The first Whole Foods store to have no cashiers fully opened Wednesday in northwest Washington, DC
The location at 2323 Wisconsin Ave. NW is technologically innovative and allows many people to skip the checkout line entirely.
The store uses “Just Walk Out” technology, which allows shoppers to skip the checkout. You may have seen it in Amazon grocery stores in the DC area, but it’s new to Whole Foods.
Shoppers entering Whole Foods are greeted by a series of gates resembling the ticket booths in a subway station. To participate, buyers scan a payment method, e.g. B. a code in the Amazon app or a credit card linked to your Amazon account. Then the gates fly open.
Check out the first cashier-less Whole Foods in Northwest DC
Inside, this unique store looks like a typical whole foods store, with a hot food bar, salad bar, pizza counter, butcher, and sections for baked goods, personal care, and beer and wine. There is also a seating area
One difference is that shoppers pick up grocery bags first—then they can place items directly into the bags. Once shoppers have completed their shopping list, they scan the same payment method at the exit gates and head straight out the door.
When News4 visited during the soft launch, staff were near the entrance and exit to help customers through the process. It took Whole Foods about two and a half hours to email the link to a receipt — and all six items purchased, including a 5-cent paper bag, were correctly billed.
Self-checkouts are available if shoppers wish to pay with cash, EBY, eWIC, or credit cards not linked to an Amazon or Whole Foods account.
The Whole Foods began inviting some Amazon Prime members to visit in late January, but is now fully open to the public, a spokesman said.
It’s also a big moment for local residents who have been waiting for a full-service grocery store to return to this stretch of Wisconsin Avenue. The grocery store closed in March 2017 and has been held up in a lengthy court battle until the landlord and Whole Foods agree on terms for the renovation and reopening, our news partners and WTOP reported.
Whole Foods will open a second location with Just Walk Out technology in Sherman Oaks, California later this year.
