NASHVILLE—A convenience-oriented store opened at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, featuring Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology and Amazon One—the same technology featured in this year’s NACS Ideas 2 Go segment, “The Walk-Off Market, Powered by Amazon.”
Branded “Twice Daily,” the store is the first Nashville sports and entertainment venue to offer the technology.
“We are excited to be collaborating with Amazon and Twice Daily to add this new technology to Bridgestone Arena,” said Dave Urso, Nashville Predators and Bridgestone Arena senior vice president of operations. “This new technology will offer added convenience and quicker transactions at our Twice Daily stores allowing fans to spend more time watching their event and less time standing in line.”
The store is operated by foodservice and retail partner Delaware North. Offerings include an assortment of packaged beer, spiked seltzers, soda, bottled water, chips, candies and sundries. A second store powered by Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology and Amazon One is planned to open at Bridgestone Arena in early 2023.
“We are always looking to implement technology solutions that improve speed of service and convenience for guests,” said Michael Geczi, Delaware North’s general manager at Bridgestone Arena. “Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology and Amazon One will deliver a fast and frictionless experience at these stores, helping to eliminate lines and get fans back to the action faster.”
Amazon’s physical retail technologies eliminate checkout lines and reduce friction by allowing customers to pay with their palm. Guests visiting the Just Walk Out technology and Amazon One-enabled store at Bridgestone Arena can insert their credit card or hover their palm at the entry gates to shop. Once they’re inside, anything they take off the shelf is automatically added to their virtual cart, and anything they put back on the shelf comes out of their virtual cart. When customers have completed their shopping experience, they will be able to leave the store and the credit card they inserted or linked to their Amazon One ID will be charged for the items they took.
“Bridgestone Arena has been recognized as a world-class arena, and we are thrilled to continue to elevate the sports and entertainment experience for guests of the famous Nashville landmark with Just Walk Out technology and Amazon One,” said Dilip Kumar, vice president, AWS Applications. “Fans watching the Predators and other live events can now enjoy a seamless experience when they grab refreshments and return to their seats in record time.”
Delaware North employees will serve as greeters and provide in-store assistance as needed. Guests purchasing alcohol will be required to show their ID to a store attendant for age verification.
Self-Checkout In Action
At the 2022 NACS Show, industry pros from Pilot Travel Centers and Mach 1 outlined some best practices for incorporating self-checkout in convenience stores.
Convenience stores are adding self-checkout, as well as checkout-free technology. Chevron announced checkout-free shopping at Chevron’s ExtraMile store in San Ramon, California, by partnering with Grabango. Bp, MAPCO and GetGo Café+Market also have partnered with Grabango to integrate checkout-free technology into their stores.
Choice Market convenience stores in Denver offer self-checkout, walkout technology and an app, which all sync and communicate with each other. Choice Market recently opened an autonomous store at The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus that will be open 24/7.
NACS offers a free webinar on self-checkout innovations at c-stores. Pre- and post-pay fuel transactions, loyalty, cash payments and age verification are also discussed.
Read more about frictionless checkout systems in “Self-Checkout Strategies” in the March issue of NACS Magazine.