Amazonian
Amazon is planning a larger version of its Amazon Go convenience store, the New York Post reported Feb. 5. The concept would only need three to 10 human employees looking after it at a time, the report said. Aside from providing enough staff for a little human interaction, stocking shelves and manning drive-thru windows for on-the-go customers, robots could cover the rest of the store’s operational needs.
The stores could span from 10,000 to 40,000 square feet across two stories. The first story could be devoted to shoppers and include up to 4,000 items, from vegetables and milk to alcohol and medicine. The second story could house robots picking through 15,000 to 20,000 consumer packaged goods and grocery staples. Similar to Amazon Go, customers could pay for groceries through the combination of a smartphone app and electronic sensors on the store’s shelves.
The article claims that the store’s labor and real-estate savings could result in operating profit margins of more than 20%.