Friday, 3 December 2021

Amazon Fresh & the future of shopping

Have you heard of Amazon Fresh? 



Well I have heard of Amazon Fresh. For few years, it was all based in the United States. As of this year, they started having stores outside the US and the first store is in Europe. Here in the UK.

The first ever UK Amazon Fresh store was opened earlier this year in Ealing Broadway. ealingtimes.co.uk 

Now there are more of them in London. Amazon Fresh stores in Ealing (first UK Amazon fresh store), Wembley Park, Camden, White City, Canary Wharf, Dalston (Hackney), East Sheen, Richmond, Angel & Holborn. Around 10 stores (at the time of the writing). 

And so last week and half, while I was buying something, I come across the new store that has been there since September and that it is called Amazon Fresh store. 

The store which anyone can buy things there which has walk out technology. No tills, no self checkout machines & no retail assistants. My mind was like “WTF, that’s crazy”. I only bought chilled coffee (Starbucks). 

My initial thought was that this could be very common in the future. Retail assistants out of work with shops with no staff members, no tills & no self checkout machines. That is how I am very sceptical on the idea of cashless society. I previously talked about it in February this year and with Amazon Fresh, it is a prime example of it. 

Look I am all for competition and that is all good (nothing wrong with that) but why would we all need the cashless stores like Amazon Fresh with walk out technology where everyone can buy anything in the shop & just leave? As if shoplifting is not a crime. I would imagine the likes of Pret, Caffè Nero and Gregg’s will lose many customers all thanks to the multinational company that does not pay taxes & that the employees in Amazon not feeling valued & being exploited. No tea break. Being told not to go to toilet (bathroom). Urinating in plastic bottles with “work until you drop” mindset which is appallingly horrible.

At least I had received a receipt 🧾 knowing I used the Amazon app to enter and exit the shop. Personally, I wouldn’t want to go to any Amazon Fresh store again at anytime soon. 

So yeah, the future of shopping. This will potential affect & kill the High Street if there are going to be a lot of cashless stores without cashiers like Amazon Fresh and putting staff members in the retail sector out of work. That will be all I can say about Amazon Fresh. 

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