amazon go stores to see nationwide construction

With the idea of making quick food and beverage purchases as convenient as possible, the Amazon Corporation has announced a plan to build up to 3,000 new outlets for its unusual Amazon GO stores.

Those stores, the first of which opened in January in Seattle, are introducing a new concept in shopping. Customers scan a code into their smart phone apps before entering the stores, and take what they want from the store’s shelves.

Although there are some employees on site in the stores, there are no cash registers or people working those registers.

Instead cameras and shelf weights determine what has been taken from the store, with the cost of the item in question being automatically charged to a customer’s account.

The Seattle-based company has introduced the Amazon GO concept in Chicago, and say that it is on track to building and opening a total of ten such stores by the end of this year.

So far those stores, measuring anywhere from 1,400 square feet to 2,100 square feet, have been carved out of existing retail space. But the company, with plans of opening fifty more new stores next year, may actually see the construction of new buildings to house those stores.

The company says Amazon GO offerings will typically include sandwiches, salads, and beverages.

Although hardly any of the planned locations for the new stores have been announced, Amazon officials have said that they are targeting urban locations where there are a large number of younger consumers.

The company’s Amazon GO strategy is following on the footsteps of its $14 billion purchase in 2017 of the Whole Foods chain, Amazon’s first foray into bricks and mortar retailing.

By Garry Boulard

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