Starbucks and Amazon have joined forces to create a new concept coffee shop! Use Amazon Go technology, no cashier, no queue!

Amazon and Starbucks are in talks to launch a joint-brand coffee shop that will develop a new concept coffee shop that will inherit Amazon Go technology and become a cashier-free smart coffee shop, according to INSIDER (insider).

Everyone should know Amazon. It is a multinational e-commerce company and is currently one of the largest Internet online sellers in the world. Although e-commerce is dominant, the company also has some experience in brick-and-mortar stores, thanks to Amazon Go.

Amazon Go is the first store to open using Just Walk Out technology. The checkout-free shopping experience is achieved through the same type of technology used in self-driving cars, combining computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning. Just Walk Out Technology automatically detects when products are removed from or returned to the shelf and tracks them in the virtual shopping cart. When customers finish shopping, they can leave the store directly. Later, Amazon will send receipts to customers and charge their Amazon accounts. This means that customers don't have to wait in line to pay, they can just leave after they get what they want.

The partnership between Amazon and Starbucks is to better apply Just Walk Out technology to Starbucks stores. The partnership's internal code-named "Verde" store sells not only Starbucks drinks, but also baked goods and hot foods from Amazon, so at first it was necessary for consumers to use two payment apps-Amazon and Starbucks. Obviously, as far as experience is concerned, this is not the ideal solution. As a result, Amazon and Starbucks are committed to developing unified applications.

Through the promotional video officially given by Amazon Go, you can see that before entering the store, download Amazon Go APP, scan the QR code on Amazon Go (team shopping only needs to scan one person's QR code), and then choose the goods you need normally, without checkout and queuing, just go out.

The goal of Amazon and Starbucks' smart coffee shops this time is to eliminate queues. The document shows that the principle of cooperation with Starbucks emphasizes "seamless customer experience" and "differentiation", thus bringing "surprise" factors. The others are "technological innovation", "speed and scale", "flexibility" and "operational efficiency".

According to internal documents, the new store will put Amazon Go's food area in a cafe, which is similar to Starbucks' coffee shop and includes a rest area. It will offer Starbucks drinks, Amazon baked goods and hot food, so customers don't have to wait in line to check out.

Store layout rendering

Here are six principles for Amazon's partnership with Starbucks:

A seamless customer experience is the most important

Differentiation is the key

L purposeful technological innovation

Speed and scale are very important

L ensure the flexibility and scale of the design

L improve operational efficiency

Discussions between Amazon and Starbucks were lively until at least July 2020, but both companies failed to open their first concept store in the fourth quarter of 2020 and six stores in 2021. Nevertheless, "Project Verde" is still one of Starbucks' top ten initiatives.

In the long run, Verde concept of this project can greatly speed up the flow of consumers, reduce time costs and enhance customer experience, in line with the law of future market development. Because of the commercial independence of the technology, Amazon may use the technology to open up new monetization channels. The cooperation with Starbucks will be the latest move for the e-commerce giant to enter the brick-and-mortar store field. As for how it will develop in the future, let's leave everything to time.