Amazon is opening its first new concept grocery store in Woodland Hills to everyone today. Previously, you needed an invitation to check out the store, which features a mix of local, national and organic brands.
“Amazon Fresh store is designed from the ground up to offer a seamless grocery shopping experience. Whether customers are shopping in-store or online. We’ve taken our decades of operations experience to deliver consistently low prices for everybody and free same-day delivery and pickup for Prime members,” explained Jeff Helbling, Vice President of Amazon Fresh Stores in a phone interview.
Amazon is emphasizing low prices at its new store, including 15-cent bananas, 89-cent fresh baked bread, pizza slices for $1.79 and rotisserie chickens for $4.97, undercutting Costco across the street by just a few pennies.
“One of the things I’m most proud of is our low prices. We recognize that particularly these days, customers are looking for more ways to save money, and all customers can count on Amazon fresh for consistently low prices every day. It’s part of our core promise,” said Helbling.
The store is different than Amazon’s Whole Foods because you’ll find products that would never make it to the shelves there, like Coca-Cola and Cheetos. Although there is not an emphasis on organics, you will find organic foods, especially under Amazon’s 365 brand. There is also a large selection of prepared foods.
One unique tech feature will help you skip the checkout line: Amazon Dash Cart. This is a special shopping cart equipped with a screen, cameras and sensors that can detect the items you put inside. Apparently there’s even a scale to weigh stuff. Basically, the Dash Cart allows you to “check out” as you go, so you can walk out a special lane and completely bypass a traditional cashier.
The cart will also keep a tally of your spending, which is handy if you’re trying to stick to a budget. If you take something out of your cart and return it to the shelf, it will be deducted from your running total.
If you don’t like the idea of “super” self-checkout, there will still be regular cashiers available.
“You know grocery is a very competitive space. Certainly, we take nothing for granted. In opening a new offer, it’s up to us to offer something that’s better for customers that earns their trust and wins their business,” concluded Helbling.
Amazon Fresh grocery store opens Thursday, September 17. Hours are from 8 AM to 10 PM daily. The store is located at 6245 Topanga Canyon Blvd, Woodland Hills, CA 91367.
