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Amazon Dash Cart enables customers to skip checkout lane

‘Smart’ shopping cart keeps track of purchases and completes transaction

Russell Redman

July 14, 2020

4 Min Read
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The Amazon Dash Cart is designed for small- to medium-sized grocery shopping trips, with a basket that fits two grocery bags.Amazon

Amazon has developed a “smart” shopping cart that keeps track of shoppers’ purchases and allows them to complete their transaction while exiting the store.

Called the Amazon Dash Cart, the cart uses computer vision algorithms and sensor fusion technology to identify items that customers place in its basket. To pay, shoppers walk through a special Amazon Dash Cart lane, where sensors automatically identify the cart and the items selected, and their payment is processed using the credit card on their Amazon account.

Plans call for the Amazon Dash Cart to be available at the Amazon grocery store slated to open this year in Woodland Hills, Calif., Amazon said Tuesday in announcing the new cart. No further plans for introducing the cart at other Amazon stores selling groceries — such as Amazon Go Grocery, Whole Foods Market and Amazon Go convenience stores — have been disclosed, according to spokeswoman for the Seattle-based company.

Amazon noted that the contoured Amazon Dash Cart is “specifically designed” for small- to medium-sized grocery shopping trips. Its basket fits two grocery bags. “You can shop our entire grocery selection using the cart,” the company said.

To shop with the Amazon Dash Cart, Amazon Grocery customers first sign into their Amazon account by scanning the Amazon app QR code on the reader next to the digital screen near the cart’s handle. They then put bags into the cart and begin shopping.

Related:Amazon leads in online grocery shopper satisfaction

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The Amazon Dash Cart uses computer vision algorithms and sensor fusion technology to identify items that customers place in its basket.

As shoppers take products off shelves and place them in the bags, the cart beeps to signify that the item’s barcode has been read and recorded as a purchase. If the light at the top of the basket turns orange, customers remove the item and try again. To add products without a barcode, such as fresh produce, shoppers tap the “Add PLU Item” button on the cart’s screen and then type in the item number. The item’s weight is confirmed and displayed on the screen when the product is put in their bag. 

Customers can see a running tally of their purchases on the cart’s screen. Once done shopping, they exit the store through the Amazon Dash Cart lane, which records their transaction. A receipt is emailed to the shopper. Associates are on hand at the store to assist shoppers, Amazon said.

Other Amazon Dash Cart features include the ability for customers to access their Alexa Shopping List, enabling them to check off items and view their subtotal, as well as a coupon scanner that lets users apply store coupons as they shop.

The Amazon Dash Cart’s functionality reflects the “Just Walk Out” cashierless technology used in the Amazon Go Grocery and Amazon Go c-stores. The Go stores employ overhead cameras, weight sensors and deep learning technology to detect merchandise that shoppers take from or return to shelves and keep track of the items selected in a virtual cart. Customers use the Amazon Go app to gain entry to the store through a turnstile. When they exit the store, the Just Walk Out technology automatically debits their Amazon account for the items they take and then sends a receipt to the app.

Related:Amazon’s physical store sales rebound in Q1 amid pandemic

Amazon has confirmed plans to open a full-size supermarket in Woodland Hills during 2020, but the e-tail giant hasn’t disclosed a banner name or provided details about the store.

Reports of a new grocery store concept from Amazon — aside from Whole Foods — surfaced in March 2019. Published reports said Amazon has signed leases in the Los Angeles area (starting with locations in Woodland Hills, Studio City and Irvine) and is eyeing sites in metropolitan New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Initial reports also said Amazon was in talks to open stores at shopping centers in San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., and was mulling potential acquisitions of small grocery retail chains.

In late March, upscale grocer Fairway Market auctioned off two store leases in New Jersey to Amazon as part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. Amazon acquired Fairway’s Paramus and Woodland Park, N.J., store leases for $1.5 million, Fairway announced.

About a month earlier, Amazon opened the first Amazon Go Grocery store, sized at 10,400 square feet, in Seattle. The company said it plans to open another in Redmond, Wash., but hasn’t disclosed a timetable.

Currently, Amazon lists 26 locations for the small-format Amazon Go concept, including in Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago and New York. Most were temporarily shut down starting in late March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Amazon Go website lists seven as still temporarily closed, including two in San Francisco undergoing renovations. The employee-only mini outlet in Seattle's Macy's building also remains temporarily closed. Other than that location, which is sized at 450 square feet, the Amazon Go stores range from 1,200 to 2,700 square feet.

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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