Amazon has opened a store in London without a checkout counter, the first “grab and go” store outside the United States.
The “Amazon Fresh” store, located in Ealing, west London, allows customers to swipe the App on their phones before entering the store, select items without individual scanning, and then automatically receive a bill after leaving the store.
Amazon’s brick-and-mortar stores sell a variety of brands of fresh goods in addition to hundreds of private label products to choose from, and also provide pickup and return counters for its website shoppers.
Activists have criticized Amazon’s “grab-and-go” stores for being full of cameras and worried about privacy violations, but retail analysts say the opening of the cashier-less stores is a significant “milestone.
NBK retail analyst Natalie Berg said, “The opening of a physical storefront complements some of Amazon’s weaknesses, such as the increasing cost of delivery and returns.”
But she said supermarkets have been preparing for the checkout-free shopping concept for several years, and now Amazon’s physical storefront opening will not pose a competitive threat to the major supermarket chains in the market in the short term.
Compared with other retail stores’ checkout-free shopping model, Amazon’s brick-and-mortar “grab-and-go” shopping method is smoother and more unhindered.
Amazon store customers simply put the goods in the shopping bag, or take the goods out of the store is considered a purchase, while other supermarket chains, including Marks & Spencer M&S, Tesco Tesco and Sainsbury’s, also requires customers to use cell phones or other devices to scan each item.
AMAZON is very confident in the checkout-free technology it has developed, and also says consumers have no responsibility to check that each item has been debited.
AMAZON customers can purchase shopping bags, or use their own bags, and will receive a receipt for their purchases when they leave
Cameras and sensors
Amazon opened its “Amazon Go” store in the U.S. in 2018 to begin experimenting with a checkout-free, grab-and-go shopping model.
As technology advances, the system can now recognize different bouquets, magazines or greeting cards selected by customers, which was previously not possible to do so accurately.
The system relies on hundreds of cameras and depth sensors located above the store ceiling, as well as software developed using deep learning artificial intelligence technology.
But instead of using facial recognition technology, the system asks customers to scan a personal barcode on top of a cell phone program to identify them before they enter.
GETTY IMAGES Customers are recorded as they move around the store, but civil rights groups have raised privacy concerns.
“It’s an anti-utopian, fully monitored shopping experience,” said Silkie Carlo of Big Brother Watch.
“Amazon closely tracks customers, creating a larger footprint of personal data than any other store, and customers have a right to know what these records and analytics are used for.”
Amazon says data within the checkout-free store will only be interlinked with the consumer’s Amazon account for 30 days, and the rest of the details are explained on the Amazon Privacy website.
Expansion plans
Amazon said that many of the private label groceries sold in the checkout-free stores, including milk and eggs, are provided by U.K. suppliers.
In addition, Amazon is offering a “curated” line of products that includes “premium items” such as desserts. Other items are supplied by Amazon’s existing partner supermarkets.
Checkout-free stores also have a counter inside, online shopping goods can be delivered here for customers to pick up, customers can also take online shopping goods to here to return, do not need to repackage or labeling.
Marks & Spencer announced an expansion of its service to allow customers to scan their own purchases at checkout. Amazon’s new checkout-free store in London is about 232 square meters in size, much smaller than a typical supermarket.
There is talk that Amazon may acquire other chains in the market to expand the reach of its own physical stores.
At the same Time, Amazon also provides checkout-free take and go technology services to other retail companies.
Perhaps Amazon’s marketing strategy will eventually dictate a direction to provide no-checkout take-and-go technology services to other supermarkets, rather than switching to brick-and-mortar supermarkets and competing with large supermarkets in the Food retail market.
BBC business correspondent Emma Simpson (Emma Simpson) analysis.
Amazon’s opening of a no-checkout, grab-and-go physical store will have very little impact on overall grocery sales in the UK, but it shows Amazon’s intentions for this market.
Amazon’s online sales market is very large and offers same-day delivery to paying members, putting a lot of pressure on market competitors.
Traditional supermarkets have been improving their technology over the past few years, and the CCP virus Epidemic has accelerated their technological development.
Many large supermarket chains have launched their own versions of checkout-free shopping models, allowing consumers to shop while scanning items with their cell phones or other devices.
But the checkout-free shopping model introduced by Amazon removes the step of scanning merchandise, allowing customers to just take it and go.
AMAZON customers need to scan the QR code on their cell phone program as they enter the door
Opening a physical storefront is another Amazon milestone, and Amazon’s new private label launch is also very eye-catching.
In terms of convenience, nothing is faster than grab and go, but the location of the store is very important.
In densely populated areas and urban areas most of the street corner locations suitable for convenience stores have been opened, Amazon this crossover to physical storefronts although it will not bring an immediate and huge threat to large supermarket chains, but has raised the scale of competition in the market.
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