An Amazon Fresh store opened close to home today.
The store uses Amazon Go technology, which partially automates the supermarket experience by allowing you to purchase products without being checked out by a cashier. You simply put items in your bag, walk out, and receive an email a few hours later with your receipt.
Ever since the concept was announced in 2018, I’ve been eager to try it. And considering it only took Amazon 3 years to open one of these stores within 5 mins walk from our home, it’s an impressive example of Amazon’s speed and scale.
As a product manager, part of my job is trying to break my own products—to make sure they work—before releasing them to the public. So when other companies bring new products to market, I often find myself deliberately trying to break them.
I put lots of items in my basket, walked around the store, added more items, and then went back and put half of the items back on the shelves.
When I left the store, the receipt was with me in a few hours and was 100% accurate.
Not having to wait in line, no scanning or re-bagging, and simply walking out with my shopping was a surreal experience, and one that made the supermarket experience much better.