With the world of commerce seemingly shifting from brick and mortar stores to just online shopping, Amazon is continuing to lead the way of innovation in shopping.  

The retail giant Amazon, based in Seattle, is testing out a new concept:their own grocery stores.  The store is called Amazon Go according to USA Today, and the concept of Amazon Go will be first tested out in downtown Seattle.

When a customer walks in, a system pulls up their Amazon account on his or her phone. When the customer removes an item from the shelf and puts it in their cart, the product is automatically added to the customer’s Amazon account on his or her phone.

If somebody doesn’t want something and puts it back on the shelf, it is removed from the customer’s Amazon account.  

There is one question that many still have: “How does the store know who pulled what from the shelf?” The answer lies in proprietary technology according to USA Today. Amazon has developed a system of artificial intelligence using a variety of sensors and machine learning.

According to a promo video by Amazon, the store looks like a normal grocery store, but without checkout lines, which can be long at times. When the customer is finished, he or she simply walks out of the store, and the Amazon account is charged just like an online order.  

Amazon is calling it “just walk out technology.”

To add to the convenience, Amazon Go is only 1,800 square feet– which is only a fraction of the 45,000 to 60,000 square feet of a typical grocery store– according to Forbes. The displays are compact, which leaves little open space. This helps customers spend the minimum amount of time possible in the store. The smaller size will also allow Amazon Go to fit stores in smaller spaces, such as in congested city areas.  

Like many other grocery stores, Amazon Go features a full range of ready to eat items, including breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.

In addition to the ready to eat items, the stores will sell “meal-kits.” These are boxes of ingredients that are specially designed and put together to allow someone to cook a fresh meal for two people in just 30 minutes. This is a convenient feature for someone who is on the way home from work to pick up.  

According to Amazon, the store also looks to feature products from local farms and food producers. This will give each store its own unique products, depending on the geographical location. For example, a store in the Lake County area will likely have apples from orchards in Michigan, whereas the store in Seattle will have apples from orchards in Washington.  

For now, the first Amazon Go store will only be open to employees of Amazon. This will help create an environment that will be allow Amazon to troubleshoot issues because they won’t have angry customers if the technology fails. Afterall of the bugs are worked out, Amazon plans to open the store to the public towards the end of 2017, but it is not yet know where the first locations will open up besides in Seattle.