Amazon Grocery Store

Amazon has done it again. The American electric commerce and cloud computing company is testing a grocery store in downtown Seattle that allows customers to walk in, grab food from the shelves and walk out — without ever having to stand in a check-out line.

Customers simply tap cellphones on the turnstile as they enter the store, which logs them into Amazon’s network and connects to their Amazon account through the app. The service is called Amazon Go.

The service uses the machine, sensors and artificial intelligence to track items customers pick up. The items are added to the virtual cart on their app. If they pick up an item they decide they don’t want, putting the item back on the shelf removes it from their cart. When the customer leaves, the app adds up everything the customer took from the store and charges their Amazon account.

By eliminating much of the staff needed to operate a normal food store, Amazon keeps costs lower than traditional competitors. The brick-and-mortar is in a great position to bring together data on its customers’ shopping habits online and offline, a key for Amazon. The company envisions opening more than 2,000 stores depending on the success of its test locations.

Amazon Go offers ready-to-eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack options made fresh daily by on-site chefs and local kitchens and bakeries. The selection of groceries range from necessities like bread and milk to locally made chocolates and cheese. Amazon is also offering a chef-designed Amazon Meal Kit with all of the ingredients needed to make a meal for two in 30 minutes.

All you need is an Amazon account, a supported smartphone and the free Amazon Go app. The store is currently open to Amazon employees in the beta program, but will soon be open to the public.