Advertisement

Amazon may open up to six more automated stores this year

Amazon Go has apparently been a success.

Lindsey Wasson / Reuters

Amazon may have opened its automated convenience store a year late, but it looks like it's been a pretty big success. Recode learned that the company plans on opening six more of its Amazon Go stores in 2018. It's not clear where these stores will be located, though Recode reports that more locations are likely in Seattle, and Amazon is in talks with the developer of The Grove in Los Angeles.

Amazon Go is billed as the convenience store of the future. There are no checkout lines; you can simply walk in, grab what you want, and leave. You scan in with a smartphone app, and then an AI tracks what you take from the shelves and automatically charges you for them.

A big sticking point for the expansion of Amazon Go stores, which focus on convenience-type items such as grab-and-go sandwiches, is how well the AI would handle a busy store. Now, it looks as though the technology has acquitted itself well.