RETAIL ENVIRONMENT
Amazon launches second Just Walk Out store
Amazon has opened its second UK Amazon Fresh store at Wembley Park, less than a month after it launched its first in Ealing West London
Loss prevention specialists will be watching the rapid roll-out with interest as the stores, which sells fresh produce, meat, seafood, bakery items, and household essentials, use a “Just Walk Out Shopping” experience, using contactless payment technology rather than having physical Epos systems.
Shops have sensors and cameras that track what customers put into their shopping baskets and customers are charged via the Amazon Go app on their phone.
The store will also offer customers a wide selection of its new private food brand, ‘by Amazon,’ which includes groceries and hot food.
“Since opening our first Amazon Fresh store in Ealing, we’ve heard from our customers how much they enjoy the tasty food from our new ‘by Amazon’ range and the effortless shopping experience; we are excited to open our second shop in Wembley Park,” said Matt Birch, director, Amazon Fresh Stores UK.
“The store features our Just Walk Out technology, which enables customers to take what they want and just walk out, making shopping for essential grocery items even more convenient.”
Visitors to Amazon Fresh scan a smartphone app when entering and are automatically billed as they leave.
The store stocks hundreds of own-brand items as well as third-party products, and also serves as a place to collect and return goods bought online.
Campaigners have raised privacy concerns but one retail expert said the opening marked a "watershed moment".
Amazon's approach, however, promises a more "frictionless" experience than other retailers.
The US firm is so confident of its tech that it says shoppers are not under any obligation to check all the items were accounted for.
The technology involved was pioneered at the firm's similar Amazon Go stores in the States, which opened to the public in 2018.
Recent advancements mean the system can now cope with customers selecting from different bouquets of flowers, magazines and greetings cards that it could not distinguish between accurately enough before.
It involves the use of hundreds of cameras and depth-sensors, and software developed using deep-learning artificial-intelligence techniques, although facial recognition is not included in the experience.
Instead, users must identify themselves on arrival by scanning a barcode displayed within their account on the standard Amazon Shopping app.
One civil liberties group has raised concerns.
"It offers a dystopian, total-surveillance shopping experience," said Silkie Carlo, from Big Brother Watch.
"Amazon's intense tracking of shoppers will create larger personal data footprints than any other retailer. Customers deserve to know how and by whom these records and analytics could be used."
The company has said it will only associate information collected in-store with a customer's Amazon account for up to 30 days.
The store also contains a booth where orders can be delivered from its online store and customers can return goods by scanning a code without having to repackage or relabel the item.
"Hand the product over and we'll do the rest for you," said Birch, a former Sainsbury’s executive.
The company is also offering to sell its Just Walk Out technology as a service that can be installed in other companies' stores.
