Amazon in the US is expanding its portfolio of large-sized Go grocery stores, featuring the retailer’s cashierless ‘Just Walk Out’ technology, with new outlets planned in Redmond (Washington) and Washington D.C. At 10,000 square feet, these bigger-sized stores are roughly five times larger than Amazon’s 26 ‘Go’ convenience stores, but feature the same customer tracking technology with cameras and sensors linking purchases to an individual’s account. Amazon is also opening Amazon Go smaller format convenience stores in Seattle, Chicago and Washington D.C.
Expansion of Amazon’s portfolio of larger format ‘Go’ grocery stores indicates positive results from the company’s first store launch in Seattle in February 2020. With an assortment including fresh produce, meat, bakery items and household essentials, the concept competes with mainstream US grocery operators, though differentiated from Whole Foods through the checkoutless experience. International retailers are also experimenting with checkoutless technologies, with Lawson launching an automated store in Japan earlier this year.
With COVID-19 leading to increasing demand for, and consumer acceptance of, frictionless checkout solutions, suppliers must adapt to this new reality. Checkoutless solutions will require impulse merchandising to be rethought by CPGs - with new adjacencies, digital marketing, branding and packaging to ensure products stand out in an environment built for speed.
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