KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A new grocery store concept is open in Kansas City, Missouri, on the corner of 18th and Holmes streets.
Community Groceries is the first of its kind in the nation to use Amazon technology while being a standalone store, not an Amazon Fresh grocery store.
The technology is called Amazon One, and the owner of Community Groceries worked with Amazon for over three years to be able to use it.
It's simple — all customers need is a credit card and the palm of their hand.
Just walk in, insert a credit card and scan both palms. Then peruse the store.
As customers remove items from shelves, motion censors, weighted shelves and cameras on the ceiling are able to detect exactly what is picked up. The item then goes into a "virtual cart."
Once the trip is complete and the customer leaves, the total is automatically charged to the credit card on file.
NEW TODAY: #CommunityGroceries in KC has it's official ribbon cutting. The first of it's kind in the area AND US to use @amazon technology, but not be an Amazon store.
— Caroline Hogan KSHB (@CarolineHoganTV) January 6, 2023
I took a walk through of how the tech works and it really is THAT EASY. pic.twitter.com/76qXo0Ljis
"You don’t have to talk to anybody if you don’t want to, honestly," said Alyssa Groenig, the store's director of sales and marketing.
No cashiers and no waiting in line, it's simply in and out, which was the goal of the store: accessibility and convenience.
"I hate to grocery shop because it’s inefficient to me," Groenig said. "A lot of people, a lot of single people, a lot of families, they need to get in, they need to get out. They don’t have the time to wait in a line. In this capacity, it just changes the shopping experience."
Customers are not required to have an Amazon Prime membership or account.
"If you don’t know anything about Amazon, their security is insane," Groenig said. "So you can be confident that your card, your information, all of it is safe with them."
The store offers food, alcohol and select pharmaceutical goods at the same prices as other area stores. Shoppers can buy local, too, with 14 brands including Teabiotics, Zum and Boulevard Brewing.
"If we can bring in products that are local, all we’re doing is supporting the people around us as well," Groenig said.
Community Groceries' next step is pre-made meals and snacks, as well as the possibility of expansion in 2023.
Right now the store does not accept cash or EBTs, only credit cards.
