If yesterday’s Tesla electric car experience felt futuristic, today’s shopping experience notched things up to another level. An amazing day travelling the city streets of Seattle and soaking up the sights of a landscape you just don’t get to see in Wales and feeling like we’d gone back to the future! First off though, we had to take the ferry to the hub of the city.
It’s a beautiful journey and a dramatic way to leave the picturesque rural coast behind and approach the city skyline.
Before we knew it, we’d swapped the quiet streets of Bremerton for the hussle and bustle of Pike Place Market. Heather had taken us here when we’d first visited nine years ago and it was fun clawing back old memories and seeing new sights.
What was new was Amazon’s new offices, where Jonathan works and their neighbouring ‘spheres’. An incredible work of design and engineering! It was part science fiction, part Eden project and part offices.
It’s not the usual kind of landscape that our travels take us to, but the views felt just as dramatic as soaring mountain peaks at times.
The ‘non-amazonions’ are allowed in part of the spheres, so we nosed around inside as best we could...
...before heading over to the main event that Jonathan had pointed us towards - the first and only ‘Amazon Go’ shop.
“Amazon Go”? I hear you ask... I though they just did online shopping. What’s so special about an amazon shop?
We could hardly believe it, but as the mugs on the shelves inside stated, this is the start of ‘just walk out’ technology.
Let me explain a little. Inside is a pretty normal looking supermarket. To gain entry you have to download an app on your phone, which you scan to get in the shop. You can then take whatever products off the shelves, put them in your bag or pocket and just walk straight out of the door without paying. No check-out queues here. No check-outs at all in fact! Even Jonathan couldn’t quite explain the techno witchcraft and computer wizardry involved, but basically, the ceiling of the shop was covered in cameras which were digitally tracking every shopper and noting (somehow!?!) where they went and what they took. Digital scales and bar codes knew exactly what stock was on which shelves and some sort of scanner knew what we left with...
Back on the street, only a few paces away from the shop, we got a notification on the app to show what we had bought and how much money had been taken from our bank. It was all correct. Unbelievable! It felt like we’d time travelled to the future!
Somewhat overwhelmed, with brains left ticking at speed, we retreated to Anthropology for some furnishing ideas for The Cottage Chalet and a rest some expensive sofas!
A bit of fun shopping ensued in what now seemed like ‘old fashioned’ stores that only took cash or contactless payments.
Once we were all shopped out, Anna took us to Mr West’s calm and tranquil cafe bar where we tried to puzzle out how the Amazon shop ‘worked’.
On our way back to the ferry, we stopped at ‘The Bookstore’ for some refreshing cocktails and in an American style, I got to try my first ‘bourbon’. After a glass of wine on the ferry, Jonathan joined us as we found ourselves in a classic American ‘booth’ ordering a late (it was nearly 10pm by this point!) dinner in a sports bar. Baseball was showing on huge screens, live music was playing and as it was ‘Taco Tuesday’, that’s what we dined on. Classic. Went to bed very late....
Let me explain a little. Inside is a pretty normal looking supermarket. To gain entry you have to download an app on your phone, which you scan to get in the shop. You can then take whatever products off the shelves, put them in your bag or pocket and just walk straight out of the door without paying. No check-out queues here. No check-outs at all in fact! Even Jonathan couldn’t quite explain the techno witchcraft and computer wizardry involved, but basically, the ceiling of the shop was covered in cameras which were digitally tracking every shopper and noting (somehow!?!) where they went and what they took. Digital scales and bar codes knew exactly what stock was on which shelves and some sort of scanner knew what we left with...
Back on the street, only a few paces away from the shop, we got a notification on the app to show what we had bought and how much money had been taken from our bank. It was all correct. Unbelievable! It felt like we’d time travelled to the future!
Somewhat overwhelmed, with brains left ticking at speed, we retreated to Anthropology for some furnishing ideas for The Cottage Chalet and a rest some expensive sofas!
A bit of fun shopping ensued in what now seemed like ‘old fashioned’ stores that only took cash or contactless payments.
Once we were all shopped out, Anna took us to Mr West’s calm and tranquil cafe bar where we tried to puzzle out how the Amazon shop ‘worked’.
On our way back to the ferry, we stopped at ‘The Bookstore’ for some refreshing cocktails and in an American style, I got to try my first ‘bourbon’. After a glass of wine on the ferry, Jonathan joined us as we found ourselves in a classic American ‘booth’ ordering a late (it was nearly 10pm by this point!) dinner in a sports bar. Baseball was showing on huge screens, live music was playing and as it was ‘Taco Tuesday’, that’s what we dined on. Classic. Went to bed very late....
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