Panera Bread adds Amazon palm recognition scanner to its stores

Panera Bread, an American chain store of bakery-café fast-casual restaurants, announced it would be adding Amazon One’s contactless technology to its 200 stores across the country. Amazon also said that the bakery is the first national restaurant to use Amazon One’s loyalty identification and payment system through a palm-scanning system.

The Amazon One Palm Recognition Technology is expected to enhance personalization and heighten convenience for MyPanera members. Panera Bread is also looking forward to a faster in-bakery and cafe ordering process.

According to CNBC, Panera Bread is introducing the Amazon One palm-scanning technology through its location in St. Louis. This will be the first store in its chain to have a contactless ID for loyalty members.

The palm scanner will also be a faster method for Panera Bread to connect to its loyalty program and accept payments from customers. The bakery-cafe is known to always have the latest technologies for restaurants so it is not surprising that it will be the first one to try the Amazon One scanner outside of the Amazon business community.

The contactless technology is already in use in some of the Amazon-owned retail chains, such as Whole Foods and Amazon Go locations. It can also be found in select arenas and stadiums.

In any case, it was noted that Panera Bread has over 2,000 locations in the United States, and its MyPanera loyalty program has more than 52 million members, and the introduction of Amazon One in its stores provides another opportunity for further expansion.

“We think the payment plus loyalty identification is the secret sauce that can unlock a really personalized, warm and efficient experience for our guests in our cafes,” the chief digital officer of Panera, George Hanson, told CNBC.

The chief executive officer of Panera Bread and Panera Brands, Niren Chaudhary, also said in a press release, “Collaborating with Amazon Web Services to bring this service into our bakery-cafes is a natural extension of the tech-forward, guest-centric digital thinking that Panera is known for.”

He added, “Our philosophy has been centered around leveraging best-in-class technology to create a better Panera experience and using that to deepen our relationship with our loyal guests. Introducing Amazon One, as a frictionless, personalized, and convenient service, is another way we’re redefining the loyalty experience.”