We went to Amazon Go and saw why 7-Eleven should fear the e-commerce giant's convenience store of the future
First, we stopped by a 7-Eleven in Manhattan's Financial District, a prime location for city and office dwellers to pick up convenience store essentials.
As expected for a store located in the middle of the city, the interior was small and narrow.
The front of the store had baskets for shoppers to store their items while they shopped.
We stopped by the coffee counter at the front of the store and were unimpressed with the messy appearance of the station. Many of the sugars and syrups were slightly open and seemed out of place and disorganized.
Despite the mess, there were multiple options for hot or cold coffee with basic flavor options including hazelnut and French vanilla.
Near the coffee, a sticker reminded customers to download the 7-Eleven app to reap the best rewards while shopping.
There was also a large selection of food on display. The bakery section was packed with doughnuts, croissants, and rolls.
The meal options were varied and included pizza and chicken wings. For the most part, the hot food had a "fast-food" quality to it and didn't seem like the healthiest choice. However, the prices were pretty low.
You could pick up five traditional wings for just $4.
The condiments section offered free chili and cheese but was otherwise pretty scant. There was ketchup and mustard, but on the whole it was far from impressive and somewhat messy.
After some digging, we did find a few healthy options on the shelves. This 7-Eleven chicken salad sandwich was a fresh-looking option for a quick lunch — and it was only $5.
We took a quick peek in the aisles in the back of the store and saw that the shelves were fully stocked and filled with convenience store snack essentials.
The snacking possibilities were endless — unless you were looking for something healthy, that is. Those options were more limited.
Though it wasn't attached to a gas station, the store still carried that "quick-stop" atmosphere. We found a shelf that was practically exploding with beef jerky.
The store also seemed to carry a random assortment of items. We found this rack full of cheap wine product ...
... as well as this small section of napkins and paper towels.
We made our way to the famous 7-Eleven Slurpee station to get our sugar fix for the day, because no stop to 7-Eleven is complete without a massive brain freeze. The manager told us that Slurpees are the most popular purchase in the store.
We tried the Coca-Cola flavor, and it was delicious and clearly the best part of the 7-Eleven experience. Otherwise, the location was rather ordinary and in some cases, in need of a cleanup.
Next, we stopped by the Amazon Go store in the Brookfield Place mall near the World Trade Center.
This store opened on May 7 and was the first Amazon Go to open in New York City.
Source: Supermarket News
Like 7-Eleven, this location is basically an extremely narrow hole in the wall. In total, there were two aisles in the entire store.
The futuristic technology of the store struck us the moment we walked in. We were told we needed to download an Amazon app to gain full entrance to the store.
We downloaded the Amazon Go app and plugged in our location.
After that, we scanned our phone on the QR reader and the automatic gateway opened right before us.
We started our journey through the tiny store and were surprised to find so many useful items on sale.
All of the shelves were constructed with a chic black finish that made the store look more modern than the standard convenience store.
Though not as fully stocked as 7-Eleven, Amazon Go had a nice selection of snack food.
But in many cases, it was clear that certain items were quickly running out of stock.
The store's main feature was definitely the meal kits. There were dozens of meal packages available for purchase. On the whole, the prices were great and the options seemed like they were on the healthier side.
There was a large section of different salads, and many of them were under $10. Nearby, we found some sushi.
There was also a section of meat-based meals. As opposed to 7-Eleven's food that seemed to be sitting out in a heated display for hours, the food at Amazon Go was kept refrigerated.
Customers then had the option to heat up their food in the store before heading out.
There were no shopping carts or bins to hold items while we shopped. Instead, we could store our items in nifty paper bags or these orange tote bags.
In addition to meals and snacks, this Amazon Go had a small selection of home essentials with all the things you might need in an emergency at the office.
There was also a small baked goods selection that carried pastries and cupcakes from different New York-area bakeries.
The store was advertising no lines or checkout. That's because the Amazon Go store tracks what customers take out of the store and charges for purchases through the app. It seemed too crazy to be true, but we gave it a shot.
We walked out of the gate with our purchase in hand, and everything seemed to be fine. Afterwards, we consulted with the app to make sure the transaction had gone through.
Sure enough, there it was. We couldn't believe how easy the whole experience had been. Admittedly, it did feel strange to walk out of the store without checking out with an employee, but the app had worked its magic.
Shopping at Amazon Go was like taking a trip to the convenience store of the future. From the chic store design to the seamless shopping process, Amazon is in a strategic position to take on the established convenience stores of the past. 7-Eleven won the Slurpee game, but otherwise it shouldn't get too comfortable.
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