Dive Brief:
- Amazon One, the biometric identification technology developed by e-commerce giant Amazon, is running a pilot with three Enerbase Cooperative Resources convenience stores in North Dakota, according to a LinkedIn post earlier in April.
- This is the first traditional convenience store to try the technology, according to an email from an Amazon One spokesperson. Other locations using the technology include airport retailers Hudson Group and Crews, as well as several restaurants, numerous stadium retailers and a variety of Amazon retail outlets.
- The technology, which has been installed at Enerbase’s Corner Express, North Broadway, and Travel Plaza locations in Minot, North Dakota, uses a scan of the customer’s hand to identify them and allow for contactless payment for their purchases.
Dive Insight:
Enerbase’s Amazon One pilot comes as more and more c-store operators are implementing mobile pay, self-checkout kiosks and other contactless checkout options. The biometric technology allows users to pay for their goods without needing to get out their wallet or phone.
The technology scans a customer’s palm and makes a “palm signature” that can subsequently be recognized in order to pay for shopping items with an associated credit card.
In addition to being used for payments, Amazon One can also be used to identify users or allow them entry to a space. Some locations combine Amazon One and Amazon’s Just Walk Out frictionless checkout system to allow people to scan their palm at the entrance, then pick up what they want and leave.
According to Dover Fueling Solutions’ Future of Fueling Trend Report from fall 2022, consumers expect convenience stores to become more automated and contactless in the future, including implementing “easier payment methods.”
Amazon first used the One technology in September 2020, and primarily features it at Amazon Fresh, Amazon Go, Amazon’s campus cafes and select Whole Foods locations.
It began to spread to other retailers in 2021, with both Starbucks and Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena adopting the technology. And in the c-store arena, the Hudson integrations began in June 2022, but its stores are not traditional c-stores in that they’re located in airports.
Amazon is also licensing its Just Walk Out frictionless checkout system to other retailers, and so far has struck deals with Hudson, Star Concessions and Kansas City grocer Community Groceries.
Minot, North Dakota-based Enerbase owns and operates 12 c-stores in the state and supplies Cenex fuel, lubricants and propane in the area. It also operates a hardware store and car care center.
