Amazon Opens Its First Cashier-less Grocery Store in London
Shoppers can enter the store by scanning a QR code in the Amazon app at the gate.
Amazon has opened up a new cashier-less grocery store in London, the first of its kind for the online retailer outside of the U.S.
The Amazon Fresh store welcomed its first customers in Ealing, west London on Thursday. Shoppers can enter the store by scanning a QR code in the Amazon app at the gate. Selected items are then automatically tallied and charged to the shopper’s Amazon account once they leave the store, eliminating the need for checkout counters.
The 2,500 square foot store uses an intricate system of cameras, sensors and AI to detect when products are taken off the shelves and leave the store, which it calls “Just Walk Out” technology. There is also a team of staff who restock shelves and prepare food inside the brick-and-mortar location.
The company launched its first Amazon Go store in Seattle in 2016, and has since expanded to include locations in three other states. A full-size Amazon Go Grocery store opened in Seattle last year. Amazon hopes to roll out more stores in the Greater London area in the near future.
