I try out cashier-less shopping at Amazon Fresh
They say the term “shoplifting”, i.e. the taking of things from a shop without paying, originates from biblical times. Middle-Eastern market stalls were made of wood and a thief would literally lift up the corner of the wooden stall to steal the produce contained therein. Actually this is a myth. The term originates from 16th Century London where a male shop thief was called a lifter and female shoplifters of this period were called “Amazons”.
It is therefore ironic for Amazon to choose London to pilot its Amazon Fresh grocery stores where they actually encourage shoppers to enter their stores, fill their bags and walk out without paying!
Last Saturday I tried out one such store at 4 Water St, Wood Wharf, London. At the time of writing, Amazon have 5 such stores in London with the first opening in March 2021. Amazon have also been doing an online push for their physical Fresh Stores in their app and on their website:
To gain entry to the store you need a QR code to pass through a turnstile. This can be found in your amazon app. Open the App, Go to Checkout and there is a “Fresh Code” option.
