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Say Goodbye to the Worst Part of Grocery Shopping: Checking Out

CBN

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Amazon, the mammoth online retailer, is now opening brick-and-mortar grocery stores.  But unlike any grocery store you've ever seen, theirs has no check out line.  They're called Amazon Go.  

The first one opened in Seattle, but only to Amazon employees until the testing phase is finished, which is expected to be early next year.  At that time the store will be open to the public. 

It may feel a bit like stealing, but the way it works is you go into the store, grab the food you want, then walk right out the door. Say goodbye to waiting in line because there's simply no checkout, not even a self-checkout.  No scanning of barcodes.  Just literally grab and go.

To make the process even faster, Amazon says the stores themselves are pretty small, about 18-hundred square feet, so customers can get in and out quickly.  To add to the convenience of it all, Amazon Go specializes in ready-to-eat foods and meal kits that can be made at home in addition to what you'd normally find at a grocery store. 

Leave it to Amazon to implement this revolutionary technology.  The company says all the food items are equipped with computer sensors that detect when an item has been taken off a shelf, placed in your shopping cart and carried out the door.  Customers do need an Amazon account, a supported smartphone and the Amazone Go app.  Shortly after leaving the store, your Amazon account is charged and you're emailed your receipt. 

While this may sound like a dream come true for people who hate to wait in line at the grocery store (and who doesn't?) not everyone thinks this is good news. CNBC reports that Quartz and The Wall Street Journal declared the experimental store might signal the end of "millions of cashier jobs." The New York Post's front page story on Tuesday called the store "the end of jobs."


 

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