Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) is planning to aggressively expand into the convenience store and fast food sectors by opening as many as 3,000 AmazonGo stores in the next few years.
The company, which has dominated the online retail space for more than a decade, now plans to open brick-and-mortar stores that do not use cashiers and aim to reinvent the traditional shopping experience, according to Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos.
In a series of interviews, Bezos said that Amazon plans to use the AmazonGo stores to take on popular convenience store chains such as 7-Eleven, and quick-service sandwich shops such as Subway and Quiznos.
Bezos said that Amazon is well-positioned to both eliminate meal-time logjams in major cities and reinvent the brick-and-mortar shopping experience for consumers. AmazonGo stores will be like traditional convenience stores that also sell fresh prepared foods and groceries.
Amazon unveiled its first cashierless store near its headquarters in Seattle in 2016 and has since announced two additional sites in Seattle and Chicago. Shoppers use a smartphone app to enter the store. Once they scan their phones at a turnstile, they can grab what they want from a range of salads, sandwiches, drinks and snacks -- and then walk out without stopping at a cash register. Sensors and computer technology detect what shoppers take and bills them automatically, eliminating checkout lines and the need to stop and pay for items.
Amazon became the world’s largest online retailer by offering a vast selection and quick, convenient delivery. However, its new retail stores are expensive to design and open. The original AmazonGo in downtown Seattle required more than $1 million U.S. in computer hardware.
