The purchase of Whole Foods by Amazon for $13.7 billion US has turned analysts to worrying about what the online mammoth might possibly make of the grocery industry. Many say it would have to invent magic food to do better at selection and quality than most of what is for sale in Toronto. Delivery? Maybe, but so far the appeal of that service has not shown the potential to turn grocery shopping upside down. People want to choose which orange looks nicer. Rather, some suspect the real Achille’s heel of the current supermarket game is at the checkout counter. Last year, Amazon opened Amazon Go, a checkout-free grocery store in Seattle, where customers are charged wirelessly on their Amazon accounts. They leave the store without ever having to see a cashier or self-checkout system. There’s no way of knowing at this distance if Amazon Go really works or if shoppers are robbing them blind. But there’s no denying the idea of just waltzing into a store, grabbing stuff and waltzing out is very appealing. AMAZON: Just take stuff and walk out “without paying”
