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Amazon's cashless stores are designed to prevent customers in a hurry to wait in the queue.
But when Chicago's first Amazon Go store opened its doors Monday morning, most buyers took their time to browse the selection and get used to the idea of a store that would allow you to pick up your purchases without paying officially.
"I felt a little weird, but I liked the concept," said Bill Termunde, 32, of the Beverly neighborhood in Chicago.
The e-commerce giant spent more than a year testing the concept of a cashless convenience store with the company's employees in Seattle before opening the first Amazon Go in January. The 2,000-square-foot Chicago store – the fourth and the first outside his hometown – will be open from 7 am to 8 pm on weekdays, at 113 S. Franklin Street, on the first floor of the complex where Amazon's Chicago office is located.
Customers need to scan an app on their smartphone to tell the store they have arrived. Cameras and other sensors track buyers as they browse and add items to a virtual cart when customers remove them from the shelves.
Amazon automatically invoices customer accounts when they leave. A sign on the wall called "get out the stores".
Critics fear that the technology is an attempt to manage stores with fewer employees. Gianna Puerini, Vice President of Amazon Go, said that getting rid of the traditional crate was not about eliminating workers, but rather eliminating some of the shopping experience that most customers do not would not miss. working near his shop in the Loop.
"I do not know a ton of people who say," I like the part where I stand in line and they ring all my stuff, "she said.
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Puerini declined to say how many people the store uses, but she said that Amazon Go still needs workers to take deliveries, store shelves, and help customers.
On Monday morning, Amazon employees in orange shirt were sometimes outnumbered customers. Several people parked near the door helped buyers to download the store application, reassure those who hesitated before leaving, to withdraw and show customers where to find their receipts to verify that they were billed for the vouchers items.
Amazon Go offers sandwiches, salads and snacks that you could find in a grocery store, as well as products packed in a convenience store. Some fresh products, delivered daily, are manufactured by Amazon off-site and others are prepared by local companies such as Fairgrounds, Farmer's Fridge and I Love Sweets.
There are no hot prepared foods, partly because of the importance attached to eliminating the lines, but there are ready-to-heat items and two microwaves on site. There is also a section with two-person meal kits designed to be prepared in about 30 minutes for those who want to pick up their dinner on their way home from the office.
Branden Laxner, 31, of River North, said he liked traveling to be fast. Laxner, who works in the building where the Amazon Go store is located, said he was generally not looking for navigation and knew what he wanted in advance. On Monday, it was a bottle of cold coffee and a protein bar.
"I know there are implications on the work side, but sometimes you just want to go in and out without having someone looking over your shoulder," he said.
But to eliminate the line of cash, the store relies on a network of cameras monitoring customers and store shelves. The cameras, placed in black boxes along the ceiling, use sensors on the shelves to determine which objects belong to which carts.
Amazon is not the only retailer trying to automate the payment process. Many channels offer self-service, and retailers such as Sam's Club have removed the registry with apps that allow customers to scan items as they go through the store.
But Amazon wanted to find a way to do this without any further action from the customer, said Dilip Kumar, vice president of technology at Amazon Go and Amazon Books.
"Every time we've removed some friction, it has always paid off," he said.
Puerini refused to say how often the system makes a mistake – it would only say that it is "very accurate". But the number of people that the store can handle is limited by fire codes, not the ability of the technology to follow. If customers detect an additional item on their receipt, they can request a refund through the Amazon Go app.
Amazon Go stores are not the only company experience with brick and mortar retailing. The company, which began as an online bookseller, now has several bookstores in the country, including one on Southport Avenue in Lakeview, Chicago. Amazon also acquired Whole Foods Market last year.
These forays into the retail business are above Amazon's home delivery options. Puerini said the company wanted to give customers options and let them choose what works best under different circumstances.
Amazon was pleased with the response of customers to Seattle's cash-free store, but she said it was too early to speculate on the scale of the store network or on the possibility that Amazon would Go will appear one day in other parts of Amazon. retail network.
The elimination of a few minutes at the checkout is not a must in Amazon bookstores, where people expect to navigate and linger, said Kumar.
Even at Amazon Go, speed was not the best selling point for every buyer. Jeff Bergstein, 48, who decided to visit the store with 51-year-old John Luedtke, on their morning commute from Northbrook, first commented on prices that seemed relatively reasonable for the Loop.
Luedtke, who bought a Kind bar and orange juice, said he liked the fact that he seemed to have a good selection of healthy options.
"I do not know if people would come more than once for the payment process, but if the quality is good, it's convenient," he said.
The company intends to open Amazon Go stores in New York and San Francisco, but Puerini declined to comment further on the plans for expansion. The Tribune had previously reported that Amazon was planning Amazon Go stores in the Willis Tower and an office building connected to the Ogilvie Transportation Center.
"It's our first store (Amazon Go) outside of Seattle and the only store in Chicago. We will wait and see what we learn, "said Puerini.
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