Amazon has unveiled its new format convenience grocery store in London today, Amazon Fresh, which marks the online giant’s first foray into bricks-and-mortar retail outside of the US.

The Amazon Fresh store, which opened its doors at 7am on March 4, is located in The Broadway shopping centre in Ealing, west London.

The 2,500 sq ft shop is a grocery c-store powered by Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, which is already used in its Amazon Go stores in the US. 

This means shoppers will be able to enter the store by scanning a QR code on their existing Amazon app before picking items they want and leaving with them without needing to queue to pay at a till or scan their purchases.

Any purchases made by shoppers in the store will be charged directly to their Amazon account after they exit.

Director of Amazon Fresh stores UK Matt Birch told Retail Week the shop store has been designed to appeal to neighbourhood shoppers by combining the convenience and safety of a small-format local store, where they do not need to touch a trolley, basket or payment method, with a varied and localised offer.

Amazon Fresh will include an in-store kitchen to prepare fresh hot food throughout the day for its food to go range, a grab-and-go coffee station with machines for dairy milk and oat milk coffees, and artisan bread delivered daily by specialist baker Flour Station.

The store includes a collection and returns hub for Amazon purchases, the latter of which shoppers can bring back without packaging or a label to be processed by staff in-store.

It will also include a food-to-go section with a range of main meals for lunchtime shoppers including katsu chicken slaw with sticky rice and a no-hog roast veggie sandwich, as well as standard options like a chicken and bacon sandwich. Shoppers buying from this section will be able to add a drink and side for £1 in a meal-deal option. Amazon will sell dinner options in-store such as pizzas with a side for £5.

The store will be stocked with a combination of products from third-party brands and Amazon’s strategic partners including Morrisons and Booths, as well as its newly launched private label By Amazon, which will initially be available in the Ealing store with an online launch to follow.

Birch says this range will span “hundreds” of SKUs covering everyday essentials and ready-to-eat options stocked from UK suppliers. 

Safety measures will be in place throughout the store including a traffic light system to indicate to shoppers when it is safe for them to enter while maintaining social distancing and floor signage. Birch says the Just Walk Out technology also “lends itself to a safe shopping trip” as shoppers will only need to touch items they will leave the store with, but that for the time being the retailer will also impose a limit of 20 shoppers allowed in the store at a time.

Birch said Amazon will open more Amazon Fresh store locations “in and around London” in areas similar to Ealing with a high density of shoppers who live and work in the local area.

He added that the retailer is confident the combination of “speed, ease and enjoyment” will mean the format is a big hit with customers.

Staff working in Amazon’s store will be paid £10.80 per hour and receive a pension and medical coverage. The store will be open between 7am and 11pm, seven days a week.