Amazon To Launch New Grocery-Store Business Separate From Whole Foods (arstechnica.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Wall Street Journal: Amazon is planning to open dozens of grocery stores in several major U.S. cities (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source), according to people familiar with the matter, as the retail giant looks to broaden its reach in the food business. The company plans to open its first grocery store in Los Angeles as early as the end of the year, one person said. Amazon has already signed leases for at least two other grocery locations with openings planned for early next year, this person said. The new stores would be distinct from the company's upscale Whole Foods Market brand, though it is unclear whether the new grocery chain would carry the Amazon name. Amazon is also exploring an acquisition strategy to widen the new supermarket brand by purchasing regional grocery chains with about a dozen stores under operation, one person said. The new stores aren't intended to compete directly with Whole Foods, these people said. The new chain would offer a wider variety of products than what is on the shelves at the more upscale Whole Foods stores. The company is reportedly in talks to open grocery stores in shopping centers in San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia.

Comments

Amazon Go

[mobby_6kl]

They already have at least a couple of no-checkout Go stores so I would expect that this is what they would expand, rather than come up with yet another concept, but the article doesn't really clarify.

The creepiness factor of being watched aside, the store I tried in Seattle was one of those "just works" experience that felt like magic. On the downside, it was pretty small with a limited selection of groceries, so I wonder how well it would scale to a much larger store if that's what they're going for.

Re:Amazon Go

[ShanghaiBill]

They are rolling out the cashierless model on small stores first to test customer acceptance, and try different layouts and policies. Once they get all the problems ironed out, they will scale to bigger stores.

In five years, cashierless stores will be common. In ten years they will be ubiquitous.

Re:Amazon Go

[Anonymous Coward]

And in 10 years they will have armed guards instead of cashiers to stave off the groups of young people in hoodies just nabbing a customer's phone outside the store, going in and stealing a bunch of stuff. This will happen over and over.

Re:Amazon Go

[Fly Swatter]

Every grocery store in my area has a self-checkout option. It is usually faster if a) the cashier lines are 2-3 people deep, b) you know what you are doing, and c) the machine actually works properly.

c) is the current problem I encounter, which usually is 'unexpected item in bagging area' due to a slight variance in an item's weight or the scale itself that weighs all your bagged items is unreliable particularly if you have to shift the bags around to make room.

Yea this isn't truly cashier-less like picking up whatever you want and just walking out but honestly it is good enough for me and the store manages to reduce 8 cashiers down to the 1 that oversees all the self checkout lines.

-Can't wait for Amazon's grocery to be infiltrated by knockoff and gray market food!

Re:Amazon Go

[ShanghaiBill]

usually is 'unexpected item in bagging area' due to a slight variance in an item's weight or the scale itself

I used to get that error all the time, but some stores have fixed their software to be more fault tolerant. Walmart and Safeway give me the fewest problems. Walmart has the best layout, with 12 stations arranged in a box, staffed by two clerks who can quickly move to any problem. There is almost never a wait.

Re: Amazon Go

[Anonymous Coward]

Can't buy alcohol at self checkout. Why would i go to a grocery store with no cashiers when i still have to make a trip to another store?

Re: Amazon Go

[ShanghaiBill]

Can't buy alcohol at self checkout. Why would i go to a grocery store with no cashiers when i still have to make a trip to another store?

The small cashierless shops don't sell alcohol. But once they convert the big stores they will likely still have a few cashiers to handle alcohol, tobacco, and luddites.

Re:Amazon Go

[SvnLyrBrto]

My dad used to say that, in the navy, the first thing to do when something doesn't work is to whack it a few times with a wrench, and it'll usually start working again. I've found that a similar technique works on those self-checkout scales. I always try to bag the heaviest and most durable items first... canned goods, for example, at Safeway. When the inevitable "unexpected item in bagging area" happens; two or three good lift-and-drops seem to usually reset the thing and let me continue checking out.

Re:Amazon Go

[ArchieBunker]

I will use self checkouts when the stores pass their savings onto me. I'm doing free work for the store and getting nothing in return. Knock 5% off my bill for starters.

Re:Amazon Go

[lister king of smeg]

I will use self checkouts when the stores pass their savings onto me. I'm doing free work for the store and getting nothing in return. Knock 5% off my bill for starters.

I find it is faster to use them, so the savings is my time.

Re:Amazon Go

[Dripdry]

Some stores I go to used to have self-checkout and ditched it. I don't know if it was Union stuff or if people were stealing things, but I suspect the store was not seeing the savings it thought it would get. Not saying that's the case everywhere (obviously), just an anecdote.

Re:Amazon Go

[Riceballsan]

How is that really any harder than say mugging someone outside the store now? Doesn't really seem to add much complication to push old lady over, grab her cart load it in yours. Though I could see the phone theft as even easier to defend against. The door doesn't let you in unidentified. The place is already loaded to the brim with cameras... just make it refuse people wearing ski masks etc... (admitted the one problem will be that they absolutely need to make sure their cameras can detect black people's faces, because that's one snafu that will create some terrifying lawsuits).

Re:Amazon Go

[Riceballsan]

Well depends on the store, but around here there's stand around for 20 minutes, finally be one place away in line when the person in front of you wants to pay with a check, call half the store for price checks etc adding another 10-15 minutes. Or I can bag it myself and be out in under 2 minutes. Bottom line my time is worth more to me than my muscles of lifting 2 3 ounce bags.

Re:Amazon Go

[Riceballsan]

You know I always found the camera method of casheer-less checkout the harder way to do it. Little ceasers does their self checkout as, you order your pizza online, you drive up to the store, it's waiting for you in a big box, you punch in a code or scan a qr code from your phone, and go. That seems to me a plausible future... set up the store like a warehouse. Have robots deliver the groceries to some form of pickup. Shop online, grab your groceries and go. just eliminate the whole front area of the store

Re:Whole Foods 365 is gay...GayPK

[Anonymous Coward]

Still pissed APK made you look like a fool here https://tech.slashdot.org/comm... ? Yes, you are. Grow up.

Re:Whole Foods 365 is gay...GayPK

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't argue with you on any of those points. Whole Foods used to have a great selection, and now it does NOT.
 
See the two star review average.
 
Take a look at this thread..
 
  Another debate
 
  Business Insider gripes about it.
 
You see, you have an angry mob of people now because Bezos bought a healthy business and then drained it of all its blood like a swarm of giant Alaskan mosquitoes attacking a large cow. He destroyed the brand that everyone trusted and now wants US to come crawling back to him? No thank you.

Called...

[kenh]

Most Food?

Re:Called...

[Anonymous Coward]

Half Foods!

Re: Called...

[Anonymous Coward]

Partial Foods. Whole Inedible. Incomplete Paycheck.

This will be Amazon's MO

[bogaboga]

Trust me guys, this was inevitable. It had to happen. I mean Amazon launching some kind of grocery store business.

Their MO will be something like this:

Any "non-fresh" foods from their Whole Foods business will be restocked in this grocery business and a cheaper price point.

That's what they almost all do. Kudos to Amazon BTW.

Re:This will be Amazon's MO

[Anonymous Coward]

So, canned food then?

Re: This will be Amazon's MO

[Anonymous Coward]

Building a world empire one can of beans at a time.

Re:This will be Amazon's MO

[Anonymous Coward]

Their MO will be something like this:

Not if the AEM on this allows for direct PPS while keeping SMW low.

Meanwhile, Kroger won't accept Visa

[Snotnose]

I shop at Vons which is a Kroger store ($5 friday for the win). I get where Kroger is coming from, Visa is now the bully demanding fees that are too high. But, I don't want to buy groceries with cash, and my 2 credit cards (yes kiddies, I only have 2 credit cards, albeit from different banks) are Visa, if Vons decides not to accept my card then Aldi's here I come. Smart & Final? Too expensive. Ralphs? Nearest one is 10 miles away. Albertsons? It's a Kroger. Sprouts? More a specialty shop, I can't fill out my list there. Trader Joe's? See Sprouts.

Mind you I love my Sprouts, and Trader Joe's is too far away to be worth the drive. But between Grocery Outlet and Aldis I can get my groceries just fine. Not saying I like that alternative, just saying it's my alternative.

Before you latch onto the "too far away", my friday morning routine is exercise class at 8, 99 cent store at 9, Vons at 9:15, library at 9:40 or so. I can tuck a Sprouts after the library if need be. Ralph's add 10 minutes each way into that.

Re: Meanwhile, Kroger won't accept Visa

[Anonymous Coward]

So get a MasterCard debit card. Jesus. White people problems

Re:Meanwhile, Kroger won't accept Visa

[Anonymous Coward]

What are you buying that Trader Joes doesn't stock?

This makes sense

[Trailer Trash]

Whole Foods is not a "grocery store" and doesn't compete with standard grocery stores. It's true that in the absence of WF their shoppers would go to Kroger or whatever, but the fact is that for most folks it's not seen as an alternative. Put another way, if Whole Foods was next door to my house and Publix was 5 miles, I'd still go to Publix. The other store would have to be 10+ miles for me to think about WF. They don't carry much standard stuff and I don't care for "organic" or "non-GMO". Both are scams.

If Amazon bought WF to get into the grocery business, they're stupid. But, newflash, you don't get to be Amazon by being stupid.

I'm not entirely sure what the plan was, but it's not surprising to me that they're looking for an alternative way to get into grocery.

I hope ...

[PPH]

... Amazon adopts the dollar store format for the outlets that they open in Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez' neighborhood.

Amazon is gunning for Safeway

[erp_consultant]

Kroger by all accounts is a pretty well run company. Safeway/Albertsons, on the other hand, is horribly run and deeply in debt. 12 billion is what I heard. But they do have a lot of stores and real estate that would appeal to Amazon. Amazon will force them into bankruptcy and scoop it up for pennies on the dollar.

Amazon Product Listing

[sadafba786]

To maximize the power of your product listing , ensure that the negative reviews or the complete lack of reviews is taken care of on your listing page. Both are equally lethal!

Amazon

[sadafba786]

To maximize the power of your product listing , ensure that the negative reviews or the complete lack of reviews is taken care of on your listing page. Both are equally lethal!