Amazon.com has come a long way since it days as an online bookstore. The company now sells practically every product imaginable and even has even entered the brick and mortar market with a convenience store that sells beer and wine.
These new stores are called Amazon Go and they are unlike any other convenience store in one important way: They lack a checkout. At Amazon Go, customers scan an app when they enter the store. Once identified electronically, the store’s high tech monitors kick into gear, watching what each person grabs from the store shelves and then automatically billing them for what they get. Customers just walk out the door and Amazon Go bills them automatically. If there is a problem with anything, the store reps intervene.
As for purchasing beer and wine, the process works the same way except, of course, for checking ID. At the moment, there is no high tech way around this requirement, so Amazon will have someone checking ID for purchases of alcohol.
The convenience and high tech nature of Amazon Go is something that may catch on in the future and I personally like the idea. One of the greatest annoyances with shopping is waiting in line and Amazon Go appears to have solved that problem. You just grab what you want and away you go. Computers take care of the rest.
The first Amazon Go store is located in Seattle on 7th Avenue but it hasn’t yet opened to the public. Word has it that the space is almost ready and it should open its doors sometime within the next couple of months. It will specialize in prepared foods, snacks, sandwiches, and beverages at first and if the idea catches on, it could very well be expanded to include more items in the future.
Amazon is the world’s largest online store and it continues to show its cutting edge technology, both on and off line. Amazon Go is certainly a cool idea that I hope becomes a trend. There is no telling what beers and wine will be sold, but I would bet the selection will include at least a few Seattle craft brews and likely several macros. I hope it works out- I would love to see an Amazon Go store in my own neighborhood so that I can shop quickly for a snack and drink and avoid the annoyance of the checkout. It’s an idea whose time has come.
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