Amazon takes on Main street with the launch of more cashier-less grocery stores

The retailing giant Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) is going mano-a-mano with businesses on Main Street by introducing more cashier-less grocery stores.

Just this week, Amazon opened its first store without checkout lines in Chicago. The store adds to Amazon’s small fleet of three Amazon Go stores in Seattle that have been opened in the past two years, according to a report in The Verge.

Amazon Go stores are different than their rivals as they tend to open early (7AM) and close late (8 PM) and don’t have checkout lines. They sell groceries as well as grab-and-go food items, but customers pick up their chosen items and leave the store without paying.

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Customers are able to avoid the usual payment methods as the stores take advantage of cameras and sensors to figure out what people are purchasing. Customers scan an Amazon Go app as they make their way into the store and after buying what they require via a virtual cart, the goods are automatically added to their Amazon account bill.

Amazon is reportedly looking into adding an Amazon Go store in San Francisco or Los Angeles as well as more stores in Seattle, according to The Verge.

The e-commerce giant is the second US company to hit a US$1 trillion valuation and has disrupted everything from the business of selling books to grocery shopping.

Amazon shares slipped 0.8% in Wednesday’s afternoon session to US$1,926.42.

Story by ProactiveInvestors