I went to a cashierless Amazon store for the first time. It overcharged me $6, but getting a refund was easy.

March 20, 2022

I went to a cashierless Amazon store for the first time. It overcharged me $6, but getting a refund was easy.

Amazon Fresh store London, UK — Amazon Fresh store in Canary Wharf.
Grace Dean/Insider

I went to cashierless Amazon store that used sensors to monitor what I picked up.
It sold meat, alcohol, and ready meals. Some were big-name brands. Others were Amazon's own label.
It charged me $6 for a salad I didn't buy, but getting a refund was easy.

Amazon opened its first European store in Ealing, London in March 2021.

Amazon Fresh UK store — Amazon Fresh store in Ealing.
Kate Duffy

The ecommerce giant now has 17 stores across London, which operate under its Amazon Fresh brand and use Amazon's Just Walk Out autonomous technology. The stores don't have cash registers or cashiers and instead use sensors to monitor which products customers pick up.

Source: Amazon

I went to a store in Canary Wharf, London's financial hub, to try it out.

It's located under a block of residential apartments very close to Canary Wharf's huge underground shopping center.

The store's window display was quite plain. There was a poster advertising a deal on hot drinks and pastries designed to lure commuters in ...

... as well as instructions on how to actually enter the store.

To get in, you needed to scan a QR code on the Amazon app linked to your account.

I had downloaded the app before I set off to the store, but it seemed counterintuitive to me that the QR code to enter the store wasn't under the "Grocery" tab on the app, which was dedicated solely to Amazon Fresh deliveries for Prime users.

Instead, I had to click on the basket item at the bottom and then click on "fresh code."

Amazon Fresh app — The Amazon app.
Grace Dean/Insider

Once I had a QR code, getting into the store was easy. I went on a Monday afternoon, and though the store wasn't busy, there was a steady stream of customers throughout my visit.

The layout of the store was quite minimalistic, with a largely green and black color scheme.

Signs inside the store told you how the shop worked.

The store had everything you'd expect from a normal grocery store, including fresh produce ...

... drinks ...

... meat ...

... and a variety of plant-based options.

It even had fresh sushi.

The store sold products by big-name brands ...

... alongside Amazon-own products.

It was strange seeing Amazon's logo on fresh food items like potato salad.

None of the Amazon-branded milk seemed to be organic, though.

Amazon also has a partnership with Morrisons, Britain's fourth-biggest supermarket, including offering same-day grocery delivery for Prime members. Though most products in the Amazon Fresh store were either big-name brands or Amazon-own brands, I saw a few Morrisons items dotted on the shelves.

I was also surprised to see some cakes made by Booths, an upmarket supermarket chain with around two dozen stores in northwest England. Interestingly, I couldn't find these cake on Booths' own website. Booths sells its products online through Amazon Fresh, but as a small, regional supermarket I didn't expect to see them in the store in London.

Sources: Booths, Amazon

In the store there were two machines were you could make hot drinks ...

... with prices considerably lower than at coffee chains.

One of the machines only made drinks with oat milk.

There was also a stand with hot food ...

... like these Amazon-branded baguettes.

On your way out there's a station when you can grab sugar, napkins, and sauce, too.

There was also a bakery section selling fresh bread, doughnuts, and pastries.

Alcohol was available in a small room at the back of the store. To enter, you had to show a member of staff your ID.

There were lots of brands I recognized, including Corona, Budweiser, and Stella Artois.

I struggled to find any Amazon-own alcohol.

The store also had a small Amazon Hub for order pick-ups and returns.

Amazon is known for its cheap prices. The store advertised some promotional offers, like two ready meals for £6 ($7.85) ...

... and the whole chickens seemed very reasonable at just £4 ($5.25) each.

Milk cost £1.30 ($1.70) for 4 pints, which is comparable with other UK grocers, and Amazon emphasized that it was from British farms. Overall, prices in Amazon Fresh didn't seem any lower than other stores.

The store also sold meal deals, which are offered by many British supermarkets. Deals at other outlets usually allow you to get a main, drink, and snack like potato chips or a chocolate bar deals for £3 or £3.50 ($3.90 or $4.60).

But at Amazon, you paid for the main and then could add a drink and snack for £1 ($1.30) extra. Because I went for quite an upmarket salad, my meal deal ended up coming to £5.50 ($7.20). I'd never paid that much for a supermarket meal deal before.

I wasn't entirely sure how to exit the store. There was a green arrow on one of the gates, but I wasn't sure whether I had to press a button.

As I walked towards it, though, the gate opened.

The store didn't have baskets or trolleys, and I put all my items straight in my tote bag. I'd picked up and put down a few items, and also placed some ready meals but changed my mind after a while.

I'd also taken some loose bakery items. I was especially interested to see whether Amazon had identified these correctly because each croissant or cookie varies slightly in appearance.

A short while after leaving the store, I got a push notification which said how long I'd spent in the store, how much I'd spent, and what they'd come to.

Amazon Fresh app screenshot] — A push notification from the Amazon app.
Grace Dean/Insider

I was able to view my receipt in the app. Amazon had got everything right – apart from a halloumi, butternut squash, and beetroot salad which I had held in my hand before deciding not buy it and putting it back. I was able to quickly request a refund on Amazon's website, though, and I got an email the next day confirming the refund had been approved.

I was impressed by the range of products in the store. Apart from the Amazon Hub and the logos on products, it was easy to forget that the store was operated by the e-commerce giant.

As someone who rarely orders from Amazon and who had never ordered groceries from Amazon Fresh before, it seemed weird to see so many of its own brand products.

Even if it didn't get my order entirely right, the experience was fun. I can't imagine making an autonomous store like this part of my regular shopping routine – but I can imagine stores like these will become more widespread in the future because of the convenience and low-staffing costs.