Amazon has been working hard to advance automation in grocery shopping, which led them to create the smart shopping cart called The Amazon Dash Cart.
The smart shopping cart can detect any products inside of it automatically, and it will let customers pay for their groceries without having to interact with a cashier.
Shop Smart With the Amazon Dash Cart
The Amazon Dash Cart looks like a traditional shopping cart until you look at it closer, where you'll notice that there's more to it than meets the eye.
The smart shopping cart has many sensors, cameras, and an integrated scale that work in tandem to find out what a customer is buying. When they confirm their purchases, the payment information associated with the customer's Amazon account will have its balance deducted with the amount they need to pay.
This entire process might be familiar to you, and it's because Amazon has already opened up numerous automated Amazon Go stores for the past year. Still, the Dash Cart has more technology involved than solely relying on wall-mounted cameras.
The Dash Carts will be deployed to one of the first genuine Amazon grocery stores, which means it won't be Whole Foods or a Go store. Los Angeles' Woodland Hills area is where you'll find Amazon's first true grocery store with the Dash Carts.
The Dash Cart is designed to fit two grocery bags, and it was built to handle grocery trips that result in a small or medium load.
When a customer arrives at the store, they'll need to sign in with a QR code through the Amazon app. They'll then place products into their bags as they shop, and the cart will beep if a product is identified correctly, or it will flash orange if the product wasn't recognized.
You'll find Alexa shopping lists at the top of the shopping cart and a coupon scanner that can apply discounts for customers while they're shopping. When the customer is done shopping, they'll be required to leave via a Dash Cart lane, and the receipt will be automatically emailed to the customer's email address.
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It Won't Be Too Strange to Shop at Amazon's Stores
Amazon announced that it would have an innovative format for grocery stores coming out in 2020 back then. This led the company to quickly post recruitment ads for stock replenishment and food counter associates, which suggests that it won't be that much different from the kind of supermarket you're used to.
You shouldn't worry about shopping at one of Amazon's smart stores since it's most likely a sign of what's to come in the future. More automation is coming to technology, which means less busy work to do, and more people can do what they love.
The Woodland Hills location, which used to be a Toys 'R' Us branch, measures to about 35,000 square feet and is about three times larger than the largest Amazon Go store.
