It's easy to geek out over the high-tech Amazon Dash Cart you'll find at the brand new Amazon Fresh in Irvine, California— which is also just the second in the state to the Woodland Hills location. The Dash Cart is a tech'y smart cart with a touchscreen that scans and weighs each item (using computer algorithms and sensor fusion), and enables you to skip the traditional checkout line by calculating your total and charging your purchase to the card connected to your Amazon Prime account as you exit the Dash Cart Lane. It also makes some pretty cool sounds that brighten the whole experience.
The range of brand and product options at Amazon Fresh are familiar to traditional grocery stores, so although the experience itself is 'something new', navigating your shopping list isn't. The Irvine location felt similar in layout to the local Whole Foods, with it's outside aisles being lined with a full deli (including an already popular pizza bar) and an abundance of fresh produce. Aisle-14 was full of personal care items that include the Amazon Brand, "Solimo", which is set at competitive price points.
The Amazon Fresh concept is designed to be a seamless experience for online and in-store shoppers, with low prices, touch-less item scanning and expedited purchasing. The option for 2-hour delivery and pickup direct gives extra flexibility for those days you want to skip the trip to the store, or prefer to bypass the time it takes to shop. Upon entering the store, you'll be asked if you'd like to use a Dash Cart. To use the Dash Cart, you'll need an active Amazon Prime membership account and have the Amazon app downloaded to your phone in order to scan the Fresh QR code within the app to the touchscreen on the cart. From there, you're simply shopping as usual with the high tech enhancement of The Dash Cart.
It won't come as surprising if this becomes the new standard for grocery stores, considering the element of service, ease and affordability that Amazon Fresh brings to the table.