Amazon Fresh Debuts 4 New Stores

After pressing pause on opening new stores in 2023, Amazon Fresh has opened four more stores in California, Illinois, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Supermarket News reports that the supermarket option opened all four locations in one day. According to an Amazon spokesperson, the four stores opened on Thursday, Aug. 29, in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, Roseville, California, Lodi, New Jersey, and Tinley Park, Illinois.

The outlet reports that the new stores are between 38,000 and 42,000 square feet. Each features a selection of local and regional products and name-brand and private-label grocery items. Thus far, there are 49 of these stores serving various communities, according to Amazon: 19 in California, 11 in Illinois, three in Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, one in New York, five in Virginia, and four in Washington.

The concept of Amazon Fresh is surprisingly simple. According to its official website, consumers just scan their phones to enter the shopping facility. Then, they take a bag and begin shopping using the store’s smart carts. Subsequently, a receipt will be emailed to the address on file.

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The concept is called the Amazon Dash Cart. This is a smart shopping cart that allows shoppers to skip the checkout line. The website states, “Sign in to the cart using a QR code on your Amazon app, place your bags in the cart, shop, and when you’re done, exit through the store’s Dash Cart lane. The cart uses a combination of computer vision algorithms and sensor fusion to identify items put into the cart.” 

The website also explains the store’s concept: “Amazon Fresh is a new grocery store designed from the ground up to offer a seamless grocery shopping experience, whether customers shop in store or online. We’ve taken our decades of operations experience to deliver consistently low prices for all and same-day delivery for Prime members.”

The statement continues, “Customers will find a wide assortment of national brands and high-quality produce, meat, and seafood; plus, our culinary team offers customers a range of delicious prepared foods made fresh in store, every day. We’ve also introduced new ways to make grocery shopping more convenient, including the Amazon Dash Cart, which enables customers to skip the checkout line. As well as new Alexa features to help customers manage their shopping lists and better navigate our aisles.”

Amazon allows all consumers to shop at its Amazon Fresh stores. You don’t have to be an Amazon Prime member to enjoy deep savings and convenience. It also accepts SNAP and EBT cards.