Amazon opens its first cashierless supermarket in London

Amazon opened a cashierless supermarket in London on Thursday, its first physical expansion outside the United States as the company bets on strong demand for its contactless stores.

The online retail giant opened the doors to its Amazon Fresh store in the Ealing neighborhood of west London, in what it said will be the first of a wave of stores in the British capital to use its automated payment technology.

Shoppers use an app to scan a QR code to enter the store. They can buy milk, eggs and other groceries, while cameras and sensors track what is removed from the shelves.

Purchases are charged to an Amazon account after checking out and a receipt is emailed. There is no need to wait in line to pay at checkout, a feature that has more appeal in pandemic times.

Amazon already operates 26 cashierless convenience stores in the U.S. under the Amazon Go brand and two larger supermarkets called Amazon Go Grocery. As part of its U.K. launch, the company also introduced its new private label grocery brand, By Amazon.