Is a Grocery Store With No Cashiers Coming to Halton?

Published January 25, 2018 at 4:20 am

If you can imagine grocery shopping without having to stand in a checkout line and have someone cash you out, your dreams might not be far from a reality in Halton soon!

If you can imagine grocery shopping without having to stand in a checkout line and have someone cash you out, your dreams might not be far from a reality in Halton soon!

Anyone with an internet connection has heard that Amazon has been working on an interesting new grocery store concept — one where there are no checkouts or lines, you simply grab your groceries and leave the store. 

It might sound like shoplifting by that description, so let me break it down for you. 

Amazon just launched their first concept grocery store, Amazon Go, in Seattle near 7th and Blanchard. 

Here’s what they have to say about it:

“We created the world’s most advanced shopping technology so you never have to wait in line. With our Just Walk Out Shopping experience, simply use the Amazon Go app to enter the store, take the products you want, and go! No lines, no checkout. (No, seriously.)”

Basically, you download the Amazon Go app on your phone and use it to enter the store. From there, you can pick up whatever grocery items you need and the Just Walk Out Technology automatically detects when you take or return a product from a shelf. 

The technology keeps track of all of your items in a virtual cart, so when you’re done, you can just leave.

What about a receipt, you ask?

Soon after you leave the store, you’ll be sent a receipt and your Amazon account will be charged.

Amazon Go offers a range of different grocery items, from ready-to-eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks prepared by chefs and local kitchens and bakeries, to staples like bread, milk, and cheese. And let’s not forget about the artisan cheeses and locally made chocolates.

Something pretty neat is if you’re in a hurry (as most of us in the West are) and won’t have time to prepare a seven-course meal when you’re home, you can get a chef-designed Amazon Meal Kit, which has all the ingredients you need to make a meal for two in about 30 minutes, according to Amazon.

There are still people working at the store — just no cashiers.

People do still work there, Amazon needs employees to make the ready-to-eat food (there are chefs), stock shelves (associates), and help customers (also associates), after all.

The store in Seattle is quite compact, at about 1,800 square feet “so busy customers can get in and out fast.”

This is the first store of its kind, but if it is successful, the model might expand to other cities. It’s clear we are living in the future.

Do you think this concept could work in Halton?

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