Fresh idea as Amazon to open UK store without tills

  • Video report by ITV News Consumer Editor Chris Choi

Amazon is to open its first grocery store on the UK high street, with customers shopping without the need to queue at a till.

The retail giant will launch the first in a wave of stores on Thursday as it opens the doors to its first Amazon Fresh shop in Europe at a site in west London.

Shoppers at Amazon’s futuristic “contactless” stores will be able to pick up items and walk out of the store without the need for a till.

Amazon said it plans to open more Fresh stores in London Credit: Amazon/PA

Customers will scan a QR code on their way into the store, with cameras and technology identifying the items shoppers take from the shelves.

They will then be charged for the items via an Amazon app on their mobile phone.

The stores will be similar to the 20 Amazon Go stores the company runs in the US but will operate under the Fresh brand it uses for its UK online grocery operations.

Amazon said the store – which will be at the front of the Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre – will be the first of a number of planned openings in London.

Matt Birch, the former Sainsbury’s executive who now leads Amazon Fresh Stores UK, told PA the company has strived to make grocery shopping “as convenient as possible”.

“The focus was just creating a really easy shopping experience for customers,” he said.

“We recognise that UK customers want to shop in a convenient way so we really think they will appreciate being able to walk in and walk out with the shopping they need.”

The company said it has also launched a By Amazon range of hundreds of own-brand products for the stores.