Amazon unveiled its Amazon Fresh supermarket at a new, 35,000 square foot store in Woodland Hills, CA late last month. The store – the first under the Amazon Fresh banner – isn’t open to the general public yet, but Amazon has been emailing thousands of local customers and inviting them to come in and shop.
The store features an extensive selection of fresh produce, meat and seafood, as well as baked goods and prepared foods. There are national brands and private labels, including brands from Amazon and Whole Foods.
As expected, technology plays a large part in the shopper experience. Customers can use the multi-function Amazon Dash Cart to find items, track purchases and expedite checkout. In addition, new features from Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant will help customers manage shopping lists and navigate the store’s aisles. Amazon Echo Show devices are located throughout the store so shoppers can ask Alexa for help.
Customers have the option of signing in to their Amazon account when they start to shop by scanning the QR code on the shopping cart handle. Once signed in, they can take advantage of the Dash Cart, an “intelligent” cart that uses computer vision algorithms and sensor fusion to identify items placed in the cart’s basket. When shoppers place an item in the basket, the cart beeps to signify that the product’s bar code has been read and recorded. A running tally of purchases is displayed on the cart’s screen, and when finished, customers exit through the Dash Cart line to automatically complete their payment.
“Essentially you sign in to your Amazon app, you shop and you walk out,” said Amazon Fresh Vice President Jeff Helbling.
According to reports, Amazon has signed leases for Amazon Fresh supermarkets in the Los Angeles area, as well as for stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.