Whole Foods will launch Amazon One tech in the U.S.
All Whole Foods Market locations in the U.S. will offer Amazon One for payment and Prime membership benefits by the end of the year, according to an Amazon blog post. With more than 500 locations, Whole Foods Market will be the largest single retailer using the technology.
“We are always looking for new ways to delight our customers and improve the shopping experience,” said Leandro Balbinot, chief technology officer at Whole Foods Market. “Since we’ve introduced Amazon One at Whole Foods Market stores over the past two years, we’ve seen that customers love the convenience it provides, and we’re excited to bring Amazon One to all of our customers across the U.S.”
Amazon One — Amazon Web Services’ palm recognition service for identification, payment, loyalty membership and entry — reached more than 400 locations nationwide and more than 3 million uses, the retailer said. Consumers use Amazon One by hovering their palm over an Amazon one device. Amazon Prime members can link their Amazon One profile with their Amazon account and any savings will automatically apply.
Amazon One is currently available at select Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores along with more than 200 Whole Foods Market locations across the U.S., including Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
Additionally, Panera Bread recently launched Amazon One’s loyalty linking capability at two locations near its headquarters in St. Louis. The first restaurant chain to adopt Amazon One tech also plans to roll it out to more locations later this year. At Coors Field in Denver, Aramark Sports + Entertainment is the first sports venue to use Amazon One tech for age-verified alcohol sales.
Other third-party retailers, such as Hudson, CREWS and OHM, deployed Amazon One at their airport stores including in Atlanta; Charleston, South Carolina; Dallas; Washington, D.C.; Kansas City, Missouri; Los Angeles; Newark, New Jersey; Nashville and Seattle. Additionally several sports and entertainment venues along with several grocery and convenience stores offer Amazon One tech.
