In Seattle last week, Amazon Go opened its first dedicated grocery store with technology that lets shoppers walk in, take what they want and walk out with the money automatically charged to their account.

The Amazon Go Grocery neighbourhood store sells everything from fresh produce and meat and seafood to bakery items and household essentials, plus easy-to-make dinner options. There is a mix of organic and conventional items from well-known brands, along with special finds and local favourites.

The checkout-free shopping experience uses a combination of computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning. Called Just Walk Out technology, it automatically detects when products are taken from or returned to the shelves and keeps track of them in a virtual cart. When the shoppers have got all they want, they can just leave the store. Later, Amazon will send a receipt and charge their Amazon account.

Shoppers need an Amazon account, the free Amazon Go app and a recent-generation iPhone or Android phone. They can find the Amazon Go app in the Apple App Store, Google Play and Amazon Appstore.

When they arrive, they scan the QR code from the app at the gate to enter the store, then they can put their phone away; they don’t need it to shop. Shoppers can browse and shop as they would at any other store. If they see something they want, they can grab it off the shelf and pack their bag or cart as they shop. If they change their mind, they can put it back and the technology detects that it has been returned and removes it from the account.

They can also shop the store with family and friends by using the QR code in their Amazon Go app to scan in each person first at the gate, then scan again for themselves to enter. Everyone can then shop the store as normal. Any items taken off the shelf by family or friends who entered the store using their app will be added to their virtual cart. If they return any items back to the shelf while in the store, those items will be removed from the virtual cart.

There are people working in the store to greet shoppers at the door, restock shelves and the fresh produce area, answer questions, and make product recommendations.

Local vendors featured in the store include La Parisienne, Donut Factory, Tony’s Coffee, Seattle Bagel Bakery, Lopez Island Creamery, Ellenos Yogurt, Uli’s Famous Sausage, Beecher’s, Eat Local, Sri Bella, Carso’s Pasta Company and Theo’s Chocolate. There is also free one-hour validation for parking within the building.

There are now 25 Amazon Go stores in Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco and New York, but this is the first Amazon Go Grocery store