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Black Mirror season five should be able to write itself with this bizarre and enthralling new grocery store.
Amazon Go is opening a Seattle store Monday that allows customers to take necessary items and walk out — without any checkout process at all. It takes self-check out to the next level, eliminating the need for even scanning items.
The store had an almost 14-month trial run, the Seattle Times reported, and is at last opening its doors at 7 a.m. tomorrow to “anyone with the Amazon Go smartphone app and a linked Amazon account.”
Customers scan their smartphone on the way in the door. Amazon tracks them with “cameras and other sensors,” and when they take an item off the shelf, adds it to their “cart.” Then groceries are charged directly to their Amazon account.
It’s yet-unclear if this will be problematic for indecisive customers who pick up holiday-themed cookies at one turn and then put them back, because, get it together. (Just me?) Still, the store represents a remarkable and substantial change in the way we shop — and may well expand to more locations if successful.
