Chicago Amazon Go store becomes first outside Seattle

Dive Brief:

Amazon opened another cashierless store in Chicago, the first location outside of Seattle for the e-commerce giant's Amazon Go convenience store concept, according to VentureBeat and other published reports.
The new store is at 113 S. Franklin St., in Chicago's Loop — one block from one of the city's elevated commuter train routes and within a few blocks of the Union Station, Chicago's main commuter train hub.
The new store isn't in either of the locations the Chicago Tribune reported earlier this year that Amazon leased with the intention to build Amazon Go stores in those spots.

Dive Insight:

Amazon continues its expansion of Amazon Go stores, this time with the announcement of its opening at 113 S. Franklin St. The new location wasn't in the anticipated space of the Ogilvie Transportation Center train station, nor the iconic Willis Tower —the locations the Chicago Tribune reported in June could be sites future stores.

The Loop is dense with office buildings and the new Amazon Go store lies on a commuter path. Additionally, Amazon might still be considering the other spots previously mentioned as candidates for future Amazon Go opening, though there haven't been any reports suggesting another Chicago store is imminent.

Amazon now has four Amazon Go stores, with three of those locations based in Seattle. It's anticipated that the next two launches will occur in San Francisco and New York City, the other two cities that Amazon has confirmed as Amazon Go target markets. What is yet to be reported is how well these stores are performing, and if this concept is worth the investment Amazon has made in it since first announcing its intentions in December 2016.

The e-commerce giant isn't the only one chasing this vision, with companies like Standard Cognition and Zippin opening their own pilot stores to draw other retailers into the game. Much about the cashierless store concept, including Amazon's leadership innovating it, suggests it will be one of the next big things in retail. If 2018 has so far been about testing this concept with consumers, 2019 will be about proving that it's worth the effort and investment.