The new Amazon Fresh grocery store comes with a voice assistant: „Alexa, where can I find the hot sauce?”

Amazon will open its first Fresh grocery store for in-person shopping on an invite-only basis starting this week, and will open to the general public in the coming weeks, the company has announced. 

Amazon’s latest grocery store configuration is packed with technology but will not use its “Just Walk Out” cashierless tech. The Fresh store in LA is the first location where shoppers will be able to use Amazon’s Dash Carts, which you log into using the Amazon app and are equipped with cameras and sensors to identify which items you drop in. The cart is compatible with a shopping list made using Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant. You can then automatically pay without having to wait in line at the checkout. Amazon says there will also be Echo Show devices dotted around the store to help users find their way around.

„Customers simply place their bags in the cart, sign in using their Fresh QR code in the Amazon app, shop, and exit through the Dash Cart lane to automatically complete their payment. The cart uses a combination of computer vision algorithms and sensor fusion to identify items put in the cart,” said Jeff Helbling, the vice president of Amazon Fresh Stores .

„Customers can find items in the store more quickly by using Alexa and Alexa shopping lists. When customers arrive in store, they can access their Alexa shopping list through the Amazon app or on the Amazon Dash Cart, enabling them to quickly navigate aisles and check off items as they shop. Throughout the store we have Amazon Echo Show devices available to ask Alexa for help—simply say, „Alexa, where can I find the hot sauce?„, Helbling added.

By contrast, the Go Grocery store Amazon recently opened in Seattle uses a series of overhead cameras and pressure sensitive shelves to automatically detect what customers buy, allowing them to purchase items by simply walking out of the store.