An Amazon Fresh supermarket opened Thursday, June 2 in Huntington Beach featuring the company’s “Just Walk Out” technology.
The 35,000-square-foot store at 6911 Warner Ave is the company’s 15th Southern California location. Amazon says the store will add hundreds of local jobs to the economy with a starting wage of $16.40 hourly.
Three other Amazon Fresh supermarkets recently opened in Mission Viejo, La Verne and Murrieta. The company now has 31 locations nationwide in California, Washington, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.
Another store will be opening soon in Westlake Village, Amazon officials said.
An Amazon Fresh grocery store will be opening in Cerritos on Thursday, Nov. 18, which will be the first Amazon Fresh in CA to feature Just Walk Out technology. That allows shoppers to enter a store, grab what they want and leave without going through a checkout line or self-serve kiosk. Cameras mounted in the ceiling monitor what’s being put in a customers virtual cart. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)
At 39,000 square feet, the Cerritos location is the largest Amazon Fresh store with Just Walk Out technology. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, contributing photographer)
An Amazon Fresh grocery store will be opening in Cerritos on Thursday, Nov. 18, which will be the first Amazon Fresh in CA to feature Just Walk Out technology. That allows shoppers to enter a store, grab what they want and leave without going through a checkout line or self-serve kiosk. Cameras mounted in the ceiling monitor what’s being put in a customers virtual cart. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)
An Amazon Fresh grocery store will be opening in Cerritos on Thursday, Nov. 18, which will be the first Amazon Fresh in CA to feature Just Walk Out technology. That allows shoppers to enter a store, grab what they want and leave without going through a checkout line or self-serve kiosk. Cameras mounted in the ceiling monitor what’s being put in a customers virtual cart. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)
An Amazon Fresh grocery store will be opening in Cerritos on Thursday, Nov. 18, which will be the first Amazon Fresh in CA to feature Just Walk Out technology. That allows shoppers to enter a store, grab what they want and leave without going through a checkout line or self-serve kiosk. Cameras mounted in the ceiling monitor what’s being put in a customers virtual cart. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)
An Amazon Fresh grocery store will be opening in Cerritos on Thursday, Nov. 18, which will be the first Amazon Fresh in CA to feature Just Walk Out technology. That allows shoppers to enter a store, grab what they want and leave without going through a checkout line or self-serve kiosk. Cameras mounted in the ceiling monitor what’s being put in a customers virtual cart. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)
An Amazon Fresh grocery store will be opening in Cerritos on Thursday, Nov. 18, which will be the first Amazon Fresh in CA to feature Just Walk Out technology. That allows shoppers to enter a store, grab what they want and leave without going through a checkout line or self-serve kiosk. Cameras mounted in the ceiling monitor what’s being put in a customers virtual cart. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)
An Amazon Fresh grocery store will be opening in Cerritos on Thursday, Nov. 18, which will be the first Amazon Fresh in CA to feature Just Walk Out technology. That allows shoppers to enter a store, grab what they want and leave without going through a checkout line or self-serve kiosk. Cameras mounted in the ceiling monitor what’s being put in a customers virtual cart. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)
An Amazon Fresh grocery store will be opening in Cerritos on Thursday, Nov. 18, which will be the first Amazon Fresh in CA to feature Just Walk Out technology. That allows shoppers to enter a store, grab what they want and leave without going through a checkout line or self-serve kiosk. Cameras mounted in the ceiling monitor what’s being put in a customers virtual cart. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)
An Amazon Fresh grocery store will be opening in Cerritos on Thursday, Nov. 18, which will be the first Amazon Fresh in CA to feature Just Walk Out technology. That allows shoppers to enter a store, grab what they want and leave without going through a checkout line or self-serve kiosk. Cameras mounted in the ceiling monitor what’s being put in a customers virtual cart. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)
An Amazon Fresh grocery store will be opening in Cerritos on Thursday, Nov. 18, which will be the first Amazon Fresh in CA to feature Just Walk Out technology. That allows shoppers to enter a store, grab what they want and leave without going through a checkout line or self-serve kiosk. Cameras mounted in the ceiling monitor what’s being put in a customers virtual cart. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)
An Amazon Fresh grocery store will be opening in Cerritos on Thursday, Nov. 18, which will be the first Amazon Fresh in CA to feature Just Walk Out technology. That allows shoppers to enter a store, grab what they want and leave without going through a checkout line or self-serve kiosk. Cameras mounted in the ceiling monitor what’s being put in a customers virtual cart. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)
An Amazon Fresh grocery store will be opening in Cerritos on Thursday, Nov. 18, which will be the first Amazon Fresh in CA to feature Just Walk Out technology. That allows shoppers to enter a store, grab what they want and leave without going through a checkout line or self-serve kiosk. Cameras mounted in the ceiling monitor what’s being put in a customers virtual cart. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)
An Amazon Fresh grocery store will be opening in Cerritos on Thursday, Nov. 18, which will be the first Amazon Fresh in CA to feature Just Walk Out technology. That allows shoppers to enter a store, grab what they want and leave without going through a checkout line or self-serve kiosk. Cameras mounted in the ceiling monitor what’s being put in a customers virtual cart. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)
The new Amazon Fresh market in Cerritos will feature Just Walk Out technology. That allows shoppers to enter the store, grab what they need and leave without going through a checkout line or self-serve kiosk. (File photo)
Customers who opt for Just Walk Out shopping enter the store and scan an in-store QR code in their Amazon app, using Amazon One or by inserting a credit or debit card, opening Just Walk Out gates.
Once inside, anything they take off the shelf is automatically added to a virtual cart, and anything a customer puts back comes out of it. When they’re finished shopping, customers scan or insert their entry method again to exit, skipping the traditional checkout.
The technology works with the help of hundreds of cameras, weight gauges and scanners that monitor what a customer removes from shelves and puts into their carts.
Customers, including non-Amazon members, can also use a traditional checkout lane, and those buying alcohol move through a separate, one-way aisle where they show an ID to an employee and exit through a gate.
The discount grocer carries a wide assortment of national brands and produce, meat and seafood, as well as a range of prepared foods made fresh in-store every day — from fresh-baked bread and made-to-order pizzas, to rotisserie chickens and hot sandwiches.
Hands-free shopping on the rise
Bob Phibbs, CEO of The Retail Doctor, a NY-based retail consulting firm, said consumers will be seeing more hands-free shopping options as the nation’s retail sector continues to evolve.
“I think we’ll probably see this sooner in more convenience stores, rather than grocery stores,” Phibbs said recently. “It’s easier to manage in a smaller footprint, and in those stores, you don’t have to deal with things like fresh fruit.”
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Other retailers have also shifted some of their operations to a cashier-free model.
Walmart and Sam’s Club have a Scan & Go program that allows customers to scan products with their smartphones and pay with a credit card registered on the app.
7-Eleven has a similar Mobile Checkout program, and Aldi opened its first checkout-free grocery store earlier this year in London. Like Amazon Fresh, Aldi’s Shop & Go app uses motion-sensor cameras and weight sensors to track what’s picked up by customers, who are then charged through the app after they leave.
The trend of increased automation in the retail industry will continue to displace workers, Phibbs said, but these days those people have more revenue-generating options available to them, including DoorDash, Uber and other app-based services.
