Amazon has opened the UK's first fresh produce store in the West London district of Ealing, where shoppers can pick their merchandise and leave without having to queue to pay the account.

"Amazon Fresh" is a "smart" store, available to anyone who has an account on the Amazon application on his phone, and shoppers must scan the phone code to enter the store and start a new shopping experience.

Shoppers can choose the goods they want, and as soon as the selected merchandise is removed from the shelf, the sensors around the place count them in your account, while the ubiquitous cameras and other techniques supported by artificial intelligence monitor the movement of individuals in the store and the selected goods.

"Facial recognition tools are not part of the way the system tracks shoppers in-store yet," the company said.

It is the usual way in stores to track consumers while they are shopping, and it is sometimes used to prevent theft.

Once you finish shopping, the invoice is automatically uploaded to the shopper's Amazon account when he leaves the store (the island)

Serve yourself

And around 5 workers are working at Amazon Fresh to handle shopper inquiries, refill shelves and prepare food.

Once the shopping is done, the invoice is automatically uploaded to the shopper's Amazon account when he leaves the store, so customers won't need to interact with the employees working there.

It is noticeable that about a third of the products displayed on the shelves are packed under the trademark of the giant Amazon, which includes frequently purchased items such as milk, bread, pizza and cakes, and the rest of the products obtained from British suppliers.

Amazon selections

The store opens its doors from seven in the morning until eleven in the evening, with an area of ​​2,500 square feet, and contains a customer service office to deal with returns or receiving products purchased from Amazon, and there are also self-service coffee makers.

On our journey inside the store, we found it similar to many small stores, serving fresh baked goods, fruits and vegetables, in addition to ready meals and hygiene items.

The menu of hot and cold ready-to-eat foods is similar to what the famous "Pret A Manger" cafe in Britain offers, such as salads, hot sandwiches, pasta and cheese boxes.

In addition, Amazon launched a sub-brand of "Amazon Choices" for the most exclusive products, including sweets.

Customers can return goods by scanning the code without having to repack or rename the item (Al Jazeera).

Return the goods

As stated by The Guardian, Amazon sells the vast majority of its goods online, but it also owns the Whole Foods Market, which has 7 stores in the United Kingdom.

It previously opened subsidiary stores for fashion and non-food items, and operated an online grocery delivery service (Amazon Fresh) for several years.

The store also has an online ordering service, and customers can return goods by scanning the code without having to repack or re-label the item.

Matt Birch, who heads Amazon Fresh in the United Kingdom and former director of Sainsbury's chain of stores, says in his comments to Standard, the British website, Amazon Fresh is based on "creating a unique shopping experience that is easy and convenient."

The Independent published a statement by retailer Harry Wallop, stating that the Sainsbury chain had already had a little trial in North London in 2019, but abandoned that model because customers did not like having to scan every item they wanted to buy. Using their phones.