Starbucks has teamed up with Amazon to open a cashierless store in NYC. The new location — at 59th Street between Park & Lexington Avenues — will combine the Starbucks app’s order ahead feature with Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology. In fact, the store sounds a like a cross between the cafe and the Amazon Go store, which served as the launching pad for the e-commerce giant’s cashierless tech experience.
It has a lounge area customers can enter by using the “In-Store Code” in the Amazon Shopping app, by scanning their credit cards or by scanning their palm registered with Amazon One on the terminals onsite. Once they’re in, they’ll find a small Amazon Go market containing a curated selection of customer favorites from both companies. Anything they take from the shelf will be added to their virtual carts, and they will be charged after they leave like in any other location that uses Amazon’s Just Walk Out tech.
Over the past year-and-a-half, Amazon has expanded the availability of its cashierless technology. It teamed up with airport stores to implement the check-out free experience and opened the first full-size Fresh grocery store with the technology in June. Amazon also added the technology to a few Whole Foods locations and, more recently, licensed it for use to UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s. This partnership with Starbucks is yet another step towards making Just Walk Out more ubiquitous than before.
Starbucks and Amazon are planning to open three joint stores in the coming year, including this one. The second location is planned for The New York Times Building located at 40th Street & 8th Avenue. For now, New Yorkers can head to the first location at 59th Street to check out the concept.
Starbucks
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