Amazon has stepped up its rollout of the Amazon One palm-recognition payment system to Whole Foods Market stores across California.
Seattle-based Amazon said Tuesday that more than 65 Whole Foods locations in California will soon provide Amazon One service, which lets customers use their palm to complete their purchase at checkout. Starting today, the technology will become available at Whole Foods stores in Malibu, Santa Monica and Montana Avenue in Los Angeles, followed in the coming weeks by deployments at Whole Foods stores in other parts of Los Angeles Orange County, the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento and Santa Cruz.
Amazon noted that the California expansion marks the first broad rollout of Amazon One at Whole Foods stores after launches in Seattle, Austin, New York City and Los Angeles.
Customers first must pair their palm signature with a credit card, either at checkout or at an Amazon One kiosk.
Amazon One debuted at Whole Foods at the Madison Broadway store in Seattle in April 2021 and subsequently was deployed at Whole Foods stores in West Seattle, Interbay, Westlake, Kirkland, Lynnwood, Roosevelt Square and Redmond, Wash. Then this past April, Amazon One launched in southwestern Austin at the Whole Foods store in the Shops of Arbor Trails shopping center. That was followed by Amazon One deployments at four other Whole Foods locations in Austin (downtown Austin, East Austin, Domain Northside and Gateway Shopping Centers) and at two others in Bee Cave and Cedar Park, Texas.
Most recently, in May, Whole Foods stores in Silver Lake and Irvine, Calif., became the chain’s first Los Angeles-area locations to introduce Amazon One as a payment option, followed by the Whole Foods in Playa Vista, Calif., later that month. Also in May, the palm-scanning payment platform went live at the Manhattan West Whole Foods store in New York City.
Amazon One employs custom algorithms and hardware to scan a person’s unique palm signature and provide a fast, contactless way to enable daily activities like checkout and payment at a store, presentation of a loyalty card, and secure entry at sites such as a store, stadium or workplace. Customers sign up at a special kiosk or device in participating stores, and enrollment takes less than a minute, according to Amazon. After inserting their credit card, shoppers hold their palm over the device and follow the prompts to pair the card with their palm signature, which is built in real time via computer vision technology. Customers can enroll with one palm or both.
After signup, customers can use Amazon One to pay at participating Whole Foods stores. Payment using Amazon One takes about a second or so, Amazon said. Shoppers who have previously signed up for Amazon One at an Amazon store may need to reinsert their credit card one time at an Amazon One device at Whole Foods to use the service in those stores. Enrollees also have the option to link their Amazon One ID with their Amazon account to get their Prime member discount and benefits at Whole Foods.
In California, Amazon One also is offered at the Whole Foods Market in Sherman Oaks, the recently opened Amazon Style apparel store in Glendale, and at selected Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores.
Amazon One adds to the company’s Just Walk Out cashierless technology pioneered at Amazon Go convenience stores and, more recently, deployed at Amazon Fresh supermarkets. Amazon Fresh also offers the Amazon Dash Cart smart shopping cart at 16 of its 40 locations, with the rest of the banner’s stores providing Just Walk Out shopping. Whole Foods currently offers Just Walk Out at two stores, with the technology making its debut at the chain’s Glover Park store in Washington, D.C., in late February, followed a month later by another new Whole Foods store in Sherman Oaks, Calif. providing Just Walk Out functionality.
