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Nov 11, 2023

Just Walk Out gives Whole Foods stores an edge, data shows

The two stores in the chain outfitted with Amazon’s checkout-free technology did

The two stores in the chain outfitted with Amazon's checkout-free technology did better in some ways than nearby locations without the automated system during the second half of 2022, Placer.ai found.

The two Whole Foods Market stores outfitted with Amazon's Just Walk Out frictionless checkout system outperformed nearby locations in the chain without the equipment by certain measures during the second half of 2022, retail analytics firm Placer.ai reported Tuesday.

The first Whole Foods store equipped with the computer vision-based technology in the Glover Park neighborhood of Washington, D.C, recorded a larger proportion of mid-afternoon shopper visits between July and December of 2022 than two other Whole Foods stores in the area, the data analysis company said in a blog post.

Meanwhile, Placer.ai found that people spent less time shopping at the location with the Just Walk Out system, which records the items shoppers select as they move through a store and lets them leave without stopping at a checkout counter.

Taken together, the figures suggest that shoppers have been gravitating to the high-tech location to save time, Placer.ai said.

In addition, the 21,500-square-foot supermarket — which became the first Whole Foods location with the Just Walk Out system when it reopened last February after a multiyear closure — has been drawing a greater percentage of younger, more affluent shoppers than other Whole Foods locations in the Washington area, according to Placer.ai's findings.

The second Whole Foods location to receive the automated checkout gear recorded more visits per square foot than a pair of nearby Whole Foods stores without the tech between July and December of last year, Placer.ai said. The store — which opened last March in Sherman Oaks, California — notched 10.6 visits per square foot during the period, while the other stores recorded 7.8 and 7.1 visitors per square foot over that stretch.

"By bringing ‘Just Walk Out’ to the chain, Amazon is expanding the Whole Foods brand and its recognition as a player in tech-powered shopping," Placer.ai noted in its report, pointing out that Amazon also brought its Amazon One palm-based payment system to some Whole Foods stores.

Amazon has also installed Just Walk Out equipment in multiple locations in its Amazon Fresh chain of conventional supermarkets, although there are indications that the company may have put the brakes on what had been a rapid expansion of that line of stores.