Term of the Moment
geekspeak
Definition: Amazon Dash Cart
Amazon's automated shopping cart in Amazon Fresh supermarkets. Introduced in 2020, Dash Carts are only an option as regular cash register lanes are the primary checkout. Customers sign in at the cart with their Amazon app and load their groceries into paper bags. They exit through a Dash Cart lane by signing out on screen, removing their bags and leaving. Dash Cart is not the same as Amazon Go, which is an entirely automated store with cameras that monitor customers' movements (see Amazon Go).
The Dash Cart Experience
A shopper's Amazon app displays a QR code that is scanned by the cart (top). As groceries are dropped into bags, the cart's scanners detect the bar codes and display a running total of all items on screen. If something is removed, it is subtracted from the list. Produce and items with only product lookup (PLU) codes must be entered manually, and the cart's scale computes by-the-pound items. These examples were taken at Amazon Fresh in Warrington, Pennsylvania, which opened in August 2021.