Amazon’s latest Dash Cart is rolling into more Whole Foods Market stores with a lighter frame, bigger basket, and new payment and savings features designed to speed up the weekly grocery run. The smart cart upgrade is central to Amazon’s push to blend its online tech with the in‑store experience at Whole Foods Market in the United States.
What’s new in the redesigned Dash Cart
The newest Dash Cart is 25% lighter and offers 40% more capacity than the previous generation, making it easier to maneuver while holding a full grocery shop. The cart now includes extra shelving, with space for up to four grocery bags plus a dedicated shelf for delicate items and a lower rack for bulk purchases.
A built‑in scale near the handle works with cameras, weight sensors, and machine‑learning models to price loose produce directly in the cart, so shoppers no longer need to weigh items at a separate station. The cart’s hardware is also weather‑resistant and designed to last through trips all the way out to the car, supported by an extended all‑day battery.
Screen, navigation, and savings tools
The Dash Cart features a touchscreen that shows a real‑time receipt and spending total, as well as a live tracker of how much a shopper is saving during the trip. Shoppers can also pull in their Alexa shopping lists so items automatically appear on the cart screen and can be checked off as they shop.
An interactive store map on the display helps customers find items by aisle and see where they are in the store at any moment. The cart’s upgraded location system allows it to surface nearby deals and produce suggestions, replacing the old process of manually entering a four‑digit PLU code for items like tomatoes.
Faster checkout and more payment choices
Shoppers start by scanning a QR code with the Amazon or Whole Foods Market app to link their account to the cart, then scan items as they shop and place them directly in the basket. Built‑in sensors and computer vision detect when an item is removed or added, updating the total automatically without needing a traditional checkout lane.
At the end of the trip, customers exit through a dedicated Dash Cart lane where payment is processed automatically, now with more ways to pay, including an NFC reader for tap‑to‑pay cards and mobile wallets. Earlier versions tied payment only to the credit card in a shopper’s Amazon account, but the new cart lets customers select or change payment methods either at the beginning or end of their shop.
Rollout to Whole Foods Market stores
The redesigned Dash Cart first appeared in 2025 at Whole Foods Market locations in McKinney, Texas, Reston, Virginia, and Westford, Massachusetts. Jason Buechel wrote in a LinkedIn post, “The latest generation isn’t just an upgrade — it’s a complete reimagination based on direct customer feedback.” More than 9 in 10 customers who tried the new cart reported being satisfied with the experience, according to Amazon’s internal data.
By the end of 2026, Amazon plans to have the latest Dash Cart in more than 25 Whole Foods Market stores across the U.S., with “dozens” of locations slated to receive the carts. In parallel, Amazon is also piloting an automated micro fulfillment center inside a Whole Foods Market in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, where shoppers can purchase Amazon groceries and household items using QR codes placed throughout the aisles.
Why this matters for grocery retail
For busy urban and suburban shoppers, the combination of a real‑time total, interactive map, and automatic checkout aims to reduce time spent in store and at the front‑end lines. The carts also give Amazon more data on how customers move through Whole Foods Market locations, which can inform future store layouts, product placement, and digital features.
For rival grocers and retail tech players, the expanded Dash Cart rollout signals that Amazon is doubling down on smart cart technology rather than pulling back, even as some other frictionless checkout experiments have slowed. As more Whole Foods Market stores adopt the carts through 2026, shoppers will get a clearer picture of whether smart carts become a regular part of the grocery routine or remain a niche add‑on.
