Dive Brief:

• E-commerce behemoth Amazon is testing 15 of its smart shopping carts that allow customers to skip the checkout line at a San Mateo, California, Whole Foods store, according to a Friday report by local newspaper The Mercury News. The California store is the sixth location to test this version of the carts, which were initially rolled out at a Westford, Massachusetts, Whole Foods two years ago.
• The smart carts, which arrived at the California location a few weeks ago, require shoppers to first log in with an Amazon or Whole Foods account using a QR code, according to local TV station ABC 7 News. Once finished, the shopper walks out through a designated smart cart lane and the card associated with their account will be automatically charged.
• “It scans, signs me in. It knows it’s me,” Amazon spokesperson Natalie Banke told the station. The cart uses multiple sensors to detect items within and create a running total displayed to the shopper. Instead of checking out, “all you do is walk out,” Banke said.

Dive Insight:

Seattle-based Amazon first launched its smart shopping cart, designed to speed up trips to its Whole Foods grocery stores, in September 2020, according to a company blog post. After two years of testing at the stores, it rolled out an updated version of the carts.

The tech giant is also tapping biometrics to streamline the checkout process. Last year, Amazon announced it was rolling out its biometric palm recognition payment system to all of its Whole Foods stores across the U.S.

Additionally, two Whole Foods locations implemented Amazon’s Just Walk Out frictionless checkout system two years ago. The technology shows early signs of being effective, as those stores outperformed nearby Whole Foods locations, according a 2022 report by retail analytics firm Placer.ai. But the technology has faced setbacks in Amazon’s own retail stores and as an offering to other brick-and-mortar retailers, according to The Information.

At least one rival is testing similar frictionless technology. Grocery chain Aldi debuted a fully automated checkout system, powered by technology firm Grabango, in a suburban Chicago store last November. 

An Amazon spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about the test of their smart shopping carts in the company’s San Mateo Whole Foods store.