Sneak peek: Amazon Spheres and the future of retail.

2018 has barely started and Amazon has already opened two new experiences in downtown Seattle: the Seattle Spheres and the Amazon Go store. Since our BlackWing Creative HQ is just 5 blocks away, and since we are insatiable tech researchers, we popped over to see what our friends at Amazon are up to now.

Our first stop was the Seattle Spheres and the Understory. The facility contains a high-tech visitor center full of large vertical screens showing photos of plants and the different spaces within the spheres above.

Next stop was “the future of retail,” the Amazon Go store — the first cashier-free store on Earth. When entering the store, you feel like you’re walking into a subway station as you stroll through turnstiles and scan your smartphone using the Amazon Go app. Once inside, the store is very similar to a high-end corner market. You can buy everything from prepared food, like salads and sandwiches, to Pop Tarts and even craft beer.

When you look up, you can see hundreds of cameras watching you. These cameras track your every move and know exactly which items you’ve put into your bag. We shopped for about 10 minutes, then exited the store through the turnstiles. No checkout line and no checkout. In about 5-minutes, we received notifications on our phones confirming our purchases and our credit card charges. No mistakes! We were quite impressed.

Enjoy our video and snapshots from our field trip to the downtown Seattle Amazon jungle.