Global coffee chain Starbucks on Thursday (Nov. 18) cut the ribbon on its first location that utilizes a cashierless approach powered by Amazon Go, the retail giant’s brick-and-mortar convenience store chain, according to a Reuters report.
Starbucks is among the companies using labor-saving technology including artificial intelligence, robotics and digital touch screens as U.S. restaurant staffing levels are at least 10% lower than before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Starbucks met the demand for increased online orders with new store formats, adding pickup-only locations at some urban locations, traditional cafes and suburban drive-thrus.
Starbucks and Amazon are planning to open at least two more cashierless U.S. locations in 2022, said Kathryn Young, Starbucks’ senior vice president of global growth and development.
Starbucks baristas will make drinks and the rest of the chain’s menu at the new cashierless location in New York City, which will have the same staffing level as any other Starbucks.
Customers at the cashierless location can place their orders through the Starbucks app and grab coffee to go from a counter near the door, or use a credit card, Amazon app or Amazon One palm reader to enter the rest of the space, take snacks from shelves or sit at the tables.
Related: London Opens First Market Outside of US To Use Amazon’s Cashierless Tech
Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that London’s Sainsbury will be the first market outside of the U.S. to use Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology when it opens Nov. 29, calling the new offering at its High Holborn location ‘SmartShop Pick & Go.’ Sainsbury uses Just Walk Out tech with its employees.
With Just Walk Out technology, shoppers scan their smartphones on the way into the store and ceiling cameras track what they take from the shelves. Customers are then charged on a predetermined payment method on the way out. The cashierless Sainsbury store is not far from a cashierless Tesco Express, which uses technology from Israeli startup Trigo Vision Ltd.
The first Amazon Go store opened at its Seattle headquarters in 2018 and has grown to about 24 locations across the U.S. There are six Amazon Go shops in the greater London area operating under the Amazon Fresh banner.
The technology is also installed in some Amazon Fresh grocery stores in the U.S. and will soon be added to some Whole Foods Market locations.
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