Amazon opens first "Amazon Fresh" cashless store in Europe

The online retailer Amazon has been offering its customers a new shopping experience for some time with the Go-Stores. You can buy groceries here without queuing at the cash register. So far, however, this offer could only be used by people in major US cities such as Seattle. Now Amazon is expanding to Europe with the concept. London is starting with an Amazon Fresh store.   

Even if the name has changed, the concept remains the same. Customers are permanently monitored with a large number of cameras and sensors. As soon as they leave the shop, the system automatically recognizes which products have ended up in the shopping cart and then bills them via an app. However, data protectionists see this procedure extremely critically. Although Amazon announced that the data collected from the purchase is only linked to its own customer account for 30 days, it is not known what will happen to it after the deadline. It is unlikely that these will simply be deleted.

In addition, not only data on the products purchased are electronically processed in the store itself. It can be assumed that Amazon monitors every movement of its customers. Similar to online shopping, articles that were placed in the shopping basket but ultimately not bought should be saved here. It would also be possible for the time spent in front of a shelf to be registered. It is unknown whether the pupils are also tracked in order to follow the customer's gaze. Since most of the sensors and cameras are in the ceiling of the building, this should not be technically possible at the moment. However, installing various cameras on the shelf could help. 

It remains to be seen whether the concept will be accepted in Europe. Due to privacy concerns, many customers may choose not to shop at Amazon Fresh.