By Sunayana Prabhu
EATONTOWN – Amazon opened its first Amazon Fresh grocery store in the Two River area June 20, at the intersection of Wyckoff and Route 35. The store is within mere miles – and in one instance, a couple hundred feet – of several other supermarkets.
While most think it’s the smart shopping experience the retailer is banking on with its high-tech Dash Carts, the company is promoting the same convenience at the market that it delivers on its online platform.
Eatontown Mayor Anthony Talerico, Monmouth County Commissioner Erik Anderson, and Monmouth County Commissioner Director Thomas Arnone officially opened the 35,000-square-foot store with a ribbon cutting ceremony early Thursday morning.
The store, located in the former Toys “R” Us storefront, offers a selection of products from traditional national brands, along with those from East Coast vendors like Abe’s Muffins, Chloe’s Fruit frozen pops and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, and the private Amazon Fresh label. The company has pledged community partnership by donating surplus food from the store to the Fulfill New Jersey food bank. The Amazon Fresh store team presented Fulfill with a $10,000 check on opening day and customers participated in a live food drive.
“It is important that customers have a one-stop shop destination,” said Lionel Triplett, the regional manager of Amazon Fresh. Triplett said the store will offer delivery and pickup services in addition to the Dash Cart option, which combines vision and sensor technology while customers shop and during checkout.
According to the release from the company, “all customers who shop Amazon Fresh Eatontown can save up to 30% on 4,000 weekly rotating grocery items across the aisles both in-store and online – every day.” Those customers enrolled in the company’s Prime membership program can save an extra 10% on many items.
Amazon aims to differentiate its grocery experience from its competitors by merging online and in-store shopping experiences with the Dash Cart, but while many swiped items into the smart cart on opening day, several others steered clear of the digitally-driven trolley and used the regular shopping carts and baskets.
The Dash Cart allows customers to skip the checkout line by scanning items as they take them off the shelves. Here is how it works: first, a customer opens the Amazon app on their phone and scans their in-store QR code with the scanner mounted just under the Dash Cart’s handle. The QR code links the customer’s account to the Dash Cart, blending the in-store experience with online shopping. As customers shop, they swipe products with the Dash Cart scanner and drop them in the cart. The items get tallied and paid for through any payment method linked to their Amazon account, just like shopping online. Customers using a Dash Cart can leave the store when they finish shopping, without emptying and reloading the cart at checkout. Payment is processed automatically through the Amazon app.
Not everyone at the store opening day was sold on the new technology. Gale Lackner, an Eatontown resident, said the Dash Carts were “very cool,” but she worried about leaving the cart while shopping. She noted that she likes to “park” her cart and go get things when she is shopping but fears doing that with the Dash Cart. “Somebody could just take the cart and run with it. So that’s a downside,” Lackner said, pointing to the risk of credit card theft if the smart cart was left unattended. “I have to be glued to it, which is kind of nerve-racking.”
Others thought the idea had potential but still had reservations about using the system. “It’s very convenient, instead of waiting in any line, just being able to grab-and-go,” said Lisa Cooper, a Shrewsbury resident. But she expressed concerns about potential issues with the digital screen during shopping. “I worry about it breaking down because it’s technology,” Cooper said. If the digital screen gets “stuck,” then the effort to reload the scanned items will take away from any convenience skipping the checkout lines offers.
Triplett, the Amazon regional manager, assured customers that store experts are on hand and trained to troubleshoot any Dash Cart problems and provide ongoing support.
It remains to be seen if Amazon Fresh can win over locals accustomed to long-standing traditional grocery stores like ShopRite and Foodtown and specialty stores like Uncle Giuseppe’s, Trader Joe’s and Lidl, which sits directly across Route 35 from Amazon Fresh. Some residents said they would continue visiting niche markets for certain items. However, others said the new “one-stop shop” could become their primary grocery destination, especially for large stock-up trips.
“There is everything I would need in here when I need to do a big grocery shop for my family,” said Shrewsbury resident Betsy Higgins. “I would normally buy this at Costco,” she said, referring to a large bottle of Tide detergent in her cart, which seemed like a “pretty good” price. Including the produce, Higgins said the cost of everything was “comparable, if not a little less,” to other stores in the area.
Amazon’s entry onto the Jersey Shore grocery scene underscores its growing ambitions in the $800 billion U.S. market. The Eatontown location is the second Amazon Fresh store in New Jersey. The company opened its first Fresh location in Paramus and plans to open several locations nationwide this summer, expanding its physical grocery presence beyond Whole Foods, an established premium organic products food chain acquired by the online giant in 2017.
The article originally appeared in the June 27 – July 3, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
