A complete Whole Foods location in downtown Denver.
John Leyba | Denver Post | Getty Images
Amazon brings its ATM technology to a couple of Whole Foods stores, the company announced Wednesday, marking the latest test of the attraction and exit system at a large supermarket.
In a blog post, Amazon said the technology, called “Just Walk Out,” will reach two Whole Foods locations that will open in 2022. A store will be located in the Glover Park neighborhood of Washington, DC and the another in Sherman Oaks, California.
Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” technology allows shoppers to enter a store by scanning an app and exit without having to stand in a line of purchase. Cameras and sensors track items that buyers select and load them when they come out.
At Whole Foods nearby locations, shoppers who want to skip the payline enter the store by scanning an app, inserting a linked credit or debit card into their Amazon account, or placing their palm on the system. of payment for the company’s palm scan, called Amazon One.
Buyers who choose not to use Amazon’s boxless technology will only be able to call their items through the ATM or at a customer service stand.
Amazon has deployed its cashless technology in a growing number of store formats, including several Fresh grocery stores and its Go convenience stores. Amazon launching the technology at Fresh and Whole Foods locations puts it ahead of emerging companies that have developed similar systems but have had difficulty deploying them to larger stores due to technical challenges.
The expansion of Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” system is likely to increase the anger of unions that have previously warned that the technology will lead to the elimination of ATMs. Amazon argued in the blog post that the technology will allow Whole Foods employees to do other work in stores.
“These locations will employ a comparable number of team members such as existing Whole Foods Markets stores of similar sizes,” the company said. “With Just Walk Out-enabled Whole Foods Market stores, the way in-store team members spend their time simply changes, allowing them to spend even more time interacting with customers and delivering a great shopping experience. purchase “.
Amazon has made other high-tech changes to Whole Foods since it acquired the grocery chain in 2017 for more than $ 13 billion. In April, Amazon launched its palm-scanning payment system at a Seattle Whole Foods store and has since added the technology to other locations.