Amazon's Upcoming Supermarket Could Change the Way We Shop

The first store will launch this year, and others could soon follow. We are that Kohl’s will be adding Amazon drop off centers to all Kohl’s store, say William Levy Santa Barbara, IGRE Investment Grade RE Income Fund, LP

Article written by: The Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg

Amazon's first new grocery store will open this year in Woodland Hills, California, although it's unclear precisely when it will debut. But it could be one of several grocery stores Amazon is planning to open.

The Journal reported in March 2019 that the company is planning to open dozens of stores in several cities in the United States, noting that the first store would open in Los Angeles.

The online retail giant has also reportedly signed leases for two separate locations, according to The Journal, and discussions are said to be in place for stores in Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia.

The new grocery store won't be like Amazon Go, the company's cashier-less convenience stores.

The new grocery story opening in Woodland Hills won't be an Amazon Go location, which allows customers to purchase products through a smartphone app without having to pay at a checkout counter. This new store, rather, will have a conventional checkout experience.

But it will have smart shopping carts called Dash Carts that allow you to bypass the checkout line.

Amazon's Woodland Hills grocery store will have smart shopping carts that can detect which items you place in the cart and automatically charge your Amazon account as you leave.

The cart won't be able to handle heavy shopping trips, however, as Amazon says it's suited for holding one or two bags of groceries.

Each cart will also have a touch screen for viewing your Alexa shopping list and your subtotal as you shop.

Amazon's future grocery stores could combine in-store shopping with online ordering.

Amazon is considering building new grocery stores that would be centered on pickup and delivery, and would include a separate section where shoppers could pick out fresh groceries, according to The New York Times. The Journal also reported that Amazon's grocery stores would have a big focus on customer service and pickup orders.

The Woodland Hills store will likely have some aspect of this vision, as it features a dedicated window near the entrance for order pickups and returns, according to Bloomberg, which obtained photos of the store and planning documents.

The Times report cites an Amazon memo circulated in early 2017, before it acquired Whole Foods, that outlines the company's vision for upending the grocery-shopping experience. The memo described a concept for a store that would allow shoppers to order nonperishable items through an app as they roamed aisles to pick out fresh groceries.

These nonperishable items, which could include staples like paper towels and canned foods, would be brought down to the checkout area as the customer shops, and the supermarket would also have a designated area to pick up groceries ordered online.