Amazon has landed in the brick and mortar world with a thud today. The online retailer has opened up a grocery store in Seattle that does not have any checkout lines or waiting lines. The new store is a test run for Amazon and will be in direct competition with regular grocery stores.


Amazon’s Push Into Grocery


Amazon has been trying for some time now to move into the grocery store realm. The Amazon Go store uses sensors to detect what shoppers are putting into carts. If a shopper does not return an item to the shelf, that item is then charged to a customer’s credit card when leaving the store.


Amazon Go sells grocery staples like bread and milk, but it also sells prepared and packaged foods for lunches and dinners. Amazon has tried to break into the grocery market before with little success. This is the first time the company sets up a brick and mortar grocery store, though.


Psychological Barriers


Amazon has an unexpected hurdle to jump with the new Amazon Go store. Some clients might feel like they are stealing after picking up items and leaving the store without going to an actual cash register. Amazon will have some client education to do, but people will get used to the idea the more that they shop at Amazon Go.


Future Expectations


There is a good possibility that Amazon Go might catch on quickly - after all, the register process is often the most inefficient aspect of shopping for groceries. If Amazon can make shopping simple and painless by letting people skip that long line and checkout process, shoppers elsewhere may want the same technology.


Amazon could sell the technology, too. There are some grocery chains that may want to purchase the technology behind the new grocery store. For now, though, Amazon wants to run things in the grocery realm without selling its tech, but that is one possible revenue stream for the company if Amazon Go works.


Other Amazon Go Stores


Right now, Amazon has only opened the one store. However, if the store in Seattle catches on, the company might open other stores as well. It is not yet known how much money Amazon put into the store or whether or not the company does plan to sell the technology. Will this type of store catch on? That’s the question that Amazon is aiming to find out with the trial Seattle store.


For some shoppers, avoiding standing in line and chatting with salespeople is a bonus. While some stores do have self checkout counters, shoppers still have to go through the process of standing in line and running items through a scanning machine. If Amazon’s new shopping experience does turn out to be popular, other stores might soon follow suit.


If you live in Seattle, you can take a look at what Amazon is doing there. If you do have a chance to check out the new Amazon store, I’d love to hear what you think as well.