Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Where Amazon Go takes flight
High-tech retail could land at major airports in U.S.
A new frontier for Amazon Go stores may be opening.
The retail giant is exploring the debut of its techy, scan-and-go shops at airports, according to a report by Reuters. So far, Amazon has opened seven brick-and-mortar locations in Seattle, Chicago and San Francisco. And The Telegraph of Britain reported the company is looking for new sites in London.
Retail and airport experts agree that the Amazon Go model could bring a major boon to the company and airport shopping as a whole. As for existing airport stores looking for faster ways to get shoppers to their gates? Amazon could bring new competition to the terminal, they say. Amazon declined to comment for this story.
But experts also say that airports would just become the latest space for Amazon to cut down on employees in exchange for automated technology. And they say that could help Amazon set prices well below other airport convenience stores.
“One of the big problems at airports is that (people) are very busy and often very stressed, and there’s a real restriction on time,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of research firm GlobalData Retail. “It’s very interesting Amazon is looking to go there.”
(Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos owns the Post.)
Reuters cited public records requests it sent to several airport operators that hinted at meetings related to Amazon Go stores. Those airports later told Reuters that they didn’t have further exchanges about Amazon Go, and that the process would likely involve competitive bids. Amazon Web Services, the company’s cloud unit, has been in touch with airports for unrelated reasons, Reuters said. A person familiar with the strategy also told Reuters that Amazon is looking at how to bring checkout-free stores to airports.
To start, the setup of an Amazon Go store would do well for travelers, experts said. The stores have no cashiers or checkout lines. Shoppers scan their phones on a turnstile when they walk in. Cameras and sensors blanketing the store track customers as they move, including what items they pick up or put back on the shelf. Once they’ve found what they need, shoppers walk right back out through the turnstiles, and their phone generates a receipt and “trip timer” telling them how many seconds they spent shopping.
The cameras include infrared sensors, but Amazon said the store doesn’t use facial recognition. Some of the items have large codes that help the camera recognize when they’ve been picked up. Computers installed throughout the store then pair that information with weight sensors installed in every shelf.
When the first Amazon Go store opened in January, it quickly raised eyebrows for how closely customers — and their data — would be watched and tracked. Privacy experts cautioned that shoppers may not understand just how much personal information they’re giving away. And they said a setup like Amazon Go stood apart from other retailers: The company has the ability to track not only what you buy, but even what parts of the store you spend the most time in.
this year compared to last year.
E-cigarettes and other vaping devices have been sold in the U.S. since 2007, growing into a $6.6 billion business. Most devices heat a flavored nicotine solution into an inhalable vapor. They have been pitched to adult smokers as a lessharmful alternative to cigarettes, though there’s been little research on the longterm health effects or on whether they help people quit.
Even more worrisome, a growing body of research suggests that teens who vape are more likely to try regular cigarettes.
Adams singled out Silicon Valley startup Juul. The company leapfrogged over its larger competitors with online promotions portraying their small device as the latest high-tech gadget for hip, attractive young people.
Analysts now estimate the company controls more than 75 percent of the U.S. e-cigarette market.
The surgeon general’s advisory notes that each Juul cartridge, or pod, contains as much nicotine as a pack of cigarettes.
Juul said in a statement that it shares the surgeon general’s goal: “We are committed to preventing youth access of Juul products.”