This completely changes the game for Amazon Go. The entire point of Go was to provide a cashier-less experience – to remove the need to stand in line to pay/check out. Given this recent announcement – and the public backlash, Amazon can find a way to take cash, but it defeats the point of the concept. The key learning for retailers is, be very mindful of the potential negative public reaction to ideas that may exclude some people. Even the mighty Amazon couldn’t get past this one.

Whether Amazon Go appeals to the unbanked and underbanked consumer will very much depend on how much Amazon Go advertises within that demographic and in what neighborhoods it operates its stores.

This is a blessing in disguise for Amazon; there’s just no disputing that the human element is important, and disenfranchising young people and our less affluent neighbors wasn’t a good look. This will wind up being a win for them.

Amazon’s change of heart and pivot to allow cash purchases is a lesson for all consumer-facing brands: If you wish to be relevant, you must do everything in your power to reduce friction, inconvenience and customer effort. Creating barriers around the purchase process will quickly result in consumers taking their spend to the competition.

Introducing cash payments makes the Amazon Go concept less efficient for the company. As well as staffing costs, there are the other expenses associated with cash handling that will need to be absorbed. But for consumers who don’t wish to pay with cash, the frictionless experience will remain unchanged.

In terms of the impact on trade, given the locations and targeting of the stores, I’d question how many consumers with only the means to pay in cash they’d attract. So I can’t see this move expanding the reach dramatically.

This really isn’t too tough. Going cashless is a PR misstep, especially for a company run by the world’s richest man. The fix? Oh, I don’t know … vending machines, parking lots and all kinds of other folks seem to have worked the bugs out of cash acceptance … why can’t retail? Going cashless today just isn’t the right hill for Amazon to die on this year. In five years, who knows? Eventually the society will move toward a “no cash” model, but until then the politics are a little dicey.

Amazon will figure it out. In addition, to the negative PR it received for its cashless concepts, economics will come into play. There are almost 40 million Americans using SNAP and WIC benefits (more than the entire population of Canada). Even with EBT options available to them this population may have felt neglected by a cashless enterprise. No longer.

This is a very tricky debate. The unintended discrimination argument is valid, but no one ever chastises e-commerce sites for not accepting cash…because that’s just the way that specific channel needs to work. Why not let a cashless retail channel exist as well? The market will adapt as there will always be companies who are more than willing to pick up the sales from customers who feel ostracized.

Even though the futurists have told us “cashless is the future,” we know they haven’t been accurate very often. So this really isn’t a surprise. And it gives us more evidence that Amazon is becoming serious about finally becoming profitable on their 50 percent of revenue that is retail.

I like that Amazon is addressing a part of the consumer population that doesn’t go “cashless.” I have different ideas of how this would work. Their focus has always been on making the experience convenient for their customers. Is it as simple as loading cash onto an Amazon app? That’s a good place to start. It will be interesting to see Amazon’s solution.

Before jumping to conclusions on how Amazon will handle this, let’s cover two factors. First, this is a PR issue for them and we all know Amazon is a PR master. Letting the world know about this turnaround is a net positive PR-wise for Amazon so that’s the real motivation here. They’ve noted the backlash cashless is creating and they don’t want to be perceived negatively over this as the entire “just walk out” cashierless experience has already generated a mix of positive and negative feelings for Amazon to date. Second, Amazon still wants to be able to serve ANY customer. Although it isn’t clear how adding cash payments opens up a new target customer for Go stores – it remains to be seen where they will place them – we still don’t know HOW they will accept cash payments. No doubt Amazon is working on something new that will retain the convenience factor for Go stores while adding a cash payment mechanism. We shouldn’t assume this means a standard self-checkout or cashier-based POS terminal… Read more »

I think the question asked is wrong. It should read, “Does Amazon really care if it does not appeal to the unbanked or people who want to use cash?”

I think the answer is no. Yes, they will find a way to serve customers who want to pay with cash. They will not go out of the way to make it easy. They will comply with the law.

The change in Amazon Go’s stance allows the customers to choose how they want to pay. As has been pointed out, some may elect to use cash even though they have a debit or credit card. Allowing customers this choice may create a lesser “wow” factor for Amazon Go, but it opens their shopping experience to more customers.

In Jeff Bezos’s letter to shareholders that was published today, he specifically mentions Amazon Go as an example of “imagining the impossible” and accomplishing it by creating a cashierless store, thereby removing the pain point of waiting in lines. Whether or not they are accepting cash on principle or necessity, I believe Amazon will continue to find its own way to do the impossible and preserve the concept of a cashierless store and still accept cash.

For locations that require retailers to accept cash, Amazon can figure out a way to do it. However, it will be an option that is available only in the markets that dictate it.

It will be tricky for Amazon to do, as it is more than accepting cash, if you assume that the bank-less consumers also don’t have a smart phone. Entrance to Amazon Go today is dependent on an app on the consumer’s smart phone. If it gets too cumbersome to accommodate cashless customers, Amazon may choose not to open their Go stores in those markets.

I use cash without a cashier at Costco all the time. What’s the big deal? It doesn’t take a “cashier” to take cash — the bank and ATMs work like this.