Amazon has announced that it’s adding a smart shopping cart service to its upcoming Woodland Hills store in Los Angeles, California. Aimed at shoppers who take a no nonsense approach to buying groceries, the Dash Cart registers what you’re buying as you move through the store and charges your credit card as you exit.
When the Woodland Hills supermarket opens to customers later this year it won’t be completely checkout-free like Amazon’s Go stores, but will still allow shoppers to sail past the checkout waiting lines. To do that, they’ll need a mobile app and a smart shopping cart.
The Dash Cart is designed for small-to-medium shopping trips and sports a touchscreen interface angled toward the customer, sensors facing the basket out front to scan products as they’re placed in the basket, and can also weigh items too. Shoppers can access their Alexa Shopping List via the display, to check off products as they shop and keep a check on how much is being spent, and there’s a coupon scanner for applying store discounts on the move.
Customers use a QR code in the Amazon app to log into the Dash Cart service. Much like the self-service checkouts in grocery stores, a user holds an item in front of a scanner and then places it in one of two bags in the cart’s basket. For items that don’t have a barcode, a number on the shelf can be entered manually using the touchscreen, the cart will then weight the item as it’s added to the bag.
At the end of a shopping spree, users make their way down a special Dash Cart lane and exit the store. Purchase cost will be charged to a shopper’s credit card and a receipt emailed to their inbox.
It’s unclear at this point whether Amazon is looking to roll out the service beyond the new LA store, to Whole Foods outlets for example.
Amazon’s Dash Cart will let shoppers roll past checkout lines [New Atlas]