The Amazon Go Concept: Implications, Applications, and Sustainability

Amazon opened its first Amazon Go sans-checkout grocery store in Seattle, WA in early 2017. Having worked out the bugs, Amazon plans to fully open the store in early 2018. The experience is designed for those who do not like to stand in a checkout line. Amazon benefits by eliminating the cost of checkout personnel. Customers use an Amazon Go app and scan their I-phones on entering the store. Sophisticated technology tracks their purchases, allows them to exit the store without a physical check-out, and automatically charges their account. This paper explores implications, applications, and sustainability within the industry, and in other industries. Included are also the results of a survey conducted with management of six grocery stores in a city in the Midwest.