ |work=Mashable |last=Wong |first=Raymond |date=September 9, 2018 |access-date=September 13, 2018}} In September 2018, Amazon Go opened its first location outside of Seattle at the company's offices in the Chicago Loop.{{cite news |last1=Zumbach |first1=Lauren |date=September 17, 2018 |title='Just walk out shopping': Amazon Go opens first Chicago location of its cashierless convenience store |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-amazon-go-opens-chicago-store-0917-story.html |access-date=September 18, 2018 |work=Chicago Tribune}} That same month, Bloomberg News reported Amazon was considering plans to open as many as 3,000 Amazon Go locations across the United States by 2021.{{cite news |last=Soper |first=Spencer |date=September 19, 2018 |title=Amazon Will Consider Opening Up to 3,000 Cashierless Stores by 2021 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-19/amazon-is-said-to-plan-up-to-3-000-cashierless-stores-by-2021 |work=Bloomberg News |access-date=September 24, 2018}} An Amazon Go location was opened in San Francisco on October 23, 2018, at 98 Post Street.{{cite news |last1=Statt |first1=Nick |title=Amazon's latest cashier-less Go store opens in San Francisco today |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/23/18010022/amazon-go-cashier-less-store-san-francisco-location-opens |access-date=January 31, 2019 |work=The Verge |date=October 23, 2018}}
In response to potential discrimination against low-income people, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and New Jersey have passed legislation banning cashless stores and retailers.{{cite news |last=Har |first=Janie |date=May 7, 2019 |title=Cash is still king: San Francisco bans credit-only stores |url=https://www.sfgate.com/business/technology/article/San-Francisco-to-join-list-of-those-banning-13824319.php |work=SF Gate |agency=Associated Press |access-date=May 9, 2019}} A new Amazon Go store in New York City opened on May 7, 2019, with cash acceptance in response to previous criticism over the use of app-only purchases and its effects on the poor.{{cite news |last=Pisani |first=Joseph |date=May 6, 2019 |title=Amazon to open first Go store that accepts cash |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/amazon-to-open-first-go-store-that-accepts-cash/ |work=The Seattle Times |agency=Associated Press |access-date=May 6, 2019}} In response to the legislation, stores in San Francisco also accept cash, with an attendant at the front letting in and checking out customers if they do not have the app.
On February 25, 2020, Amazon opened the first Amazon Go Grocery store in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. The Go Grocery store is significantly larger than other Go stores, at {{convert|10,400|ft2|m2}}, and offers 5,000 items, including fresh produce and baked goods.{{cite news |last1=Herrera |first1=Sebastian |last2=Tilley |first2=Aaron |date=February 25, 2020 |title=Amazon Opens Cashierless Supermarket in Latest Push to Sell Food |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-opens-cashierless-supermarket-in-latest-push-to-sell-food-11582617660 |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=February 25, 2020}}{{cite news |last=Thomas |first=Lauren |date=February 25, 2020 |title=Amazon is opening its first full-size, cashierless grocery store. Here's a first look inside |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/24/amazon-opens-its-first-full-size-cashierless-grocery-store-in-seattle.html |publisher=CNBC |access-date=February 26, 2020}} A second Go Grocery location opened in September 2020 in the Overlake neighborhood of Redmond, Washington.{{cite news |last=Miller |first=Brian |date=July 13, 2020 |title=Work underway on region's second Amazon Go Grocery |url=https://www.djc.com/news/re/12133536.html |work=Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce |url-access=subscription |access-date=July 20, 2020}}{{cite news |last=Schlosser |first=Kurt |date=September 9, 2020 |title=Amazon opens new Go Grocery store in Microsoft's neighborhood, as their retail tech rivalry grows |url=https://www.geekwire.com/2020/amazon-opens-new-go-grocery-store-east-seattle-brings-retail-tech-microsofts-neighborhood/ |work=GeekWire |access-date=September 15, 2020}}
In 2023, Amazon announced it would close eight Amazon Go stores in Seattle, New York City and San Francisco.{{Cite news |last=Soper |first=Spencer |date=2023-03-03 |title=Amazon Is Closing Its Cashierless Stores in NYC, San Francisco and Seattle |language=en |work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-03/amazon-closing-cashierless-stores-in-nyc-san-francisco-seattle |access-date=2023-03-04}}
On April 4, 2024, it was revealed that Amazon's "Just Walk Out" technology was supported by approximately 1,000 Indian workers who manually reviewed transactions. Despite claims of being fully automated through computer vision, a significant portion of transactions required this manual verification. Additionally, Amazon announced plans to replace the "Just Walk Out" technology with Dash Carts in Amazon Fresh stores, aiming to enhance customer experience with features like locating products and viewing receipts in real-time.{{Cite web |last=Singh |first=Rimjhim |date=4 April 2024 |title=Amazon's 'just walk out' checkout tech was powered by 1,000 Indian workers |url=https://www.business-standard.com/companies/news/amazon-s-just-walk-out-checkout-tech-was-powered-by-1-000-indian-workers-124040400463_1.html |website=Business Standard}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Wiktionary|click and collect}}
{{commons category}}
- [https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=16008589011 Amazon Go]
{{Amazon}}
{{Supermarkets of the United States}}
{{Convenience stores}}
Category:Retail companies established in 2018
Category:2018 establishments in Washington (state)
Category:Companies based in Seattle