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Amazon Fresh has expanded its Southern California footprint again with the opening of a new market in Westlake Village featuring the company’s “Just Walk Out” technology.
The 33,000-square-foot store — at 140 Promenade Way in the Westlake Village area of Thousand Oaks — is the 17th California location and the 40th nationwide. The store added hundreds of new jobs to the city at a starting wage of $16.40 an hour.
How it works
Customers who opt for Just Walk Out shopping can enter the store by scanning the in-store QR code in their Amazon app, using Amazon One, or by inserting a credit or debit card to open Just Walk Out gates.
Once inside, anything they take off the shelf is automatically added to a virtual cart, and anything a customer puts back comes out of it. When they’re finished shopping they simply scan or insert their entry method again to exit the store.
The technology works with the help of hundreds of cameras, weight gauges and scanners that monitor what customers remove from shelves and put into their carts.
Customers, including non-Amazon members, can also use a traditional checkout lane, and those buying alcohol move through a separate, one-way aisle where they show an ID to an employee and exit through a gate.
Expanding the technology
The company’s cashierless technology is also showing up at other venues.
In a July 28 investor relations update, Amazon said it “continues to collaborate with leading retailers and stadiums to equip third-party locations with Just Walk Out technology for checkout-free shopping.”
Recent store openings include the Walk-Off Market food and beverage store at T-Mobile Park in Seattle and the Hudson Nonstop store at Nashville International Airport. Three more stores will open at Texas A&M’s Kyle Field later this year with Just Walk Out technology, Amazon said.
Amazon Fresh carries a wide assortment of national brands and produce, meat and seafood, as well as a range of prepared foods made fresh in-store every day — from fresh-baked bread and made-to-order pizzas, to rotisserie chickens and hot sandwiches.
The supermarket chain will offer giveaways, free samples and discounts to shoppers this weekend to celebrate the Westlake Village store’s opening. Prime members can save up to 20% on some store items, the company said.
Amazon Fresh now operates a total of 59 stores, including 40 in the U.S. and 19 in the U.K.
Other Amazon Fresh stores can be found in North Hollywood, Woodland Hills, Encino, Whittier, Mission Viejo, La Verne, Murrieta, Irvine, La Habra, Huntington Beach and Long Beach, among other locations.
Other retailers have also shifted some of their operations to a cashier-free model.
Walmart and Sam’s Club have a Scan & Go program that allows customers to scan products with their smartphones and pay with a credit card registered on the app.
7-Eleven has a similar Mobile Checkout program, and Aldi opened its first checkout-free grocery store earlier this year in London. Like Amazon Fresh, Aldi’s Shop & Go app uses motion-sensor cameras and weight sensors to track what’s picked up by customers, who are then charged through the app after they leave.
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