Amazon Go should have substantial success in the beginning if due to nothing more than customer curiosity. We love new technology, ideas and opportunities so that will drive customers to the store just to try it. If the customers like the products and convenience, they will continue to come back. However, if the technology is not perfected and causes problems for the customer that will be a significant setback for Amazon Go.

If successful, I would expect to see it rolled out to other locations such as Whole Foods once Amazon is confident the technology could handle the number of items and customer traffic.

There is little question that Amazon will make Go go. As the technology gets scaled, there are significant savings in reduced staffing costs. If there is a question, it will be how widespread the AI impact will be on retail staff employment. This could very well be tipping point in retailing where helpful associates on the floor become a major differentiator over faceless stores.

Hit or not, this will change the face of grocery and retail shopping. Amazon has been great at pushing our paradigms and bringing in new technologies and methods — fast. It will take a while before this is mainstream. But the concept is now seeded in consumers’ minds. The next wave of expectations is here and retail needs to adapt again.

Before it goes out to Whole Foods, Amazon needs to figure out how grocery works — and preventing barren shelves is the first among many learning journeys. Welcome to the real physical world, Amazon. 😉

The store, because it’s so different, will attract crowds. Once the initial hoopla dies down, consumers will continue to shop there, provided it has the items they want, is always accurate and saves time. If the technology works in Amazon Go, I expect Amazon to introduce it to Whole Foods.

I’m not sure about it being a hit. The article said, “the store will welcome any customers that have an Amazon Go app linked to an Amazon account.” How do they know if you don’t have the app? Do you show something when you walk in? How will they stop people from stealing? What if I don’t know if I want to get the app yet because I want to check out the store first? Are kids of any age even allowed to have the app? Lots of unanswered questions. Seems like it’s going to be a lot of trouble.

Yes, yes and yes (eventually). Amazon’s relentless focus on the customer experience will mean that they will move quickly on the “Go” concept, as it removes a key customer pain point. What one-click purchases meant for online, Amazon Go will mean for physical retail.

This concept, if the bugs are worked out, will do well in limited city areas. It will not work in rural America, where many folks live paycheck to paycheck. The convenience for the city dwellers is key for this to work, and the product line needs to be fresh and delicious, which is not a guarantee. Foodies are pretty finicky on what they desire.

It will get traction initially, so lets see how this goes. Price is not a big issue in these locations, so Amazon has a chance to make a good first impression. Anyone who goes here, please comment on the selection and price as I’m interested in the value/quality part of this, as the technology seems to be in place.

A step in the right direction as far as brick-and-mortar experiences go. It should be a hit as long as the selection of goods works. I’m a big believer in being a first adopter and hope enough people try the concept so Amazon can tweak and refine.

I believe this technology will eventually come to Whole Foods as it’s the natural progression from “convenience store” concept to “mass retail” concept. The possibilities are endless as Amazon continues to find ways to incorporate Whole Foods into the shopper’s experience.

I hope other retailers continue to watch this play out and iterate in their own way. Sam’s Club and other retailers have the “Scan and Go” concept. Many grocery stores also have the scan and check out feature (such as Stop and Shop, etc.).

Now that the technology has been unveiled, we play the waiting game. Amazon needs to make sure there are no glitches in the technology before expanding. They must also respond to consumers’ suggestions and struggles with the technology. Immediately bringing it to Whole Foods would be a mistake. It must be tested thoroughly, first.

Total game changer. Shoppers will love this. You better believe they are laying tracks to bring this into Whole Foods and open additional outlets. The only question is the cost of equipping stores and how long it takes for ROI — although that will not be based solely on cost savings from replacing store staff as increased traffic numbers will also be a factor.

Amazon Go will be a very big hit with shoppers! Let’s face it, who wouldn’t want to take the queuing out of buying their groceries? It’s also, in my view, the first real-world glimpse of the far future for the general public. I do expect Amazon to expand the concept but slowly — they’ll need time to trial the technology properly but they’re well aware that, just as with autonomous vehicles, this store is the future. It might not ever be the norm across the board but it will certainly be common in the grocery sector. Customers want speed and convenience and we now have the technology to make that a reality. Amazon won’t pass up the opportunity to get ahead of their competitors, so far ahead that they’re uncatchable, and yes I’d expect at some point that they’ll use Whole Foods as a testbed.

This is the sort of experimentation that Amazon should be doing with its Whole Foods acquisition, instead of having to defend itself on the high levels of out-of-stocks. Whether or not the store in Seattle is a full success or not, it is moving forward with exploration of what the future of retailing will be. This unit could very well be the Keedoozle or original King Kullen of the the 21st century that set retailing on a path that changed everything.

I’m with Paula and Sky on this one. Margins in grocery are pretty tight. If inventory starts walking out the door unpaid for, how long can this model make economic sense?

On the convenience side, if I’m spending an additional five or 10 minutes reviewing my receipt what time have I actually saved?

And finally, do we really need another experience that keeps us head down on our phones and disconnected from the people around us?

I don’t know enough about how the technology works (though I understand it’s not RFID) but I suspect there will be a whole different set of challenges associated with rolling out to a stock-up grocery occasion vs. a c-store quick trip. When items are inspected, rejected and returned to the shelf, do they need to be placed in just the right slot? it’s more of an issue with the full grocery trip in which items are often selected then rejected two aisles later when a better offer or alternative presents itself. And I need to bag my items some way to get them in the car and then house on the stock-up or fill-in trip.

These are minor issues relative to the giant leap forward this represents, but still some bridges to cross before applying it to a grocery type of environment/occasion.

The frictionless experience will appeal to some shoppers who don’t like lines and, initially, to the curious. For Amazon, the benefits are big. This solves the issue of identifying the customer during the shopping experience, which will be vitally important for in-store marketing. The concept is not perfect for all locations because of Paula’s concern: shrink. Some security including security at the door will surely be necessary to avoid theft. But since all activities in the store are monitored, and surely recorded, there will be records.

From the get-go, saying something is “highly accurate” is not enough for me. That says that it still has bugs and every customer will need to check their receipts carefully. Will the concept attract customers? Absolutely! People will want to try it out. Will the technology work at Whole Foods? Not ready for prime time yet, for my 2 cents.

It will be a hit with some shoppers, depending upon their shopping goal. Yes, AMZN will expand the store concept as it currently owns a store portfolio of two brands: Amazon and Whole Foods. Yes, it will migrate aspects of the technology to WFMI.

A couple of observations:

1. Prime membership is required. Similar to Costco, but as a convenience or grocery store I think the $90 annual fee needs to be reconsidered.
2. Objective is not to eliminate jobs. I think this is disingenuous. All retailers hope to reduce expenses as a % of sales, payroll is in there too. Above all else, the shopping experience needs to be relevant, whether humans are relevant remains to be seen.

It will be interesting to hear how shoppers react to the experience.

Retail ain’t for sissies!

Whether we like it or not, Amazon Go, in some shape or form, is the future of brick and mortar retail. One of the elephants in the room is that one of the fundamental reasons retailers are experimenting with in-store technologies is to reduce payroll. Many of the customer service and supply chain issues and shortcomings are because of errors introduced by people. Is Amazon Go in its current form perfect? No. But the ongoing experimentations, refinements, insights and learnings will be invaluable in getting it right.

This is not just about checkout. I believe the supply chain side of this equation is far more valuable. Technology and workflows that provide 100% visibility of at-shelf inventory will force (welcome?) brands to “police” their inventory.

Shoppers are bound to love this new store concept. It cuts out one of the major pain points of the grocery store experience: standing in long checkout lines. I think Amazon Go will provide Amazon with a ton of data that will help them determine whether it makes sense to roll it out to Whole Foods stores as well. Amazon is great at trying out concepts and either failing fast (while taking bits and pieces of findings and applying them to future concepts) or achieving massive success and making tweaks along the way to make it a long lasting success.