Fans who attend events at the opening-soon Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle will have the opportunity to purchase concessions at four stands that will use Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, which allows customers to pick items and leave without any checkout process.
The new type of concession stands, which are starting to multiply using technology from several competing vendors, use a prepayment scheme involving either a credit card swiped at the entry or some kind of prepayment sign-up through an app or through a process like Amazon’s Amazon One system, where registered users need only swipe their palm before entering for payment verification.
Typically the walk-through stores use a combination of cameras and sensor-equipped shelves to track what items a customer selects, and then charges the customer when they exit the store.
Other vendors in this space include Zippin, which has similar stands at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Barclays Center in Brooklyn and AT&T Center in San Antonio, and Clear, which allows fans at Lumen Field in Seattle to purchase beer using their fingerprint. Zippin, a San Francisco-based startup, recently raised an additional $30 million in venture funding.
Since Amazon itself purchased the naming rights to the refurbished KeyArena (which it renamed as Climate Pledge Arena) it’s not so surprising to see Amazon’s entry in the walk-through payment market get a center-stage spot at the new home of the NHL’s newest team, the Seattle Kraken. The only other sports venue using the Amazon Just Walk Out technology is TD Garden in Boston, where there are two stands using the technology. The Just Walk Out technology has also been in use at some of Amazon’s own grocery stores and is also coming to some Whole Foods locations. Amazon bought Whole Foods in 2017.
According to the press release announcing the stores, the Just Walk Out technology-enabled stores at Climate Pledge Arena will sell beer, wine, soft drinks, coffee, water, and “feature food offerings” from The Climate Collective, the arena’s unique food and beverage program. According to Climate Pledge Arena, guests purchasing alcohol will be required to show their ID to a store attendant.
