Editor’s Note: This is a collaboration between digital journalist Susan Carpenter and multimedia journalist Itay Hod. To watch the video report, click the play icon above.

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. — After years of hype, the first Amazon Fresh grocery store in the nation is now open to the public in Woodland Hills. Sandwiched between a nail salon and a Citibank on Topanga Canyon Boulevard, the store gives ordinary grocery shopping a major technology boost with digital price tags, Alexa assistance that can navigate shoppers through the aisles, and so-called dash carts that automatically tally up the groceries as they’re placed in the basket, allowing customers to avoid the checkout line.

Promising “consistently low prices for all and free, same-day delivery for Prime members,” Amazon Fresh is “designed from the ground up to offer a seamless grocery shopping experience, whether customers are shopping in-store or online,” said Amazon Fresh Stores vice president Jeff Helbling in a press announcement released Thursday.

Wandering through the new Amazon Fresh, roughly half the customers were actually Amazon shoppers, filling their carts on behalf of Prime members who let someone else pick out the bananas and bread, which, at Amazon Fresh, cost 15 cents and 89 cents, respectively. Prime customers who pick up their orders can do so at customer service or by pulling up to a dedicated pick-up parking spot right in front of the store.

Aesthetically, Amazon Fresh has an open, airy, almost pop-art sort of feel with enormous primary-color signage, bright-green carts, and reusable shopping bags. 

The large store is laid out in much the same manner as a conventional grocery and carries a similar variety of items. It’s a mix of national packaged brands; fresh produce, meats, and seafood; and prepared foods that are made fresh daily, including sushi, panini sandwiches, and made-to-order pizzas.

It also carries items from local brands, such as Rockenwagner Bakery and Groundwork Coffee, as well as the 365 by Whole Foods Market organics brand offered by Amazon-owned Whole Foods, and the Amazon exclusive brands, Fresh and Cursive.

What’s different from a conventional store is that Amazon Fresh also carries general merchandise such as Instant Pots and Amazon products, including tablets and smart speakers. 

But what’s most unique is the inclusion of Amazon services and new technologies developed specifically for in-person grocery shopping. Customers who order a package from Amazon.com can pick them up at the grocery store and can also return them through Amazon Fresh.

There are two types of grocery carts to choose from when entering the store: a traditional cart and a smaller dash cart designed for quick shopping runs. To use the dash cart, shoppers need to download the Amazon app and link it with their Amazon account. The app then displays a QR code that shoppers sync up with the cart, allowing them to walk through the store, placing bar-coded items in the basket that are automatically read. More variably priced items, such as produce, are manually entered on the cart’s screen and then weighed once placed in the cart to verify them.

Amazon’s digital assistant, Alexa, has a substantial presence. Customers who use Alexa shopping lists can access them through the app or the dash cart and be guided through the store to their items. Amazon Echo Show devices are also placed throughout the store to guide shoppers to items, simply by asking things like, “Alexa, where can I find the cheese?”

Amazon opened the Woodland Hills grocery store in late August, but only by invitation. Thursday is the first time it has been open to the general public. 

“I’m here because I shop around,” said Martin Ayala, a Woodland Hills resident who ordinarily shops at Ralph’s. “I saw that they just opened, so I thought I’d give it a shot.”

Ayala came out with three items: oranges, milk, and Drano. The oranges, he said, cost less than what he normally pays, but the milk and Drano were about the same. 

Because he only had three items, Ayala opted for a regular cart and checkout, but he did pay with the Amazon bar code on his phone. 

“I just want to know how it works, to see the technology, so I don’t get behind,” said Ayala, adding that he’ll try the dash cart next time.

Amazon has said it plans to open additional Fresh stores in Southern California, including North Hollywood, Northridge, and Irvine, but the company hasn’t released a timeline.

Amazon has been selling groceries since 2006, starting with nonperishable items such as pasta and canned soup. It launched Amazon Fresh, in partnership with Whole Foods, as a grocery delivery service available to Amazon Prime members one year later.

The company didn’t get into the brick-and-mortar grocery business until 2017 when it purchased Whole Foods. A year later, it began operating Amazon Go convenience stores that let customers purchase products without going through a checkout line or using self-checkout. The Amazon Fresh store in Woodland Hills is its first Amazon-branded full-service grocery location. 

"Amazon certainly has been able to gather a lot of customer data through their online store experience," said Gregory Ng, chief executive of the consulting firm Brooks Bell. "But opening a brick and mortar store with Amazon Fresh gives them more insight into the behaviors of consumers. Amazon Fresh allows them to understand the physical decision-making process when it comes to groceries and other items. This is incredibly valuable data that can drive deeper consumer insight for Amazon and their partners."

Amazon Fresh is going for a different customer than Whole Foods, which is geared toward a more affluent shopper. Retail analysts say it’s a play for the more mainstream customer base of Walmart and Target, the latter offering fresh groceries at many of its stores for the past decade. The Amazon Fresh customer is "anyone that trusts the Amazon brand and is looking to have a frictionless buying experience. The introduction of dash carts within Amazon Fresh stores is the beginning of a true no-contact buying experience," Ng said.

Groceries are a $682 billion annual business in the United States, according to the retail analysis firm, IBIS World. But even with the COVID pandemic boosting online grocery sales 40 percent this year, the majority of grocery shopping is still done in person, according to Coresight Research. Just 3.5 percent of grocery shopping is done online.

"Brick and Mortar is absolutely not dead," Ng said. "The relationship brands had for decades with consumers in a brick and mortar environment is evolving and Amazon is at the forefront of driving this innovation."