Amazon Plans more Retail Palm Scanning

 Also a space we examined. 

Amazon Expands Palm-Scanning Payment Tech to 65 More Whole Foods Locations

By TechCrunch, August 12, 2022

Amazon plans to expand its Amazon One palm-scanner payment technology to more than 65 Whole Foods stores in California.

A part of the company’s mission to use “contactless” technology that makes it faster to pay, the technology employs machine learning to create a palm signature for each customer and linking it to a payment card at the kiosk or point-of-sale station, allowing them to complete transactions by holding their hand over a scanner.

The images captured by the kiosk are encrypted and sent to a server to match to the customer, but are not stored.

From TechCrunch   

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Amazon and Whole Foods

Inevitable moves  to make retail more labor efficient and error free.

 Here Comes the Full Amazonification of Whole Foods, By The New York Times, March 2, 2022

"Would you like to sign in with your palm?"

That was the question a cheerful Amazon employee posed when greeting me last week at the opening of a Whole Foods Market in Washington's Glover Park neighborhood. She blithely added, "You can also begin shopping by scanning the QR code in your Amazon app."

"Let's go for the palm," I said.

In less than a minute, I scanned both hands on a kiosk and linked them to my Amazon account. Then I hovered my right palm over the turnstile reader to enter the nation's most technologically sophisticated grocery store. ,,,, Biometric scanning devices at the newly opened Whole Foods Market in the Glover Park neighborhood   ... '

From The New York Times.  View Full Article   

Palm Swipe Scanning at Whole Foods

 We experimented with a number of ID/payment methods.   From Iris to thumbprint to Face.   But not palm swipe scanning, installed at Wholefoods now. Contact-less.

Amazon to let Whole Foods shoppers pay with a swipe of their palm   By Jeffrey Dastin

 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc said it is rolling out biometric technology at its Whole Foods stores around Seattle starting on Wednesday, letting shoppers pay for items with a scan of their palm.

The move shows how Amazon is bringing some of the technology already in use at its namesake brick-and-mortar Go and Books stores to the grocery chain it acquired in 2017.

The system, called Amazon One, lets customers associate a credit card with their palm print. It offers a contact-less alternative to cash and card payments, Amazon said.  .... " 

Amazon Made a Mistake with Whole Foods?

In Bob Herbold's blog, a strategic error by Amazon acquiring whole foods?   Used to go to these, not much anymore.    Yes, can see the 'cultlike' tag for its customers.   Does that not work in a pandemic?

Amazon: A Rare Strategic Mistake?

Whole Foods’ first store opened in 1978 in Austin, Texas.   National expansion began in earnest in 1984 and it has grown to 500 stores in North America.    In October of 2017 it was acquired by Amazon. Whole Foods’ amazing growth was due to three points of differentiation that it used to attract its unique customer set:

Natural Organic Foods – Whole Foods was the first and only USDA Certified Organic food chain, and customers were taught that what is good for them is foods free of chemicals, artificial colors or flavors, preservatives, etc.  It basically put organic on the map!

Regional Distinctive Items – Local Whole Foods managers were encouraged to stock in their stores small local/regional brands that were very distinctive, matched the natural/organic/fresh positioning, and had very high profit margins. 

Discriminating Customers – They developed a cultlike reputation of being the store for the educated, upscale, health-conscious customer.

A lot has changed in the marketplace since the Amazon acquisition, and the Whole Foods business is currently suffering.  Here are the key reasons:   ..." 

Hand Scanning Payments at Whole Foods

Another payment simplification idea from Amazon.

Amazon Tests Tool That Scans Your Hand to Let You Pay at Whole Foods 
The Telegraph (U.K.)
By James Cook
September 4, 2019

Amazon is reportedly testing a hand-scanning payments system to enable shoppers to pay for groceries. Shoppers using the Orville system hold their hands before a camera; the system measures the size and shape of the hands to confirm their identity and allow the purchase to proceed. Amazon reportedly plans to implement the system in U.S. Whole Foods stores in the coming months (the retail giant bought the supermarket chain in 2017).  ... " 

Can You Buy Food with Crypto?

I made the cynical point recently with a Washington insider colleague who was concerned about regulating currencies.  What will make it real?  Is that day here?   Its at least an example of how it might work.

You can now pay with cryptocurrency at Whole Foods  In Technology Review

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss want you to pay for groceries, movies, ice cream, and many other everyday retail products using cryptocurrency. 

The news: The twins’ digital currency company, called Gemini, has formed a new partnership with payments startup Flexa to incorporate crypto-payment capabilities into the scanners that let you pay with services like Apple Pay.

Users can now use an app called Spedn to pay with Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ether, or Gemini’s dollar-backed stablecoin called the Gemini dollar for items at retailers including Whole Foods, Regal Cinemas, Baskin-Robbins, Starbucks, and others, according to Fortune.

Will crypto-payments stick this time? The cryptocurrency industry has wanted to achieve mainstream adoption in retail for ages. A number of merchants tried to accept Bitcoin payments in the past, but it was probably too early: paying with crypto had yet to take off, and many retailers stopped taking it. In many cases that’s probably been down to price volatility and slow processing times.

Speed merchant: In this case, Flexa will serve as a bridge between merchants and the blockchain, and will settle the payments in real time using its own network. Merchants can choose to take the payment in either cryptocurrency or dollars. According to Gemini, processing payments like this will be cheaper than using credit card networks. .... " 

Amazon Prime at Whole Foods

Am a shopper at Kroger and Whole Foods since their inception.  Watching the expansion of tech closely.

Amazon Prime Now gives Whole Foods a price edge: report
Barclays study of Cincinnati market shows savings over Kroger/Instacart    Mark Hamstra in Supermarket News

Ordering grocery delivery from Whole Foods using Amazon Prime Now may be cheaper than buying from Kroger using Instacart, despite higher in-store prices at Whole Foods, according to new research from Barclays Capital. .... " 

Amazon Pickup Service in Whole Foods

Witnessed the set up of this in a nearby Whole Foods today.  No additional crowding as yet.   Can see it as a specialized service offering, volume involved unclear.  Other uses when the infrastructure is operating?

Amazon/Whole Foods planning store pickup service from third-party retailers  by George Anderson in Retailwire.  with further expert comments:

Amazon.com wants to negate one advantage that rivals such as Walmart, Target, Kroger and others have — store pickup. The e-tailing giant is looking to offer a pickup service at Whole Foods’ stores that will not only include orders from the organic grocery chain, but also from a host of other retailers.

According to the reports, Amazon is seeking a finance manager that will help build a pickup business from the ground up. The job posting, which was first reported on by the Puget Sound Business Journal, said the person hired would be behind “the Whole Foods delivery and pick-up service on the ultra-fast Prime Now app and enable our Prime customers to shop from a set of marquee third-party retailers.”

What potentially makes the described service different from those offered by Walmart and others is that it would appear to offer pickup from online orders placed with Whole Foods, Amazon and perhaps others, as well.  ... " 

Amazon, Whole Foods and Prime

Amazon improves connections between their online Prime buying club benefits and their brick and mortar acquisitions.  Whole Food 5% discount with Amazon Rewards Visa.  In the coming weeks I will be testing their 2 hour online direct delivery from a nearby Whole Foods. 

Via FMI Daily Lead:  Amazon will now give Prime members a 5% discount when they shop at Whole Foods Market stores using their Amazon Rewards Visa Cards, the company said. Amazon Prime members pay a $99 annual fee for benefits including free shipping and video streaming, and the Rewards Visa comes with other perks including 5% discounts on Amazon purchases. ... " 

Amazon to Deliver from Whole Foods

Toured a Cincinnati Whole Foods twice recently, noting the diversity of SKUs.    With exactly this thought in mind.   Had examined some advanced sign tech in Whole Foods some years ago.

Amazon will start delivering Whole Foods groceries to Prime members  in FastCompany

On Thursday the company announced that it will add Whole Foods groceries to its Prime Now service in four cities: Austin, Cincinnati, Dallas, and Virginia Beach, reports Reuters. Prime Now delivers products to Amazon customers within two hours of ordering. Customers will be able to get their Whole Foods grub within two hours for free or within one hour for an additional fee of $7.99 per order. Amazon purchased Whole Foods last year and since then has been using the acquisition to change the way people shop for groceries. Though Whole Foods Prime deliveries are only available in four cities at the moment, it’s likely Amazon will quickly expand on the number of locales sooner rather than later.MG ... " 

How is Amazon Changing Whole Foods?

Announcements not very remarkable, would like to see more technology in store,  that supports the idea of fresh,  integration of ingredients, cooking and innovation. How about robotic virtual and physical assembly of fresh recipes.  Integrate AI creativity?  Many possibilities.   How can you get tech to help with creative choices?  How about a deeper linking of their Alexa capabilities?

Amazon Just Announced How It's Changing Whole Foods.
A new era begins with this sentence: "Starting Monday, Whole Foods Market will offer lower prices."   By Bill Murphy Jr. in Inc.

Here are the changes that are coming to a Whole Foods near you, in greater detail. In short, they're cutting prices across the board -- and as many have predicted, will ultimately be adding more benefits for Amazon Prime members. .... "

First, Amazon said it would cut prices immediately on many products, including: "bananas, organic avocados, organic large brown eggs, organic responsibly farmed salmon and tilapia, organic baby kale and baby lettuce, animal-welfare-rated 85 percent lean ground beef, creamy and crunchy almond butter, organic Gala and Fuji apples, organic rotisserie chicken, 365 Everyday Value organic butter, and much more."

Second, "after certain technical integration work is complete, Amazon Prime will become Whole Foods Market's customer rewards program, providing Prime members with special savings and other in-store benefits."

Next, Whole Foods Market's private label products "will be available through Amazon.com, AmazonFresh, Prime Pantry, and Prime Now." ....  "

More on Tacobots, the future of ordering Tacos.

Implications of Amazon Buying Wholefoods

Discussion in Retailwire:

Amazon Jeff Bezos John Mackey Mergers/Acquisitions Online Retail Supermarkets Whole Foods Market     by George Anderson

It seems like just yesterday — actually, it was just yesterday — that reports were published saying John Mackey had called the people behind Jana Partners, a hedge fund with a nine percent stake in Whole Foods, “greedy bastards” intent on ruining his reputation and forcing a sale of the company he co-founded to make a quick profit. As it turns out, it appears Mr. Mackey and the “bastards” have both won after it was announced this morning that Amazon.com was acquiring Whole Foods in a deal valued at $13.7 billion.

Whole Foods will continue to operate its business under its own banner and Mr. Mackey will remain as CEO of the company. Whole Foods’ headquarters will remain in Austin, TX.

“Millions of people love Whole Foods Market because they offer the best natural and organic foods, and they make it fun to eat healthy,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO, in a statement announcing the deal. “Whole Foods Market has been satisfying, delighting and nourishing customers for nearly four decades — they’re doing an amazing job and we want that to continue.” ... ' 


And in the Bain&Company:
The Amazon–Whole Foods Deal Means Every Other Retailer’s Three-Year Plan Is Obsolete

by Darrell K. Rigby

Data Based Spicy Trends

A trend area we examined, based on data, now blooming in full gear:

" .... Restaurants and food retailers are feeding a growing demand for heat, with jalapenos, chili peppers, cayenne and cinnamon spicing up everything from vinaigrettes to cocktails. Spicy flavors made Technomic's 2016 trends list, which called for chefs to expand beyond sriracha to hot spices from regions including India, Korea and North Africa  ... " 

Not long after we left the food business.  Other social ways to find hidden trends?

Whole Foods Builds New ERP System

Whole Foods to Build New ERP System for ‘Single View’ of Product Data
By Steven Norton in the WSJ Blog.

The move is part of a broader effort by the grocery chain to centralize disparate IT systems, get a better view of its supply chain and improve its data analytics capabilities. “This is going to let us understand how products perform across the entire organization,” CIO Jason Buechel says. “This is the key tool to driving business day-to-day and driving benefits back to our customers. .... " 

Full report requires subscription. 

Loyalty Cards Driving Savings

New looks at changes in loyalty plays.  The number of loyalty plays per household is interesting,

" ... Food retailers look to loyalty card programs to drive sales, particularly as consumers abandon the primary store shopping model. However, the average US household is enrolled in 29 loyalty programs and only actively uses 12 of those programs, according to market researcher Colloquy. Retailers including Hy-Vee, SpartanNash and Whole Foods Market are adding programs and perks to help drive sales and reward return visitors.    .... " 

Google Testing Grocery Delivery

More online retail infrastructure developments:

" ... Google Inc. will start testing a delivery service for fresh food and groceries in two U.S. cities later this year, stepping up competition with online retailer Amazon.com Inc. and startup Instacart Inc.
The trial will begin in San Francisco and another city, said Brian Elliott, general manager of Google Express, which already delivers merchandise, including dry foods, to customers. Whole Foods Market Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp. will be among Google’s partners for the new service, he said.

"For a lot of our merchants that have been successful with this, we’re not representing the whole store today," Elliott said in an interview. "It’s in our incentive, as well as the merchant’s incentive, for us to help customers get the full store delivered to them."

Whole Foods Digital Signage

Whole Foods Store of the future utilizes digital signage.  They have been innovators in this space for some time.   " .... Whole Foods has unveiled a new range of touch screens and other digital tools at its new flagship store in Alpharetta, Ga., that incorporate social media and other technology to provide product information such as food source and nutrition. The move is part of the retailer's effort to stand out among an increasingly crowded market in which more traditional retailers are starting to offer natural and organic items.   ... " 

Whole Foods Accepts Apple Pay

Continuing to follow efficient and secure digital wallet ideas.  Here a new development with major players. " ... Whole Foods Market Inc. will be among the first merchants to participate with Apple Pay, Apple Inc.’s new mobile payment program that uses the iPhone to make purchases, the grocery store company announced. .. " .  An ambitious bet, the NYT says.   Due in October.

Instacart Shared Economy

Instacart brings "sharing economy" model to the supermarket.  In the NYT.

Instacart is bringing a business model of the "sharing economy" to the supermarket, using a mobile application to connect customers with individuals who are willing to go to stores and load shopping carts, make the purchases and deliver the goods. Unlike other sharing economy startups, Instacart has the support of the industry it's trying to disrupt, with supermarkets seeing the company as a means of expanding their customer base and competing with other online services such as AmazonFresh ... Their FAQ: 

Instacart is a grocery delivery service that delivers in as little as an hour! We connect you with Personal Shoppers in your area who pick up and deliver your groceries from your favorite local stores.

What stores are supported?

Our Personal Shoppers shop from local stores in your area. These can include Whole Foods Market, Costco and many other stores. Instacart is an independent business and is not necessarily affiliated with, or endorsed or sponsored by Whole Foods Market, Costo, Kroger or other retailers mentioned on this website. ... " 

Square at Whole Foods

Did an early experiment with the Square system for client payment, it has continued to progress in POS system,  here it continues its push into retailer payment systems:

" ... Running into Whole Foods to grab a fresh-pressed juice on the way to work can be quite the operation, depending on the line situation. But in some stores, that process is getting quite a bit faster.

Whole Foods stores in a handful of U.S. cities are now equipped with Square payment registers at in-store venues such as sandwich counters, juice and coffee bars, pizzerias and beer and wine bars, according to a joint statement from the companies released today. The payment system is available in seven stores in Austin, New York City, Florida and the San Francisco Bay area.

At stores where Square is integrated, you can go right to the juice counter, grab a beverage, flash your smartphone and be out the door. Square Wallet is the application that allows users to pay with their smartphone and is part of the Square Register payment system. ... "