Amazon to open 2 cashier-less Whole Foods shops subsequent yr

There might be one thing lacking at two Whole Foods shops opening subsequent yr: the rows of cashiers.

Amazon, which owns the grocery chain, stated Wednesday that it’ll convey its cashier-less know-how to 2 Whole Foods shops for the primary time, letting buyers seize what they want and go away with out having to open their wallets. Cameras and sensors observe what’s taken off cabinets. Items are charged to an Amazon account after clients go away the store with them.

But there might be an choice for individuals who wish to store the old school method: Self-checkout lanes might be out there that take money, gift cards and different forms of fee.

Amazon first unveiled the cashier-less know-how in 2018 at an Amazon Go comfort retailer and has expanded it to bigger Amazon supermarkets. But it will likely be the primary time it has appeared at Whole Foods, a sequence of greater than 500 grocery shops Amazon purchased 4 years in the past.

One of the brand new shops might be in Washington, D.C.; the opposite in Sherman Oaks, California. They might be stocked with the everyday Whole Foods fare, together with seafood, fresh-squeezed orange juice and natural greens.

Even with the know-how, Amazon stated it’s going to nonetheless rent about the identical variety of staff for the shops that it usually would, besides they may have totally different roles, serving to buyers within the aisles or at counters as an alternative of standing behind a register. The firm declined to say how many individuals it’s going to rent.

The firm additionally declined to say if it plans to convey the know-how to extra Whole Foods areas.

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