Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is bringing its automated checkout technology to a pair of Whole Foods stores, the company announced Wednesday, marking the latest test of the grab-and-go system in a full-size supermarket.
In a blog post, Amazon said the technology, called “Just Walk Out,” is coming to two Whole Foods locations scheduled to open in 2022. One store will be located in the Glover Park neighborhood of Washington, D.C., and the other in Sherman Oaks, California.
Amazon’s "Just Walk Out" technology allows shoppers to enter a store by scanning an app and exit without needing to stand in a checkout line. Cameras and sensors track what items shoppers select and charge them when they leave.
At the upcoming Whole Foods locations, shoppers who want to skip the checkout line enter the store by either scanning an app, inserting a credit or debit card linked to their Amazon account or placing their palm over the company’s palm-scanning payment system, called Amazon One.
Shoppers who opt out of using Amazon’s cashierless technology will only be able to ring up their items using self-checkout or at a customer service booth.
Amazon has deployed its cashierless technology across a growing number of store formats, including at several Fresh grocery stores and in its Go convenience stores. It also sells the technology to third-party retailers. Amazon launching the technology in Fresh and Whole Foods
locations puts it ahead of start-ups that have developed similar systems but have largely struggled to roll them out to bigger stores due to the technical challenges.
AMZN shares popped $29.67 to $3,538.96 early Wednesday morning.
