Amazon Unveils Smart Cart for New Store

As it moves more decisively into brick-and-mortar retailing, Amazon is introducing Amazon Dash Cart, which will be available for use at its grocery store in Woodland Hills, California, slated to open later this year. Designed for small- to medium-sized grocery trips of two bags or fewer, the smart shopping cart “is another way we’re helping customers save time during a quick grocery shopping trip,” according to the Seattle-based company.

Amazon Dash Cart enables users to bypass the checkout line. It employs a combination of computer vision algorithms and sensor fusion to identify items a shopper puts in the cart. When the shopper exits through the Dash Cart lane in the store, sensors automatically identify the cart, and the shopper’s payment is processed using the shopper’s credit card on the shopper’s Amazon account. 

Additional features of the cart include a screen at the top where a shopper can access an Alexa Shopping List to check items off and view the subtotal, and a coupon scanner to which store coupons can be applied during the shopping trip.

Amazon isn't the first retailer using smart carts. Sobeys has been testing them since 2019, using Caper technology, and WalkOut offers a similar option. Both these versions, however, are the size of an average shopping cart. 

Amazon is No. 2 on Progressive Grocer’s 2020 PG 100 list of the top food retailers in North America.