Now that ‘contactless’ is king, travel retail brand Hudson is rolling out airport convenience stores that will use Amazon’s ‘Just Walk Out’ technology.
The first Hudson Nonstop shop will open at Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL) sometime in the first quarter of 2021. And more airport ‘nonstop’ locations are promised for later in the year.
Here’s how it will work:
Travelers will gain access to the store with a credit card and shop as they would in a ‘normal’ store by picking up items they want to buy. Then, instead of going to the cashier stand, a shopper can just walk out of the store with their items. The high-tech store automatically adds the charges to the card.
The 500-square-foot Hudson Nonstop shop at Dallas Love Field will be located post-security, by Gate 10. For sale will be Grab & Go food, beverages, snacks, electronics, PPE items, and health and beauty items. And while the shopping will contactless, there will be staff on hand to clean and sanitize surfaces, restock shelves and, most likely, reassure customers that ‘Yes, you CAN just walk out with that stuff.”
Hudson is not the first to employ ‘Just Walk Out’ technology in an airport.
Back in March 2020 — unfortunately just as COVID-19 began shutting down travel — OTG began using the technology at one of its CIBO Express Gourmet Markets in Newark Liberty’s Terminal C. EWR now has two CIBO locations offering this contactless shopping option, with more in the works at EWR and other airports.