Is Amazon Go the first shot in the high street retail revolution?
A little more than a year after its launch, during which it has carried out tests open only to company employees, Amazon has opened its first Amazon Go convenience store in Seattle. Covering some 180 square meters, about the size of a gas station store, the outlet sells freshly prepared food and snacks, local products such as cheeses and chocolates, food kits to make meals at home and some Amazon Basics goods such as sticking plasters and batteries.
The company carried out a media launch the day before the public opening, which means that today the news is basically everywhere. A Fast Company article, “Checking out Amazon Go, the first no-checkout convenience store”, along with another in GeekWire, “Amazon Go is finally a go: Sensor-infused store opens to the public Monday, with no checkout lines”, along with the Re|code photo shoot are among the best I’ve seen.
What is Amazon Go? As the presentation video shows, it’s a store stuffed with cameras and sensors of all kinds that allow you to identify yourself when you enter via an app on your smartphone, after which you choose your items, storing them wherever you want, and after you leave, a few moments later you receive a detailed invoice of your purchase, which is charged to your credit card. In short, there are no checkout tills, instead what the company…
