X

A look inside the cashierless Amazon Go store

The new Amazon Go store in Seattle has one big figure: You don't actually take out your wallet to pay for anything.

Shara_Tibken.jpg
Shara_Tibken.jpg
Shara Tibken
amazon-go-07366-009
1 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

Amazon Go

Amazon Go is a 1,800-square-foot convenience store, built at the street-level entrance of the company's Day 1 high-rise headquarters. It uses deep-learning algorithms and computer-vision-enabled cameras to let people grab what they want and walk out.

amazon-go-07318-004
2 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

Downtown Seattle

The Amazon Go store has been open to Amazon employees for a year. It opens to the public Jan. 22. 

amazon-go-07336-007
3 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

Just Walk Out

The new Amazon Go store in Seattle uses what the company calls "Just Walk Out" technology. 

amazon-go-07391-013
4 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

Cashier-free shopping

The biggest feature of the Amazon Go is the fact there are no cashiers. When you arrive, you scan the Amazon Go app on your phone at a turnstile to register your presence and enter the store. After that, everything you pick up is automatically tracked by the store's cameras and charged to your Amazon account when you walk out. It all happens without having to check in with a store employee or physically make a payment. 

amazon-go-app-2
5 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

Amazon Go app

When you log into the Amazon Go app with your Amazon account, you're shown a QR code that you scan on the turnstiles to enter the store. CNET's dummy device from Amazon was in the name "Mike."

amazon-go-turnstile-scanning
6 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

Scanning to enter

You scan the QR code from the Amazon Go app to enter the store. 

amazon-go-badge-scanning
7 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

Busy lunchtime

The Amazon Go store was filled with Amazon employees in the last days leading up to the public opening. 

amazon-go-07387-012
8 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

Grab and go

The first thing you see when you walk into the Amazon Go store are ready-to-eat meals. Pasta salads, lettuce salads, wraps and sandwiches line the tall shelves, making it easy for someone to dash in, grab food and run back out. 

amazon-go-employee
9 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

Workers in orange

Amazon employees in bright orange shirts restock items, making sure the store never runs out of popular selections. Amazon has said it employs the same number of people at Amazon Go as you'd find at a comparably-sized convenience store. Instead of cashiers, Amazon has more people restocking shelves and preparing meals.

amazon-go-07408-016
10 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

More convenience

As you walk farther into the Amazon Go store, you see general baking supplies and other items to take home if you don't have time to go to a full grocery store. 

amazon-go-meal-kits
11 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

Amazon Meal Kits

Amazon sells its meal kits in the Amazon Go store. These come with all of the ingredients necessary to cook a meal for two people. 

amazon-go-07404-015
12 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

Wine and beer

The only time you have to interact with an actual person in the Amazon Go store is if you want to buy alcohol. Amazon will have an employee in that section at all times to check your ID. After that, you're free to take anything from the section, just as you would from other parts of the store. 

amazon-go-app
13 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

Discover

The Amazon Go app features different sections like "Discover" to show you what's in stock that day. 

amazon-go-receipts
14 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

Lots of shopping

You can see a list of your purchases in the Amazon Go app. 

amazon-go-07382-011
15 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

Digital receipts

You get receipts for your purchases in the Amazon Go app, showing exactly what you bought and how much it cost. 

amazon-go-07395-014
16 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

Just Walk Out Shopping

Amazon's Just Walk Out technology lets you shop without having to interact with a cashier. 

amazon-go-07446-020
17 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

Amazon swag

Amazon sells Amazon-branded swag, including water bottles, at its new store. 

amazon-go-07329-005
18 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

Monday to Friday

Amazon Go in Seattle will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. PT from Monday to Friday. 

amazon-go-07419-017
19 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

In and out

Gianna Puerini, vice president of Amazon Go, says the company's "plan from the beginning was ... what can we do so you could walk into the place, take anything you want and leave."

amazon-go-crowded-store
20 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

No longer employees only

The Amazon Go has been open for Amazon employees for the past year. During CNET's visit over lunchtime, the store was bustling with employees streaming in and out.

amazon-go-07333-006
21 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

No lines, no checkout

Amazon Go opens the door to the prospect that you may never have to wait at a cashier line again. The store may also help kill off self-checkout machines.

amazon-go-returns
22 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

Easy returns

Amazon makes disputes easy. You swipe left on a charge listed on your receipt in the Amazon Go app to remove it. 

amazon-go-return-dispute-1
23 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

Removing charges

To remove a charge from your account in the Amazon Go app, you have to explain why -- such as that the quality was not as expected or you didn't take the item. 

amazon-go-1
24 of 24 Shara Tibken/CNET

Seattle HQ

The Amazon Go store is located on the corner of the company's Seattle headquarters. 

More Galleries

Go Inside the Apple iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro: See How the New iPhones Look and Work
iphone 15 in different color from an angled view

Go Inside the Apple iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro: See How the New iPhones Look and Work

21 Photos
17 Hidden iOS 17 Features and Settings on Your iPhone
Invitation for the Apple September iPhone 15 event

17 Hidden iOS 17 Features and Settings on Your iPhone

18 Photos
Astronomy Photographer of the Year Winners Reveal Our Stunning Universe
andromeda

Astronomy Photographer of the Year Winners Reveal Our Stunning Universe

16 Photos
Check Out the iPhone 15's New Camera in Action
A photo of a silhouette of buildings on the water taken on the iPhone 15

Check Out the iPhone 15's New Camera in Action

12 Photos
I Got an Early Look at Intel's Glass Packaging Tech for Faster Chips
Rahul Manepalli, right, Intel's module engineering leader, shows a glass substrate panel before it's sliced into the small rectangles that will be bonded to the undersides of hundreds of test processors. The technology, shown here at Intel's CH8 facility in Chandler, Arizona, stands to improve performance and power consumption of advanced processors arriving later this decade. Glass substrates should permit physically larger processors comprised of several small "chiplets" for AI and data center work, but Intel expects they'll trickle down to PCs, too.

I Got an Early Look at Intel's Glass Packaging Tech for Faster Chips

20 Photos
Yamaha motorcycle and instrument designers trade jobs (pictures)
yamaha01.jpg

Yamaha motorcycle and instrument designers trade jobs (pictures)

16 Photos
CNET's 'Day of the Dead Devices' altar (pictures)
dia-de-los-muertos-3318-001.jpg

CNET's 'Day of the Dead Devices' altar (pictures)

9 Photos