I shopped at Amazon's cutting-edge convenience store of the future, and now I'm convinced it's the future of retail - for better or for worse
After just over a year of employees-only testing, Amazon finally opened its Amazon Go convenience store in Seattle in January. When it first opened, there were lines just to get in.
That wasn't the case when I visited earlier this week. What was funny, though, was seeing tour buses stopping and letting people off to go inside.
It doesn't hurt that this first Amazon Go store is based in Amazon's Day 1 skyscraper headquarters, which is itself next to the Amazon Spheres.
The whole point of Amazon Go is that there are no lines, no cashiers, and no waiting. Those turnstiles you see here are the closest things to cash registers — you scan your phone as you walk in, and that's pretty much it.
To get started, you need the Amazon Go app for Android and iPhone, plus an Amazon account. It generates a barcode that you need to get in — kind of like scanning an airplane boarding pass from your phone, if you've ever done that.
No, you can't use this barcode to log me in. The app automatically scrambles the barcode when you take a screenshot, so you can't have multiple people shopping on your account all at once. At least, Amazon says it does.
The Amazon Go store itself is pretty small. And, truth be told, it looks a lot like any other upscale-ish convenience store.
Here's the idea: As you shop, you just take whatever you want. The store tracks what you pick up, and what you put back.
You can scan your family and friends in with you, but then whatever they pick up gets charged to your account, so be cautious.
Another unexpected caveat: If another shopper asks you to help them get something off a shelf, don't do it! You'll be charged for whatever you pick up, even if another person walks out with it.
When you're done, just boogie back through those same turnstiles and you'll get charged for whatever you ended up with. Is it really that easy? I knew I had to give it a whirl.
It carries normal convenience store stuff, from beverages ...
... to travel-sized toiletries ...
... to frozen foods and Amazon-branded meal kits.
It also carries a selection of microwavable meals, which are made fresh in an on-site kitchen. And yes, there are microwaves on the premises for people to use. At $8 a meal, it's not the cheapest, but it's also not the most expensive option in Seattle.
If you're dying to buy a souvenir, there are mugs ...
... but they also offer reusable shopping bags, for free, at least for a limited time. It's a memento that's useful and cost-effective.
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I only ever saw a handful of workers in there at any time. Apart from one person who guards the alcohol section and checks IDs, the workers mostly seemed there to stock shelves and answer the many questions about how it all works.
It's funny: Once the novelty of being in Amazon Go wears off, it's just like shopping in any other convenience store. Except for that moment when you look up ... and realize that your every move is being monitored.
There are cameras and other sensors literally all over Amazon Go. They're cleverly disguised in the warehouse-style ceiling, but they're there. Check out all the little black boxes. That's how the magic works.
For my first round, I tried to shop like I would normally. I picked up just a few things and got out, just walking through the gates to end my shopping trip.
There's a small lunch counter area in Amazon Go after you get through the exit turnstile. I rushed over, and waited there for the couple of minutes it took to get my receipt.
Boom. Nailed it. As you can see, the prices are fairly reasonable, including for the fancy chocolate I got as a gift for my partner. But they're not so crazy low as to be mind-boggling.
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I decided to see if I could fool Amazon Go on a second go-around and get it to charge me for something I didn't take.
(For the record, when it reporters from CNBC accidentally stole a yogurt in January, Amazon told them to keep their yogurt: "It happens so rarely that we didn't even bother building in a feature for customers to tell us it happened," Amazon VP Gianna Puerini said at the time.)
On my second go-round, I did my best to trick Amazon Go. I picked up a heaping handful of things that I had no intention of buying — sorry, quinoa bowl, I'm sure you're lovely — put them all back, and then picked up two totally unrelated items.
I didn't fool the system. It only charged me for my obligatory La Croix sparkling water and Greek yogurt.
After you're done shopping, they have a little area with utensils, condiments, and the aforementioned microwaves, so you can complete your lunch run.
The store has free WiFi, and a charging station so you can top your phone off before swiping in.
Overall, I was pretty happy with my Amazon Go shopping trip. The prices are good, the selection is solid, and I was crazy impressed with how seamlessly all the high-technology worked.
It's no wonder that Walmart is teaming up with Microsoft — Amazon's biggest cloud rival — to bring Amazon Go-like tech to its stores.
Read more about that here.
It could mean an end to long checkout lines, and a faster trip for everybody.
At the same time, it's another example of how technology is going to replace human labor in many jobs. With Amazon Go proving that the technology works really well, the consequences are going to be felt sooner rather than later.
In the meanwhile, Amazon Go will open up in six more cities this year, including San Francisco and Chicago, so more people will be able to try it for themselves.
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