Amazon Fresh: Just Walk Out

This is the place for general and miscellaneous posts on topics which might extend past the boundaries of any specific region. No non-grocery posts.
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Re: Amazon Fresh: Just Walk Out

Post by ClownLoach »

Bagels wrote: June 18th, 2021, 4:03 pm Sounds exactly like the “dash carts” already in place at existing stores...
The dash carts won't go outside. They have locking wheels and an alarm if you try to push it out, plus it's really heavy.
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Re: Amazon Fresh: Just Walk Out

Post by HCal »

I think this technology does have potential. Self-service supermarkets have been around for almost a century, self-checkout has been around for a couple of decades, so we are due for further innovation in this area.

Unfortunately, if this picks up, it will result in further consolidation in the market. Smaller companies will not be able to afford the technology and therefore be unable to compete, leading to a small number of companies controlling the market.
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Re: Amazon Fresh: Just Walk Out

Post by BillyGr »

HCal wrote: June 18th, 2021, 11:58 pm I think this technology does have potential. Self-service supermarkets have been around for almost a century, self-checkout has been around for a couple of decades, so we are due for further innovation in this area.

Unfortunately, if this picks up, it will result in further consolidation in the market. Smaller companies will not be able to afford the technology and therefore be unable to compete, leading to a small number of companies controlling the market.
It might not - after all, no matter what technology they add there are always people who don't care about it (and some that really don't want to use it), so they would still patronize places without it.
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Re: Amazon Fresh: Just Walk Out

Post by marshd1000 »

Here’s some photos of the Amazon Fresh store at Factoria Mall in Bellevue, WA. I have been there twice. The first time I used a traditional cashier. The second time I went through the gates opened by my app. Both times I paid with the app. For the most part it is an adequate store. They do need to tweak some of their product selection. For example, they do not carry Splenda packets but they have Splenda granulated. Also produce is priced by the piece, like Target but not by the pound. But I would say that it has less skus than a typical Safeway. In their del, they do carry Deitz and Watson. I was also told that when COVID is over, they will have a salad bar. While the store is not far from where I live, I will not make a special trip to go there. Having said that, I do pass the area frequently, so I will go in. But the majority of my shopping will be at my local Safeway and Fred Meyer!
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Re: Amazon Fresh: Just Walk Out

Post by Alpha8472 »

If you don't want an item you have to return it to its original place so you won't be charged? That is just a money grab. The computer and cameras should know if you discard an item.

The employees just don't want to have to put items back on the shelves.
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Re: Amazon Fresh: Just Walk Out

Post by HCal »

BillyGr wrote: June 20th, 2021, 11:18 am It might not - after all, no matter what technology they add there are always people who don't care about it (and some that really don't want to use it), so they would still patronize places without it.
True, I guess it depends on how many people fall into that category. Over time, it may be a shrinking number of mostly elderly people. Especially with lines at conventional grocers getting longer and longer due to the current labor shortage, I don't think we should underestimate this technology.
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Re: Amazon Fresh: Just Walk Out

Post by SamSpade »

marshd1000 wrote: June 22nd, 2021, 7:39 pm While the store is not far from where I live, I will not make a special trip to go there. Having said that, I do pass the area frequently, so I will go in. But the majority of my shopping will be at my local Safeway and Fred Meyer!
So an adequate but not quite excellent replacement for the Safeway that was in this space. :lol:
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Re: Amazon Fresh: Just Walk Out

Post by marshd1000 »

SamSpade wrote: June 23rd, 2021, 9:36 am
marshd1000 wrote: June 22nd, 2021, 7:39 pm While the store is not far from where I live, I will not make a special trip to go there. Having said that, I do pass the area frequently, so I will go in. But the majority of my shopping will be at my local Safeway and Fred Meyer!
So an adequate but not quite excellent replacement for the Safeway that was in this space. :lol:
I would say it is nice, adequate but not excellent in terms of selection. The Safeway it replaced had more variety and a Starbucks. But it was a smaller Safeway. So Amazon had to make room for the special gates for regular shoppers and the automated "Just Walk Out" shoppers. I wouldn't be surprised if the selection was greater if they have a bigger building!
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Re: Amazon Fresh: Just Walk Out

Post by storewanderer »

So I was able to go into a couple of these Amazon Fresh units. I couldn't have had two more different experiences.

I didn't care for the appearance of the stores as I found the aisle areas to be rather dark and in some cases too narrow for an Amazon Shopper and a customer with a cart to get through the aisle comfortably at the same time. Time for smaller carts, or wider aisles, to address this problem. However the appearance of the stores was really no worse than most new stores these days so that in itself would not discourage me from shopping in the store.

Pricing in one store was traditional (items per pound for food bars and fruits) and in the other store everything had a "unit price." I am sure they did the math to determine the prices come out similar between the two pricing formats but I would say whoever did that project wasn't great at math and must not have been in a store with a scale and the products in question. Overall I found the pricing to be all over the radar in these stores but for the most part I think they were priced pretty well. I was surprised with the depth of Amazon's private labels and only noticed one SKU of SpartanNash private label in both stores (some aluminum foil).

As far as store condition goes:

I was quite impressed by the condition of one of the stores I went into. It was pretty much fully stocked, neat as could be, beautiful produce attractively displayed and well rotated, really nice looking deli all around (prepack, food bar, salad bar, pizza, service counter, sandwiches- looked fantastic) and a nice looking bakery too for basic snack type items. The store was well staffed and the employees were attentive and friendly. This store had very few customers but had quite a few people going around picking orders. Based on the freshness and appearance of the departments somehow this place is moving product or they are throwing a ton in the trash, I am not sure which. I enjoyed this store and would probably shop there regularly if it were near me.

The other store I went into was a literal trainwreck. It had decent foot traffic, only a few people in there picking orders. Shelves in some cases were as little as 25% stocked across entire aisles/categories (things like salad dressing, pet food, soda/bottled tea) with feet and feet of just empty shelves. It was pathetic. The deli area was reasonably well stocked. Bakery was very limited assortment and looked poor. Meat looked okay. Produce was a disaster; they were out of so many produce items, notably bananas, and numerous other items. Produce didn't look particularly good quality and I can't figure out why it looked so different from the other store location I visited, it looked sort of like 99 Cents Only produce in quality (maybe worse). This store seemed to have more employees but some were friendly and some were clearly not there to engage customers but just making observations or something, kind of a weird atmosphere.

As noted in the previous thread the Just Walk Out is a trainwreck of a program and needs to be scrapped immediately. Based on my experience with Just Walk Out, I would NEVER shop at one of these stores again. The store MUST be able to provide an itemized receipt and a total balance IMMEDIATELY when the customer takes possession of the product and leaves the store. A 30-40 minute wait as I was quoted for a receipt, which ended up being an underestimate, is unacceptable. Also the inability to properly process unwanted item returns (pretty sure telling the system I didn't take it and leaving it with the store wasn't the right way to process a return) with this system is inexcusable.

So taking these two stores net for net and overlooking the Just Walk Out fiasco, I think they have a good chance at success on the West Coast if their online fulfillment business in the neighborhoods surrounding the stores is strong enough because I don't see them getting the heavy foot traffic that some competitors get, but I think there is place for these stores. I would definitely shop in one of these stores many times instead of a Safeway/Vons/Albertsons operation due to better pricing and what seemed like some higher quality fresh items and higher quality private label items (especially the Whole Foods items), and pick it over Kroger sometimes as well. But if I were faced with one of these or a better store like a Hy Vee or something like that I would pick Hy Vee almost every time unless this was significantly cheaper.



I do not think they will have as much success on the East Coast where there are just too many other grocers with a deep product mix and sharp pricing, or in the Midwest where I don't think there is as much of a demand for this type of a service and the less dense nature of the Midwest makes the online fulfillment a bit more difficult to work out with.
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Re: Amazon Fresh: Just Walk Out

Post by SamSpade »

I went to the Bellevue store while on a trip. I'll have more to say later, but I really hope this isn't the future of U.S. food stores.
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