Amazon Fresh Stores — Big Changes Ahead

Update May 6, 2024

I love the idea of totally bypassing the long cashier lines, the register process of scanning one item at a time, the people who take forever to run their cads through, and process their carts full of high processed foods. I love the idea of Amazon Fresh stores’ Just Walk Out. No lines, no phony, and often painful mandatory chitchat with the cashiers, no people in front of you — Just Walk Out. However, this idea has backfired on Amazon.

Amazon is planning to turn off their many thousands of cameras in their stores and go back to traditional checkouts. The reason, Just Walk Out does not work. Whatever AI model they used to calculate our purchases was seriously flawed. They spent so much time and money offering refunds that they gave up on the AI model. Now, Amazon is using an army of a thousand human trackers to follow each customer (through the cameras) from the time they enter into the store, until they leave, to correctly calculate their receipt. It now takes more than 12 hours to receive your receipt from Amazon Fresh stores, because this human army is overwhelmed. However, I should say, since this army of human trackers have taken over, I have not had any mistakes or overcharges on my receipt.

It is unknown if Amazon will switch to self-checkout, since self-checkouts have proven to be a major loss of income for retailers, since customers routinely scam the system. Time will tell, but I will miss Just Walk Out!

Original Editorial

I have been an Amazon customer since 2007, and an Amazon Fresh stores visitor since the summer of 2023. I use a palm scan to enter and exit the store; the exit process also acts as an automated checkout. I love this idea. I specially like the fact that the verification process is not a fingerprint nor a facial scan. I can also pay with my palm at the Whole Foods Market (owned by Amazon). This is brilliant!

Due to recent return policy changes by Amazon Fresh stores, shopping there has become a pain. Let me reiterate that I love the concept of their stores and to be able to walk in and out with just a palm swap, but things have gotten worse recently.

50% Accuracy Rate at Best

Their system makes mistakes all the time. My receipts from every other visit to Amazon Fresh stores have at least one mistake on them. That’s an accuracy rate of only 50%.

Here are Some Examples of Silly System Errors:

I was waiting in the prepared foods department and happen to be standing in front of a stack of paper towels, I was charged for them.

I was waiting in line for package delivery and return window and happen to be next to a stack of cookies, I was charged for them.

I was standing near their pizza section, asking one of their employees a question, I then was charged for a whole pie of pizza. How can their hundreds of cameras not witness the fact that no pizza was handed to me and I didn’t carry one with me out of the store.

Their system cannot distinguish between a small and large cup of coffee. Both sizes are charged as large.

If I pick up an item to read the ingredients, there is a good chance that I’d get charge for it, even when I put it back right away.

I have many such examples. In fact, their item tracking system is so prone to errors, that I am not motivated to explore the store and touch any item. It’s not worth the hassle to be charged for something just for looking at it or standing in front of it, then wasting 20 to 30 mins on a CS phone call to remove that system error item from my receipt.

Error Reporting Policy Change — From Good to Tiresome

In the past, I’d get home after the purchase and look at my Amazon order on that day and if I found any errors, I’d simply select the option for a refund with the reason “I did not take”. The system would automatically remove that item from the receipt.

Considering that Amazon Fresh Stores are still a work in progress, Amazon’s handling of their mistakes has been stellar until recently.

Amazon Fresh Stores Now Require a 20-Min CS Call to Remove a System Mistake

In my past several visits to the Amazon Fresh stores, the system made a mistake on almost each and every visit and when I tried to select the refund option for those items that I had not taken, the system refused and asked me to call customer service. Customer service calls take at least 20 minutes. Considering the unreliability of Amazon’s in store item tracking, the fact that they now want us to spend 20 to 30 mins on the phone with customer service after each visit is preposterous.

No Customer Feedback or Complaint Option

There is no place to file such a complaint with Amazon. I tried contacting Amazon customer service, also calling the number associated with the Amazon Fresh store where I shop, plus calling the CS for Amazon One Palm Swap system. None could take my complaint. I received an email from Amazon about my issue, but the email (for some reason) came from their Sellers Dept and since I am not a seller, I couldn’t reply to it. I tried again to contact the customer service, this time via chat on Amazon.com. I chatted with 10+ agents and was transferred many times between departments for 90 mins but none could help me.

Amazon Fresh Stores Automated Checkout May Go the Way of Autonomous Taxis

There is a rumor that the Amazon team responsible for the Fresh stores is also tired of all these mistakes, in addition to thousands of customer complaints and system error reportings. They are thinking of removing the automated checkout system in favor of the widely used self-checkout. I hope they keep the palm scan payment system.

Ordinary Self-Checkout Transformation of Amazon Fresh Stores Will No Longer Make it a Unique Shopping Experience

If the rumors are true and Amazon does plan to kill their automated checkout system; that would turn them into an ordinary store, similar to Target. Why anyone would want to shop at Amazon Fresh Stores and be forced to self-checkout when they can go to Target for much lower prices (across the board), plus Circle benefits and use their self-check out system. However, regardless of the payout method, people would still be interested in using Amazon Fresh stores as grocery delivery solution.