We Bought Stuff With A Smart Shopping Cart! [Amazon Dash Cart]

Whenever we drive by our old hood, Lida would always fawn over the shiny new supermarket that propped up after we had moved northbound. What exactly is so exciting about a supermarket that would warrant an entire trip dedicated to hitting up the location? Well, for one, there isn’t another brick and mortar store with quite the same shopping experience as this place. We’re talking about the Amazon Fresh market. Not to be confused with Whole Foods, which is essentially the de facto market you think about when you name drop Amazon, Amazon Fresh is an entity entirely on its own. The distinguishing factor? Dash Carts!

The World’s Smartest Shopping Cart

So what exactly makes an Amazon Fresh market so unique of a shopping experience compared to Whole Foods and other traditional markets? The easiest way to explain it is that the entire ecosystem is based around your mobile device and the accounts linked to it. To make things work seamlessly, shoppers with Amazon Prime and the Amazon app simply scan their unique QR code to the shopping cart (which is the world’s smartest shopping cart). The cart essentially becomes your physical Amazon website. The Dash Cart has four visible cameras on the inside rails of the cart that identify when and what items enter into it. The first time you place something inside, you’ll be so amazed at what is actually happening that it’ll take a minute to process in your brain. We needed it for sure.

Like everything in technology nowadays, a piece of tech requires a touchscreen. The one located right over the handlebar is relatively large and vibrant. While I couldn’t dig up the exact specs of the screen, I’d estimate it to be around the size of the Fire HD 10. This is where the brains of the operation is located as it consolidates all the information into a hub to integrate the cart with the store and user. Every item you drop into the cart is recorded and listed for you to see as if it was the digital cart section of Amazon’s website. The cart also knows where you are in retrospect to the store as it recommends items for you to purchase based on nearby aisles. This is Amazon marketing synergy perfectly illustrated to a tee. Amazon has become such a giant magnet for so many various business platforms that what we’re seeing now from a business model standpoint is unprecedented. Merging business platforms and different proprietary technology together on a consumer level like this is the equivalent of all the Avengers gathering together for a movie. It wasn’t accomplished prior, but now that there’s a map carved out, we’re going to see it emulated a lot.

Simple shopping

A Dash Cart in use

When we were finished with our shopping itinerary, completing the check out process is as simple as literally walking out. There’s a green finish line area by the exit that you have to push your cart into where the sensors indicate that you’ve completed adding things into the cart. It’ll tell you to pick up the paper bags and a receipt automatically slides into your email and Amazon account. That’s all. The entire shopping process consisted of dropping items into your cart and then pulling them out of the cart. No lines, no credit cards, no need to interact with a grocer, and least of all, no stress. In and out in a few minutes if need be. I can see this flow of traffic being immensely beneficial in densely populated urban areas.

On top of the easy process the Amazon Dash Cart seems to offer, there are financial benefits as well, as I personally use the Amazon Prime credit card for a majority of my purchases. Shopping at Whole Foods or Amazon Fresh gives me 5% back on all of the purchases made. That’ll also apply to dog food which I was surprised to see some of the brands that Amazon Fresh had in stock during my visit. These aren’t brands I can find at my local Albertsons or Stater Bros. I have a feeling that as more Amazon Fresh stores pop up around the world, both this store and Whole Foods will continue to expand their inventory with items that aren’t fresh produce. They already sell Amazon products like the Fire Tablets and Echo Shows in these markets. Sooner rather than later, their affliate clothing lines and Amazon Basic products will begin populating new aisles or expanded storefronts. I wouldn’t even be surprised to see an Amazon department store in the near future.

Entrance to an Amazon Fresh

Merging Digital and Physical Shopping

In this Fourth Industrial Revolution we’re currently in the middle of, transition to digital currency and commerce has dominated many of our technological advancements. From wireless payments to home delivery apps, it seems the evolution of society has led humans away from brick and mortar interactions. However, when I was inside Amazon Fresh, I felt a rejuvenation of the in store shopping experience. Shopping for fresh produce at a market is a human habit that will never go away. Home delivery may take a slight chunk out of the industry sales, but of any major commerce type, grocery shopping stands to have the most resistance to switching fully over to e-commerce. After all, seeing and choosing what you’re consuming into your body requires humans senses which technology has yet to digitize. The Dash Cart experience was a seamless mix of the digital and the physical properties of a shopping experience. For once, I actually found an Amazon idea/product to be well polished that could truly push a platform forward in a momentous way.    

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