Amazon operates both physical retail stores and digital brand storefronts for sellers on its marketplace, and they work in very different ways. If you’ve seen an Amazon Go or Amazon Fresh location and wondered how people shop without traditional checkout lines, the answer is a combination of AI, cameras, and sensors that track what you pick up and charge you automatically when you leave. If you’re a seller wondering how Amazon’s online storefronts work, those are customizable brand pages within Amazon’s marketplace. Here’s how both systems function.
How Amazon’s Physical Stores Work
Amazon’s cashierless stores use what the company calls Just Walk Out technology. The system combines computer vision (cameras mounted throughout the store), sensor fusion, and machine learning to detect which items you pick up, put back, or carry out. When you grab a product off the shelf, algorithms add it to a virtual cart tied to your account. When you put something back, the system removes it. You walk out through a designated exit lane, and payment is processed automatically.
For stores that carry packaged goods or general merchandise, RFID tags on items work alongside the vision system. RFID readers at exit lanes detect what you’re carrying and confirm the contents of your virtual cart before charging you. The entire experience is designed to eliminate checkout lines entirely.
How You Enter and Pay
To shop at a Just Walk Out store, you need a way to identify yourself when you enter. Historically, Amazon offered several options: scanning a QR code from the Amazon app, inserting a credit card at the entry gate, or using Amazon One, a palm-scanning system that links your handprint to your payment method. You simply hovered your palm over a reader to enter and pay.
It’s worth noting that Amazon One palm authentication is being discontinued at retail locations in mid-2026. Going forward, entry and payment will rely on the Amazon app or credit card options at participating stores.
Which Stores Use This Technology
Amazon has shifted its physical store strategy over time. Amazon Go convenience stores were the first to use Just Walk Out technology, offering a small selection of snacks, drinks, and prepared meals. Amazon Fresh, the company’s larger grocery format, initially adopted Just Walk Out as well but has since removed it from U.S. locations. Those stores now use Dash Carts instead, which are smart shopping carts with built-in screens and sensors that scan items as you place them in the cart and let you pay directly from the cart when you’re done shopping.
Amazon also licenses Just Walk Out technology to third-party retailers, stadiums, and airports. So even outside Amazon-branded stores, you may encounter the same cashierless system at a concession stand or airport shop.
How Amazon’s Online Storefronts Work
If your question is about Amazon Stores for online sellers, these are branded landing pages within Amazon’s website where a company can showcase its full product line in one place. Think of it as a mini website inside Amazon, with custom layouts, images, and product categories, all designed to keep shoppers browsing within a single brand rather than bouncing between search results.
To create one, you need two things: a Professional Seller account (which carries a monthly subscription fee) and enrollment in Amazon’s Brand Registry program, which requires a registered trademark. Brand Registry protects your intellectual property and gives you access to enhanced marketing tools, including the ability to build a storefront.
What You Can Customize
Amazon provides templates you can adapt with your brand’s colors, fonts, and layout preferences. Within your storefront, you organize products into categories, add lifestyle images or videos, and write descriptions optimized for Amazon’s search algorithm. The goal is to create a cohesive shopping experience that feels like your own branded site, even though customers never leave Amazon.
Sellers also get access to Amazon’s analytics dashboard, which tracks how many people visit the storefront, which products get the most clicks, and how ad campaigns are performing. You can update the storefront as often as you want to feature seasonal promotions, new arrivals, or sale items. Many sellers treat it as a living page that changes regularly rather than a set-it-and-forget-it listing.
The Shopping Experience as a Customer
For everyday shoppers, the physical store experience requires almost no learning curve. You walk in, grab what you want, and leave. A receipt showing your items and total arrives in the Amazon app or via email shortly after you exit. If the system makes an error, you can dispute charges through the app.
For online storefronts, you interact with them the same way you browse any Amazon product page. You might land on a brand’s storefront through an ad, a search result, or by clicking on a brand name from a product listing. From there, you can browse the brand’s full catalog, read descriptions, and add items to your regular Amazon cart. Checkout, shipping, and returns all work through Amazon’s standard process.