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Amazon Go stores slated for Chicago, San Francisco

Checkout-free retail concept expands brick-and-mortar footprint

Russell Redman

May 15, 2018

2 Min Read
Supermarket News logo in a gray background | Supermarket News

Amazon.com Inc. plans to open two more Amazon Go convenience stores, its cashier-free retail concept that debuted in Seattle earlier this year.

An Amazon spokeswoman on Tuesday confirmed that Amazon Go locations will be opened in Chicago and San Francisco. The company declined to give a timetable and details about the planned store openings.

The first Amazon Go store opened in January in Seattle. Occupying 1,800 square feet, the store carries mostly food and beverages, but nonfood items such as batteries and over-the-counter medicine also are available.

Amazon_Go_interior_Seattle.jpgFood offerings include ready-to-eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack options made by the company’s chefs and local kitchens and bakeries. The grocery mix ranges from essentials such as bread and milk to artisan cheeses and locally made chocolates. Also offered are chef-designed Amazon Meal Kits, which the company said enable consumers to make a meal for two in about 30 minutes.

Powering Amazon Go’s checkout-free shopping experience is what Amazon calls its “Just Walk Out” technology. Overhead cameras, weight sensors and deep learning technology detect merchandise that shoppers take from or return to shelves and keep track of the items selected in a virtual cart.

Shoppers use the Amazon Go mobile app to gain entry to the store through a turnstile. When customers leave the store, the Just Walk Out technology automatically debits their Amazon account for the items they take (and credits the account for items picked up but put back on the shelf) and then sends a receipt to the app.

Related:Wagging the dog: Amazon disrupts pet market with new brand

In a letter to shareholders last month, Amazon founder and chief executive officer Jeff Bezos said the Amazon Go shopping experience was described as “magical” by customers of the Seattle store.

“What makes the magic possible is a custom-built combination of computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning, which come together to create Just Walk Out shopping,” he wrote in the letter. “With JWO, customers are able to grab their favorite breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack and grocery essentials more conveniently than ever before.”

Top-selling items, he said, have included caffeinated beverages, water, a Chicken Banh Mi sandwich, chocolate chip cookies, cut fruit, gummy bears and Amazon Meal Kits.

Though Amazon isn’t commenting on expansion plans for Amazon Go, published reports have said the company may open as many as six of the stores this year, including additional locations in Seattle and possibly a unit in Los Angeles. 

Amazon Go builds on the e-tail giant’s current brick-and-mortar retail footprint, which includes Amazon Books stores and mall pop-up locations in 20 states and the District of Columbia as well as over 470 Whole Foods Market stores in 42 states, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Related:Amazon hikes cost of Prime by 20%

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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