A new Starbucks implementing Amazon Go’s Walk Out technology is opening in NY on the 18th of November. The store is a combination of a Starbucks Pickup and Amazon Go, utilizing the order ahead feature in the Starbucks app and Amazon Go’s Just Walk Out technology to create an easy checkout experience, alongside a modernized lounge that features individual workspaces and expanded tables with power outlets and USB ports. The new store offers the full Starbucks menu and a curated assortment of food and beverages in the Amazon Go market, including fresh-prepared salads, sandwiches, bakery items, and snack options.
“The new Starbucks Pickup with Amazon Go is designed to provide our customers with an experience that delivers convenience and connection in an effortless way. Our goal with this new store concept is to give our customers the ability to choose which experience is right for them as they go through their day, whether it is utilizing the Starbucks and Amazon apps to purchase food and beverages on the go, or deciding to stay in the lounge for the traditional third place experience Starbucks is known for.”
– Katie Young, senior vice president of global growth and development at Starbucks
Amazon released their Just Walk Out technology to retailers last year, as a solution to helping the high street recover from COVID. Just Walk Out Technology automatically detects when products are taken from or returned to the shelves and keeps track of them in a virtual cart. When you’re done shopping, you can just leave the store. Later, we’ll send you a receipt and charge your account.
In addition to the new store that opened, Amazon will open two additional stores in 2022, with the second location planned for The New York Times Building located at 40th Street & 8th Avenue in NYC. This new store concept aligns with Starbucks trade area transformation strategy, which builds on the strength of Starbucks digital customer relationships and the Starbucks app to meet evolving customer preferences for convenience, higher levels of mobile ordering and contactless pay, and reduced time waiting in lines. With Starbucks implementing the technology will we see other retailers respond and have a go with it themselves?