Mike Pomranz began covering craft beer professionally in 2006, branching out into all aspects of food and beverage before joining the Food & Wine team in 2014. He's also a cidermaker, bar owner, and alcoholic beverage importer.

Amazon may be one of America's largest retailers, but technology has been the driving force behind the brand, whether online, where Amazon built its business, or at its brick-and-mortar stores, where things like their "Just Walk Out" technology has revolutionized the shopping experience. Similarly, in September 2020, the brand began introducing "Amazon Dash Carts" at its own Amazon Fresh stores: smart shopping carts with an onboard computer screen that tracks what customers buy when they place items in the cart.

That technology has been updated once again, and now, these new-and-improved Dash Carts are finally set to make their Whole Foods debut.

Arriving first at the Whole Foods Market in Westford, Massachusetts, "in the coming months" before being added to "a few additional Whole Foods Market stores and many Amazon Fresh stores" after that, Dash Carts have seen a significant overhaul. Most importantly, Amazon says that, not only do the carts have double the capacity while actually weighing less, but they are also now fully weather resistant so customers can take all of their groceries right out to their car.

"As many of our customers return to their in-store grocery shopping routines, it's exciting to introduce new and unique ways for them to shop our stores," Leandro Balbinot, chief technology officer for Whole Foods Market, stated. "We're thrilled that the newest version of Dash Cart will debut in our Westford store and can't wait to hear the feedback from our customers there."

Alongside existing features like the ability to weigh produce in the cart, Amazon says other new features include two new shelves, one for delicates and a lower shelf for larger items; better location tracking for recommending nearby products and deals; improvements to the Dash Cart screen interface; and all-day battery life that will require less charging time, meaning more availability for customers.

For the uninitiated Whole Foods shoppers, Amazon explains that Dash Cart users will simply have to log in to the Amazon or Whole Foods Market app, make sure items are scanned as they are placed into the cart, and then skip the normal checkout lines by exiting through an Amazon Dash Cart lane. Payment is automatically processed through the credit card associated with their Amazon account, and shoppers are emailed a receipt.

"Our goal with the Dash Cart has always been to make in-store shopping more convenient by eliminating the need to stand in checkout lines or unload and reload items at self-checkout stations," Amazon concluded, "and we hope shoppers enjoy these updates as much as we think they will."