Dive Brief:
- Amazon has begun offering its Dash Carts to third-party grocers, expanding the checkout technology beyond Amazon grocery banners and Whole Foods Market stores, according to a Tuesday blog post from the company.
- Four Price Chopper stores and one McKeever’s Market store in the Kansas City area began testing the technology earlier this year, an Amazon spokesperson said in an email.
- The spotlight on Dash Carts comes just a few weeks after Amazon announced it would discontinue its Just Walk Out technology in Amazon Fresh stores and Whole Foods locations.
Dive Insight:
Creating a seamless checkout experience has been a growing pain point for grocers — one that led to Amazon pulling its Just Walk Out frictionless technology from all Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods stores in the U.S.
But as Just Walk Out departs from stores, Amazon is rolling in its Dash Carts with plans to bring them to more supermarkets. This includes all of its Amazon Fresh stores in the U.S. as well as selected Whole Foods locations and now third-party grocers.
“In larger grocery stores, where customers are making a big weekly trip and buy a greater number of items, customers so far prefer Amazon Dash Cart, our smart shopping cart, which uses the same advanced, computer vision technology as Just Walk Out,” the company noted in a blog post Wednesday.
Amazon claims that customers who use Dash Carts spend 10% more than non-Dash Cart users in Amazon Fresh stores, and more than 80% of daily Dash Cart transactions are from repeat users.
After signing into the Dash Cart, customers can use it to scan items as they shop as well as weigh goods like produce to know its exact cost.
As with Just Walk Out technology, Dash Carts use computer vision algorithms and sensor fusion to identify items placed into and removed from the cart. When customers are ready to check out, they can skip the line and exit the store through a designated Amazon Dash Cart lane. A receipt is then instantly emailed to them.
Smart carts are being deployed more frequently as grocers look to find the balance between a seamless checkout experience and preventing shrink at store exits.
Instacart, for example, has been bringing its Caper Carts to more grocery stores. At the start of this year, the e-commerce company announced it would begin piloting ads on the smart carts at Good Food Holdings banner stores.
