Startups

Customers can skip the line at the new Amazon Fresh in Logan Circle. Here’s how it works

Amazon just opened its second tech-heavy grocery store in the DC region Thursday. It's tricked out with Just Walk Out tech that lets you—well, you get it.

Photo courtesy of Amazon.

Continuing its streak of D.C. expansion, Amazon opened another DMV-area Amazon Fresh store this week, this time letting customers skip the checkout process altogether.

The 7,302 square foot space is open as of Thursday morning on 14th Street in Logan Circle, offering all of the tech benefits Amazon Fresh stores have come to be known for. This is the second Amazon Fresh location the company has opened in the DC areaits first was in Franconia, Virginia in June—and additional stores are planned for Chevy Chase, Maryland and Warrington, Pennsylvania.

The new Logan Circle location is decked out with Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” technology, which allows customers to, well, just walk out of the store. Upon arrival, customers scan a QR code in the Amazon app and add and take away items as they go along. The removal of items from the shelf and placement in the cart is detected through a combo of computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning. At the end of the trip, they just walk out the store, sans grocery line, and Amazon will charge a credit card on file. A receipt will be emailed if a customer chooses.

“Our Just Walk Out technology enables customers to come into the store, grab what they want, and just walk out…” Amazon said in a statement. “Anything they take off the shelf is automatically added to their virtual cart, and anything they put back on the shelf comes out of their virtual cart. At the end of their trip, customers simply exit the store.”

This differs slightly from Amazon’s Dash Cart technology, which is enabled at the location in Franconia and other stores (Logan Circle marks Amazon’s 15th overall). That technology asks customers to scan items as they’re placed into a physical cart. The Dash Cart is also specifically designed for smaller orders that fit into two grocery bags.

Although customers can check out without the help of an employee, Amazon said there will still be workers at the store to help out with restocking, answering questions and checking IDs for alcohol purchases. Additionally, the surplus food from the Logan Circle location will be donated to local food banks, the company said in a statement.

Companies: Amazon

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