Amazon Fresh: London’s sixth till-free store opens in Dalston

Amazon Fresh has come up with Britain’s sixth till-free convenience store, doors of which will open today (8) on Kingsland High Street in Dalston. 

Claiming to offer ‘just walk out shopping’ experience, the new Dalston store will join five other till-free stores in London opened so far this year, including one in Ealing and on Chalk Farm Road.

Amazon has not revealed exactly how many sites it plans to open in the country, but has previously said it looks forward to having more.

To enter the latest site, customers have to use the Amazon app and shop for what they need. They are supposed to pick up goods, and walk away. Shortly after they get an email receipt and are billed from their Amazon account.

The till-free experience is said to be made possible by technology that detects when products are taken from or returned to the shelves, and keeps track of them in a virtual basket. 

Amazon Fresh till-free store reportedly offers customers a wide selection of its new private food brand, ‘by Amazon’, which has hundreds of products, including meat, poultry and fish, dairy, fruit and veg, bakery, freshly prepared meals and everyday essentials. ‘by Amazon’ also includes a range of hot food throughout the day and on-the-go meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

While it claims to source many of its own-brand groceries – including milk and eggs – from UK suppliers itself, the other items come from Morrisons and Booths- supermarkets with whom it has pre-existing ties, reports said.

While the e-commerce giant claims its till-free stores as watershed moment in retail, many many experts and civil liberty groups have been raising concerns about data privacy and misuse.

There have been persistent rumours as well that it might try to expand further in the sector by buying one of the larger chains.