Stock Market News Today 2018/09/08
Amazon to open checkout-free Store in New York – Amazon.com Inc said on Friday it plans to open its checkout-free ‘Amazon Go’ grocery store in New York, expanding beyond Seattle where it is headquartered.
The Amazon Go store, which has no cashiers and allows shoppers to buy things with the help of a smartphone app, is widely seen as a concept that can alter brick-and-mortar retail. Customers have to scan a smartphone app to enter the store. Once inside, cameras and sensors track what they pick up from the shelves and what they put back. Amazon then bills shoppers’ credit cards on file after they leave.
In January, the company opened its first concept store in Seattle and now has three in the city. It said in May there are plans to expand to Chicago and San Francisco as well. Amazon Go stores offer ready-to-eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Go carries groceries like bread, milk, artisan cheeses and chocolate, as well as Amazon meal kits. Although there are no checkouts or lines at Go stores, employees still need to stock the shelves, make food in the kitchen, and answer customers’ questions.
The stores rely on cameras and sensors to constantly track customers and inventory as they move around. Shoppers need to open the Amazon Go app to enter, and any products they take are automatically charged to their account when they leave. The technology in stores automatically detects when customers take or return products to shelves and keeps track of items in a virtual shopping cart.
At least four job listings for a new Amazon Go location were posted on Thursday evening, The Information today reported, seeking candidates for a store manager, an assistant manager, a learning and development manager, and a training lead associate. Details on the location were scant otherwise, but an Amazon spokesperson confirmed the news to VentureBeat via email.
The Amazon Go experience has remained relatively consistent store-to-store so far, offering groceries; fresh foods like salads, sandwiches, wraps, and meal kits; and Amazon Go-branded water bottles, mugs, and t-shirts to shoppers willing to download the requisite app.
Amazon confirmed earlier this year that additional Amazon Go stores are in the works.
Amazon Go is but one cog in Amazon’s brick-and-mortar wheel, of course.
The retailer acquired grocery chain Whole Foods in June for $13.7 billion, which it’s integrated tightly with its Amazon Prime membership program and same-day Prime Now delivery service. (Amazon Prime members get discounts on select Whole Foods items.) It operates bookstores in Washington, California, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Massachusetts. And it’s reportedly mulling the purchase of movie theater chain Landmark.
Amazon Go competitor opens a cashierless store in San Francisco.
Standard Cognition’s proof-of-concept grocery outlet is open to the public.
A startup called Standard Cognition hopes to steal some of Amazon’s thunder by opening a cashierless store in San Francisco. Standard Cognition’s store is open to the public now, and it’s the first real-world test for the company’s retail ambitions.
Located in the Mid-Market neighborhood, Standard Market lets you purchase goods without scanning items at a checkout or passing through a turnstile. Once you’ve arrived and checked in using an app, Standard Market tracks the items you pick up using a camera system, and it can tell when you return products (even in the wrong spot) or place them in a bag or your pockets. Once you leave, the company will process your payment, and send your receipt via email.
The San Francisco store will let Standard Cognition test how its tech scales, and trial some new features. The startup plans to expand opening times (it’s currently only open for a couple of hours per day) and the number of products over the next few weeks. It will also let more people shop in the store simultaneously.
Standard Cognition says it doesn’t collect customer’s biometric data or use facial recognition. It is providing its tech to other companies, and it will outfit thousands of stores in Japan ahead of the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020.
