Amazon will open the first Fresh convenience store on an invitation-only basis, beginning this week, and will be open to the general public in the coming weeks, the company reported. Located in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, the store will sell on-site items such as pizzas and burgers, as well as a variety of national and local brands. It's supposed to be a cheaper alternative to Amazon's Entire Foods outlets, according to CBNC.

Amazon's new convenience store setup is filled with gadgets but does not use the "Just Walk Out" cashierless system. The Fresh store in LA is the first location where shoppers will be able to use Amazon's Dash Carts, where you sign in with the Amazon app, which are fitted with cameras and sensors to recognise the products you 're going to drop in. The cart is consistent with Amazon's Alexa Voice Assistant shopping list. You will pay immediately at the register without having to wait in line. Amazon says Echo Test apps will also be scattered around the shop to help customers navigate their way around.

By comparison, the Go Grocery store Amazon just opened in Seattle uses a series of overhead cameras and pressure sensitive shelves to instantly identify what shoppers are purchasing, enabling them to shop products by merely walking out of the shop. Amazon's "Just Walk Out" software is thought to be difficult to adapt to the upcoming 35,000 square-foot Fresh location. CNET estimates that LA Fresh store is considerably larger than the 10,400 square-foot Amazon Go Grocery store in Seattle. However, there are rumors that Amazon may start introducing Go-store technology to Whole Foods supermarkets as early as next year.

While this is the first time Amazon Fresh has been available for in-person shopping, the store has been used to deal with online orders since April. Speaking to CNBC, Amazon's Vice President Fresh stores said that this was not its original intention, but that the company responded to the increase in demand for online orders triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Amazon refused to comment on CNBC when its other online-only Fresh stores in Naperville, Chicago, and Irvine, and Northridge, California, will be open to the public.