Dennis Green/Business Insider
- Amazon opened its 12th Amazon Go store on Tuesday.
- In addition to being the first Go store in New York City — and on the entire East Coast — it’s also the first that accepts cash.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Amazon’s newest Go store is open for business.
The cashierless, tech-heavy store that uses an app, cameras, and sensors to determine what customers take off shelves — and charge them appropriately — has finally landed in New York.
The 1,300-square-foot store keeps everything that has been pioneered at Amazon’s other 11 Go stores and adds one more: the ability to pay in cash.
"We’re just starting here today," said Cameron Janes, Amazon’s vice president for physical stores.
"We’re learning. We’re going to see how it goes, iterate on it based on customer feedback, and then eventually roll it out to all our stores."
Cashierless joints like Go have been under scrutiny from state and local governments for excluding the ability to pay in cash, which would not allow the unbanked — those without a bank account or credit card — to shop in the store.
Massachusetts, Philadelphia, and New Jersey all require or will require stores to accept cash, and cities like New York and San Francisco are considering following suit.
Read more: Cities and states around the country are banning stores from refusing to accept cash
For Janes, the driving factor was just getting customers in the door without any barriers.
"Adding more payment methods enables more customers to shop in the store. And that’s great for customers and great for us," he said.
Still, it goes without saying that the best way to shop in the store is still by using the app, as that is the way Amazon originally intended it. Plus, it’s why Amazon is pinning at least some of its physical hopes on the Go format.
Here’s what the new store looks like:
Amazon’s newest Go store opened in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday, and it’s the first of the bunch to accept cash.
Dennis Green/Business Insider
It, of course, offers Amazon’s famous "just-walk-out" shopping tech. For that, customers scan their Go app when they enter the store, and they are charged for what they take when they leave. But, I wanted to see what it’s like paying cash.
Dennis Green/Business Insider
In order to do so, I had to get the attention of an employee. Easy to find — they’re all wearing bright orange sweatshirts with Amazon Go stamped all over it. There are no instructions on the wall or any indication that paying with cash was possible, but I saw from news reports that Amazon had touted it.
Dennis Green/Business Insider
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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Source: Business Insider – dgreen@businessinsider.com (Dennis Green)