Amazon Expanding Palm Payment to Whole Foods Market Stores
Amazon has added its Amazon One palm entry and payment technology to the Whole Foods Market store at Madison Broadway in Seattle, WA, with plans to add the tech to seven additional Whole Foods Market stores in the Seattle area over the coming months.
Amazon introduced the contactless way for people to use their palm to enter, identify, and pay last year. Since then, the Amazon One service has been added as an entry and payment option at several Amazon stores in the Seattle area, including Amazon Go, Amazon Go Grocery, Amazon Books, Amazon 4-star, and Amazon Pop Up.
“At Whole Foods Market, we’re always looking for new and innovative ways to improve the shopping experience for our customers,” said Arun Rajan, senior vice president of technology and chief technology officer at Whole Foods Market. “Working closely with Amazon, we’ve brought benefits like Prime member discounts, online grocery delivery and pickup, and free returns to our customers, and we’re excited to add Amazon One as a payment option beginning today. We’re starting with an initial store at Madison Broadway in Seattle and look forward to hearing what customers think as we expand this option to additional stores over time.”
Thousands of customers have signed up for the service, Dilip Kumar, vice president, Physical Retail & Technology said in a blog. New customers can sign up at any Amazon One kiosk or device in participating stores, and enrollment takes less than a minute. After they insert their credit card, customers hover their palm over the device and follow the prompts to associate that card with the unique palm signature being built in real-time for them by computer vision technology. Once enrolled, customers can use Amazon One to pay at participating Whole Foods Market stores in about a second or so. If customers have previously signed up for Amazon One at an Amazon store, they may need to re-insert their credit card one time at an Amazon One device in a Whole Foods Market so they can continue to use the service in those stores.
“Palm technology is another way that the retail giant is paving the way for the future of checkout, which requires seamless and secure payments that get customers in and out of the store quickly,” Todd Barstow, VP of Payment Solutions, GK Software USA, tells RIS. “This move by Amazon will force retailers to take a second look at the cashierless concepts they are using and will encourage them to experiment with new tech that will solve today’s payment challenges. It’s important that retailers evaluate which payment technology fits within their retail format and unique shoppers’ needs.”