I Went To An Amazon Go Store...

And it was great.  I grabbed one of these Cherry Bublys off the shelf and was impressed with the experience.  And the cost.  $0.69 for a can isn't terrible, right?  Target is selling the 8 packs for $4.39 or about $0.55 per can.  Not a terrible markup. 

Let me tell you: I'm not an Amazon guy.  Nat is the Amazon buyer in our house.  And we use it a ton.  And what the company has done with PRIME and same day/next day is really quite unbelievable.  But, knowing that I'm not an "Amazon guy", I can honestly tell you:  the store is a neat experience. 

However...if you look up, you get startled.  The cameras up in the ceiling are terrifying.  But, I suppose that's the tradeoff for the convenience.  I have to wonder if they'll make them a little bit more friendly or hide them in some way going forward.

I also can't help but wonder if these initial Amazon Go stores are going to be like the new minor leagues in baseball:  just using it as a data modeling tool to improve performance in the 'big leagues'. 

For now, I'm there for it because this Amazon Go store is in the building next to ours and is a quick four minute walk away.  It is a better experience than the convenience store we have in our building.  The one thing I seem to encounter there is the LOTTO buyers.  There are tons of them, and I think that's a big piece of getting people into that store.  At the Amazon Go store, there's no Illinois Lottery tickets being sold there.  I don't miss it a bit, but I'm thinking that's going to keep some of those places afloat longer than they should be based on the natural progression that this check-out-less store as it takes over.