Amazon is building its newest grocery store where buyers can shop with smart carts with the help of Alexa.
Located in Woodland Hills, California, just outside Los Angeles, the first Amazon Fresh grocery store will open after a few weeks. Amazon confirmed it will have seven Amazon Fresh stores: three in Illinois and four in California, although some of them are only for the fulfillment of online grocery delivery orders. According to a CNN report, the opening dates are yet to be announced.
For the Woodland branch, the 35,000-square-foot market features departments similar to a local grocery store including dry goods, meats and seafood sections as well as ready-made goods. However, Unlike the Whole Foods chain that sells natural and organic products minus the popular brands, Amazon Fresh grocery will be filled with advanced technologies.
Buyers can get smart assistance from virtual helper Alexa through the Amazon Echo Show smart displays stationed throughout the store. They can also scan and check out their goods using the Amazon Dash Cart, a basket shopping cart doubles as a checkout stand. It is equipped with bar code scanners, scales, and sensors. It also links to online shopping lists shopping carts to pick up their orders from the e-commerce giant's website.
Once completing the shopping list, there is a dedicated Dash Cart lanes where buyers can just exit the store without waiting in a checkout line or dealing with payments through the Amazon account.
Meanwhile, the stores will still have traditional checkout stands for customers who have larger grocery trips or those who do not want to use the Dash Cart.
Of course, like the Amazon Go convenience stores, Amazon Fresh stores will also have AI technology with hundreds of security cameras.
Amazon Stocks Surge: CEO becomes the first man worth $200 billion
Amazon Fresh vice president of Jeff Helbling told CNN Business that grocery is a very large consumer sector. "By most measures, it's $800 billion in the US," said Helbling adding that Amazon's business is relatively small at only a 4% share of the current market share. It is relatively smaller than Walmart's 21%.
Meanwhile, Forbes report shows the world's richest person, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, is even wealthier at $200 billion, the first person to gain such wealth. After the stocks closed on August 26, the 56-year-old CEO has crossed the milestone to reach the $200 billion mark.
Bezos' fortune is $90 billion more than the second in rank, Bill Gates, with $116.1 billion, even after adjusting for inflation. Gates who was the first to become a centibillionaire in 1999 when Microsoft reached its peak.,
Aside from Amazon, Bezos also owns the Washington Post, aerospace company Blue Origin, and other private investments. However, his fortune is comprised mostly by his nearly 11% stake in Amazon.
Based on a Forbes report, Amazon stock is up by almost 80% since early 2020. On Jan. 1, the CEO's net worth was roughly $115 billion. However, it gained a huge spike in demand for its services during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Written by CJ Robles
