Amazon to Debut Checkout-Less Convenience Store

Amazon.com has built a convenience store in downtown Seattle that deploys a gaggle of technologies similar to those used in self-driving cars to allow shoppers to come in, grab items and walk out without going through a register. The 1,800-square-foot store, officially dubbed “Amazon Go,” is the latest brick-and-mortar initiative from the e-commerce giant, which already has bookstores and is working on secretive drive-thru grocery locations.

Total Retail's Take: Not content with just dominating online retail, Amazon has extended its reach into brick-and-mortar — and is doing so with its trademark innovation. The Amazon Go concept falls in line with other Amazon projects that are focused on making commerce as easy and fast as possible for customers, whether that be on its site, within its app or a physical storefront. Being able to walk into an Amazon Go store, pick out what you need and walk out without ever having to step foot in a checkout line is the type of effortless commerce that Amazon is betting on. Furthermore, Amazon continues to invest in grocery as its next big growth opportunity, with a target squarely on the back of the market leader, Wal-Mart. Just what traditional retailers needed, right? Amazon to revolutionize in-store shopping the way it has online.