The good of Amazon Go? It’s seamless

Before I could enter Seattle’s Amazon Go store this June, I was required to download the Amazon Go app to my smartphone. I was able to do this within a minute. Literally.

As I walked through the turnstile into the store, I scanned the app. Then I shopped. Amazon had one worker onsite to handle stocking and answer questions. But I didn’t need to talk with him, nor did I need to check out with a cashier. I could simply grab my selection and “go”—just as the store name implies. My payment method of record with Amazon was charged when I left with my fresh fruit and Starbucks iced coffee. (After all, I was in Seattle.)

At one point, I had an item in my hand and decided not to purchase it. I simply put it back and the system knew. Kind of creepy, but really cool.

I’d guess that the average shopping time of the people in store was under two minutes. People came in, got what they wanted and left. Easy peasy. I was there during the morning commute and patrons would swoop in, get breakfast for now or lunch for later, and head to work.

 

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