Dive Brief:

• Whole Foods Market plans to remove Amazon’s Just Walk Out checkout system from the only two stores that offer the technology, a spokesperson confirmed via email Thursday. 
• The specialty grocer will instead install more self-checkout stations and traditional registers at these locations, but the spokesperson did not say when these changes would happen. 
• The disclosure comes a few days after Amazon confirmed plans to remove Just Walk Out from its U.S. Amazon Fresh stores as part of its ongoing revamp of that chain. 

Dive Insight:

The Just Walk Out technology will be removed from a Whole Foods store in Washington, D.C., and one in Sherman Oaks, California, to offer a more “consistent shopping experience across Whole Foods Market locations,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

In addition to reverting to traditional and self-checkout options at the two stores, Whole Foods plans to keep the Amazon One palm recognition payment service at all of its U.S. locations. 

The grocer confirmed Amazon’s smart carts, known as Dash Carts, will continue to be available at select stores. Amazon’s website lists six Whole Foods stores that offer the smart carts.

Whole Foods introduced Just Walk Out to shoppers in February 2022 when it reopened its Glover Park store in Washington, D.C., after a nearly five-year-long closure. One month later, the grocer announced its Sherman Oaks location had opened its doors equipped with Just Walk Out. 

The frictionless tech seemed to be working to Whole Foods' advantage as the stores outfitted with Just Walk Out outperformed their respective neighboring Whole Foods locations. The Glover Park store recorded a larger proportion of mid-afternoon shopper visits than the grocer’s other two locations in the area, according to a 2022 Placer.ai report. Meanwhile, the Sherman Oaks store recorded more visits per square foot than a pair of nearby Whole Foods stores.

Despite Amazon’s sudden retreat from Just Walk Out systems at its grocery chains, frictionless checkout technology is growing in a number of small-format retail spaces, including convenience stores and stadium shops. In August, Grubhub and Amazon debuted a Just-Walk-Out-powered convenience store at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore.