Amazon-owned Whole Foods has rolled out its cashierless technology in Washington, DC.
The store announced that shoppers at the Whole Foods location in the Glover Park section of the capital would no longer need to interact with anyone at a cash register when paying for their groceries.
The company unveiled its Just Walk Out technology, which was first announced in the fall of last year, at the 21,500-square-foot location — the first of two that will be outfitted with automated cash registers.
A similar initiative is being planned for a Whole Foods in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles.
Just Walk Out works by having shoppers scan their payment method of choice when walking into the store. It could be a credit card; the Amazon One payment system, which lets shoppers hover their palms over a scanner to identify themselves; or the Amazon and Whole Foods apps.
Instead of a bagger scanning each item taken, cameras and sensors track what shoppers choose and automatically charge them.
Shoppers then have to scan again upon exiting with their groceries.
At the DC and LA locations, shoppers will be able to opt out of the new technology and instead pay in the traditional way.
The Gotham Reporter 