13 Details You Need To Know About Amazon Fresh

There's a lot to know about Amazon's futuristic grocery store chain, Amazon Fresh. It can be daunting going to a new grocery store, especially one with unfamiliar technology. But the good news is that anyone can feel comfortable shopping at Amazon Fresh since there are traditional checkout options. The choice to go with more futuristic checkout options is entirely up to you.

The store has been evolving over the last few years as Amazon takes note of what works, what doesn't, and what people really want in a grocery store. So, you'll see some of the features you know and love from other grocery chains as well as from Whole Foods. When you visit, you're in for some technological surprises, and there are special perks for Amazon Prime members. So, if you're curious about what makes Amazon Fresh different from your average grocery store, stay tuned because we have all you need to know about this grocery store of the future.

If you look on the Amazon website, you'll find a whole list of foods that you can buy online through Amazon Fresh. While Amazon Fresh has a delivery service, it is also a physical brick-and-mortar chain. So, you get the best of both worlds because it's both a delivery service and a grocery store.

The good news is that you don't have to be an Amazon Prime member to shop there or get grocery delivery; it's available to everyone. However, there are a few features of the store that you can't use without being an Amazon Prime member or at least having a basic Amazon account (more about those later).

As the name suggests, the grocery store carries more than just the boxed and canned goods you can normally buy through Amazon. It also has sections of the store devoted to fresh produce, meat, and seafood. Plus, you'll find freshly made prepared foods ready to take home and enjoy. The brands you'll find there are popular ones you know and love, as well as local brands and Amazon brands. There's also a small Best of Amazon section of the store that features popular non-food items like books, Instant Pots, and gadgets.

The first Amazon Fresh opened in Seattle, Washington, in 2007 solely as a grocery delivery service. However, the first physical grocery store version didn't open until 2020 in Woodland Hills, California. With it embodying a new vision for grocery stores with lots of modern technology, being careful where to put the stores makes sense. After all, Amazon would only want to open in locations where it thought that the local population would embrace it.

As of this writing, there are only Amazon Fresh stores open in California, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, and Tennessee. California leads the way with 24, and Illinois has 11. However, most states that have them just have three to five stores, and Tennessee only has one so far. There were over 60 stores as of November 2024, with more slated for opening.

With new locations continuing to pop up, have heart if there's not one in your state or city yet. Amazon usually makes the opening quite an event, too, with the first people in line getting free Amazon gift cards and other door prizes. So, it's not uncommon to see a long overnight queue to get in before opening day.

For a while, Amazon Fresh stores had Just Walk Out technology that allowed you to walk in and be charged when you walked out of the store with your groceries. So, there was no reason to stop at one of the regular checkout lanes and interact with a human. However, the experiment didn't go over very well. While you may still find it at some of the smaller Amazon Go stores in the U.S., the technology has been removed from full-sized Amazon Fresh stores as of the spring of 2024.

There were several reasons the Just Walk Out technology ultimately didn't work out. Some customers didn't like the idea of being tracked throughout the store, especially since it was actually 1,000 employees in India tracking their every move rather than AI as the company claimed. Others didn't like the idea of not knowing how much they'd spent until after they exited the store.

Now, instead of using Just Walk Out Technology, customers can check out with ordinary cashiers or use self-check kiosks. Plus, the new Amazon Dash Carts allow you to self-check directly from your cart.

The smart shopping carts in the Amazon Fresh store are largely what make the store so futuristic. You can still skip the traditional checkout line if you connect your Amazon Dash Cart to your Amazon account (also available at some Whole Foods locations).

Luckily, you don't have to have an Amazon Prime account to use all the bells and whistles the Amazon Dash Cart offers; you can use a regular account. If you don't have an Amazon account or just want to use the regular checkout line, a regular cart is still an option.

All you have to do to use an Amazon Dash Cart is to download the Amazon Shopping app and scan the app's QR. With the newer carts, there's no product scanning required since the cart can identify what you put into it on its own, but the older ones may need some help. Plus, they can weigh products automatically. If you're looking for something specific, the cart can show you where it's located on the screen via the store map. It's also easier to stay within budget since the cart shows your running total on screen. Then, when you're done shopping, you simply leave the store through the Amazon Dash Cart exit lane. This is also where you will need to show your ID if you put any alcohol in the cart. Once you're through, a receipt will show up via email.

Amazon Fresh has new deals every week. You can find them via email signup or on the Amazon website. You can also find out what's on sale in the store by logging into your Amazon app and setting it to the In-Store Mode.

The best way to get good deals at Amazon Fresh is to sign up for an Amazon Prime account because some items will be as much as 50% off the regular cost. If you have a Prime Visa or an Amazon Prime Store Card, you'll also get an additional 5% back. Prime members also save at least 10% on Amazon brand products, like Happy Belly, 365, Aplenty, Fresh, Amazon Kitchen, and Amazon Grocery. It also has Amazon's discount brand, Amazon Saver, which mainly has products under $5 (like Amazon Saver Saltine Crackers that sell for under $2). If you're using a Dash Cart, your screen will also show you special deals throughout the store. Plus, it accepts SNAP benefits.

There's also something called an In-Store Promo Wallet that can help you keep track of any discounts you have from emails, online ad links, social media promotions, in-store signs, or real coupons. And, yes, Prime members have access to exclusive coupons they can virtually "clip." Once you're shopping in the store using your Amazon account, all the discounts you've collected in your Wallet will automatically apply to your purchase prices without having to do anything extra.

Ordering online and getting your groceries delivered to you is an option that is available for both Amazon Prime members and non-Amazon Prime members. How much you pay depends on whether you're a member, how much you spend, and how quickly you want your order. Grocery pickup at the store is always free.

If you don't have an Amazon Prime account, you can expect to spend $7.95 to $13.95 per order for delivery. The total amount depends on how much you spend and how quickly you need your groceries. The cost for Amazon Prime members who can wait at least two hours for delivery is between $6.95 and $9.95, depending on how much they spend, and free if they spend more than $100. It's more if you need it faster, and some places charge less if you can wait up to six hours to get your groceries.

If you have an Amazon Prime membership, you can sign up for a monthly subscription service for free delivery for orders of $35 and over. With an Amazon Prime membership, the service costs $9.99 per month. With an EBT card, it costs only $4.99 per month (no Prime membership required).

Despite its digital gadgetry, Amazon Fresh has a lot of real people working there. Thus, there are plenty of prepared food options.

Like an ordinary grocery store, Amazon Fresh has a full deli with freshly sliced meats and cheeses. Plus, there's freshly baked bread and cakes. There's also a section dedicated to grab-and-go options like pre-packaged sandwiches. Like at Whole Foods, there's a salad bar full of fresh ingredients. Plus, there's a hot food bar that allows you to create a meal by choosing the dishes you want and paying by the pound (which you might recognize from the Whole Foods experience). You can also pick up a roasted chicken there.

Like at Costco and Sam's Club, you can also buy a whole pizza or pizza by the slice for under $2 per slice. It's nothing to write home about, and you might have to wait a bit to get it, but it's cheap. Some locations also sell Krispy Kreme doughnuts from a doughnut shop inside the store. And, if you're thirsty, there's a coffee machine that lets you customize your drink, with choices like mocha, chai, cortados, cappuccinos, and more. Just note that the Amazon Dash Cart won't include the cost of your coffee on your bill if you put it in the cart's drink holder; you have to put it in the actual cart to pay for it. So, don't forget before you head out the door.

You can already use your Amazon Echo or Alexa on your phone to get Alexa to help you create a shopping list that you can use when you're in the store. Once you're in the store and connected to your Amazon account through your Amazon Dash Cart, your Alexa-created shopping list will pop up right on the screen in front of you.

If you're inside an Amazon Fresh store and need assistance, all you have to do is seek out one of the many blue Alexa kiosks around the store to get AI assistance. If you're having difficulty locating anything, you can go to an Alexa kiosk and ask for help, and she will point you to the correct aisle or even to the bathroom. So, there's no more need to run down a human associate or go down aisle after aisle just to find that one thing that's not shelved where you think it should be shelved. Just like you would at home, you can also ask the store Alexas to answer questions for you. For example, if you've just found a new type of cheese in the store and are wondering what wine would taste best with it for your dinner party, Alexa can help.

Since Amazon Fresh is an extension of the Amazon company, you can use it to take care of your Amazon shipping needs. These services include both pickups and returns.

One of the ways you can use Amazon Fresh for your regular Amazon shipping needs is that you can have your packages delivered to the store instead of your home. Then, you don't have to worry about porch pirates and can pick them up at your leisure. Some locations have pickup lockers that allow you to get your items at your leisure.

Another way you can use Amazon Fresh with your regular shipping issues is to use the store for returns. Rather than having to label and box your returns, you can just take them straight to your local Amazon Fresh store, just like you'd return a product to a regular store. Just have your return shipping information ready to go on your phone when you get there.

Repeat Items is a neat feature to use if you do your Amazon Fresh shopping online for pickup or delivery. You can use it to add certain items to your cart based on how often you think you're going to want to buy them.

Repeat items automatically show up in your virtual shopping cart at the regular intervals that you set. For example, if you buy milk, bread, eggs, tomatoes, lettuce, apples, carrots, and bell peppers every single time you go to the grocery store, you can set them up as Repeat Items so that they get added to your virtual shopping cart weekly. If you run out of your vitamins and laundry detergent once a month, you can set them to be added to your cart every 30 days. Thus, shopping just became that much easier.

The nice thing is that Repeat Items aren't automatically sent to you. They'll just be sitting in your virtual shopping cart waiting for you, and you can remove them from your cart if you don't want them this time around. You can also get an email or text reminder or a phone alert when one of the Repeat Items shows up in your cart, which will allow you to take action and order it right away or take it out of your cart as necessary.

There are a couple of extra neat features available from Amazon Fresh. The Order Ahead feature prevents waiting in line when you shop in the store, while bundling groceries and non-food items allows you to make multiple types of Amazon online orders at once.

The Order Ahead option is for areas of the store where a human may need to prepare items for you, and you would traditionally need to wait. So, it works for orders in the deli, special meat or seafood orders, or orders of prepared food like hot pizza. Once you're in the store, you can use your Amazon Fresh app to order something from one of these sections of the store while you shop. Then, you can pick up items like a hot slice of pizza when it's ready for you without having to stand in line to order it and then wait for it.

In October of 2024, Amazon Fresh started trying out a new program in its Phoenix, Arizona, store for bundling regular Amazon delivery orders with Amazon Fresh orders. The way Amazon is planning to do this is to stock Amazon fulfillment centers with Amazon Fresh products, Whole Foods products, and common items ordered from Amazon.com. So, all your orders will be coming out of the same building at the same time for delivery. Several fulfillment centers have been modified to be able to handle such orders in the future.

As a company, Amazon has committed to The Climate Pledge. This pledge, which applies to Amazon Fresh, means that the company is working toward having a net-zero carbon emissions rating by 2040.

So, what would it look like for a grocery store to operate at a level of netting zero carbons? Packaging is one consideration. For example, it's trying to use minimal recyclable packaging, even when it comes to insulating cold products for delivery. Plus, all the packaging that your Amazon Fresh home deliveries come in should be able to be recycled in your normal city recycling program. In more urban areas like Manhattan, delivery drivers use e-bikes to deliver most of their online orders.

One bold step forward in this endeavor is that it already has one store that has Zero Carbon Certification — one of its Seattle, Washington locations. Some of its innovations include installing a CO2-based refrigeration system, using lower-carbon concrete floors, and selling Climate-Pledge-friendly products.

While Amazon Fresh sounds like the future of grocery shopping, it hasn't been as well-received everywhere as the company hoped. It turned out that customers are more wowed by a good shopping experience than shopping technology. In fact, we'd wager that the technological aspect likely had some potential customers apprehensive about walking in the door in the first place.

Customers seem to be more satisfied with the store in locations that have had a redesign. These are places that made the interior more inviting and colorful rather than stark and full of stainless steel. Plus, they've added features like coffee and doughnuts. With the Just Walk Out technology turned out to be a flop in larger stores, it's clear that the company is still learning what customers want. So, expect more changes in the future.

Unfortunately, amid mass Amazon layoffs that began in 2022, some locations closed down, and some never opened at all. Curiously, there are several stores that never made it to opening day that are for lease in cities like Detroit and in the Twin Cities area. Still others have been built without opening. The U.K. locations aren't doing well either. So, the store's future is unclear.