The Amazon Go convenience stores have been designed to simplify the shopping process for customers. You go in, pick up the things that you want, and walk out. The bill is automatically calculated and charged to the credit card you have on file. However, the company is now switching things up a bit by accepting cash for purchases.
Amazon confirmed to CNBC that it’s going to start accepting cash at its cashierless stores. This isn’t going to happen immediately, though. It’s not clear how Amazon will make this change but a spokesperson for the company said that customers will be able to “check out, pay with cash, and then get your change.”
This will mark a significant change for the entire model that the Amazon Go stores have been operated on. All of these stores were built around the concept of not requiring cashiers in the first place. One major limitation here for customers was that they had to have Amazon accounts in order to shop at an Amazon Go store. If you didn’t have an account or a credit card on file with Amazon, you couldn’t purchase anything from the store unless that changed.
This change would enable more customers to purchase goods at Amazon Go stores and enable the company to expand them to additional locations across the country. Customers who still want a cashierless experience will be able to walk out with their purchases like before.