CHICAGO -- Convenience and tobacco retailers in the Windy City have one less worry regarding Amazon. The retail disruptor’s new convenience-retail concept in downtown Chicago doesn’t sell tobacco.
The cashierless Amazon Go store that opened in Chicago in September has plenty to offer in terms of shopping experience, but it does not carry every item a typical convenience store might. The Chicago location does not stock beer or wine, nor does it have an area for packaged food preparation, which is completed in an off-site location. Other units, including the first location in Seattle, include both beer and wine, as well as a kitchen in the back where employees prepare packaged food.
In terms of beer and wine sales in Seattle, an employee verifies people’s ages behind a waist-high wall that separates customers from the products.
The Chicago store does not include tobacco, lottery or an ATM. Of course, there is little use for cash in a store with no checkout clerks or counters.
The opening in Chicago marks the first Amazon Go to open to the public outside of the three in Amazon’s hometown of Seattle. It is the second-largest location at 2,000 square feet, and it sits in downtown Chicago just northeast of the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower).
Like other units before the Amazon Go in Chicago, Amazon streamlines the checkout process through the use of cameras and sensors in the ceilings and shelves. To enter, customers must download the Amazon Go app and swipe a QR code on the app home screen over turnstiles at the entrance.
Once inside, the store’s technology follows shoppers closely enough that they can simply grab an item and leave without interacting with a clerk or opening a wallet. Shortly after the customer exits the store, a receipt appears on his or her mobile device with a summary of the purchases made. Amazon calls it “just walk out” technology.
Photograph by CSP Staff
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