Amazon is betting that a smart shopping cart will become integral to your weekly grocery run.
After years of using its Just Walk Out technology — which allowed customers to bypass traditional checkouts — in some of its stores, including a couple of Whole Foods locations, Amazon is now focused on using that in smaller sites where people tend to pick up just an item or two, the company said in an April blog post.
One possible reason: Just Walk Out had an error rate so high that most transactions required manual review by humans, the Information reported earlier this year. Amazon disputed the report at the time.
But for grocery shopping trips where you're buying lots of stuff at once, Amazon has another option: the Dash cart.
Like Just Walk Out, the Dash cart "uses a combination of computer vision algorithms and sensor fusion to help identify items placed in and removed from the cart," Amazon said in its blog post.
The cart also contains a scale built into its basket to weigh out items like produce. Just above the handle, there's also a screen that allows users to enter product numbers, check how much they're spending, and look for specials. Amazon is also working on personalized ads that can be displayed on the screen.
Amazon offers the latest version of the Dash cart at just under 40 stores around the US. I went to an Amazon Fresh store to use one of the carts and see if it made shopping for food better. Here's what I found.