I see it more as “We already have a network in place for electronic payments and don’t see any reason to invest in accepting cash payments, especially since the people who use Amazon already do it electronically.”
There’s definitely at least one business in the Loop here in Chicago that is cashless. I can’t remember its name, but I walked past it about two weeks ago – I believe it was a coffeeshop or something similar, and the signage clearly explained it was cashless. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are more places like this here, as there doesn’t seem to be a law here requiring the acceptance of cash transactions.
Theft != robbery.
Robbery is a crime of violence, in which force or threat of force is used against employees (strong-arm robbery, armed robbery, etc.) to take money or goods. Shoplifting or an after-hours break-in poses far less of a danger of your employees and/or customers being shot, beaten, stabbed, or otherwise traumatized. (Most stores, in fact, have policies that regular employees do NOT attempt to pursue shoplifters; goods can be replaced, but lives cannot.)
And I hope there never is such a law. There are Amazon GO stores in the Loop, for example.
ETA: has this topic been done in GD yet? It would be interesting.
The Amazon Go stores don’t accept cash or any other type of payment is because…dun dun dun…there’s no checkout or cashiers!
From their FAQ:
"How do I shop at Amazon Go?
All you need is an Amazon account, the free Amazon Go app, and a recent-generation iPhone or Android phone. You can find the Amazon Go app on the Apple App Store, Google Play, and Amazon Appstore.
When you arrive, use the app to enter the store, then feel free to put your phone away—you don’t need it to shop. Then just browse and shop like you would at any other store. Once you’re done shopping, you’re on your way. No lines, no checkout.
Do you have any people working in the store?
Yes. Our great team of associates works in both the kitchen and the store to prep ingredients, make our ready-to-eat food, stock shelves, and help customers. (Need a product recommendation? Ask an associate!)
Why did you build Amazon Go?
We asked ourselves: what if we could create a shopping experience with no lines and no checkout? Could we push the boundaries of computer vision and machine learning to create a store where customers could simply take what they want and go? Our answer to those questions is Amazon Go and Just Walk Out Shopping."
Source: https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=16008589011
In the eight answers given on the page, “No checkout” is mentioned five times (six times if you count the banner). Ummm…they really want you to know there’s “No checkout”. 
But not an Amazon device, like a Fire tablet. Ironic.
There’s about a half-dozen lunch places I know of in DC that don’t take cash. Some of them because they don’t want to be robbed, some because their customer base doesn’t ever use cash.
And if someone robs the suburban DC Amazon store of cash, my first thought is, Oh god someone’s shooting dope tonight. If someone steals books from the Amazon store, my first thought is, Oh god someone’s exercising literacy.
On the flip side, there can be a cost to NOT using cash - about 1/3 of the transactions at the store that employs me are cash either in whole or in part. We can’t afford to lose that business and the profits from those cash sales more than compensate for the cost of dealing with that cash.
But yeah, if the target demographic/audience of a business is young people who almost never use cash I can see the business logic in simply not using cash. I just hope they post that on the door so people don’t find out when it comes time to pay instead of before they do their shopping or use the services or whatever.
Here’s some updates about using cash at Amazon Go stores.
May 7, 2019 - Amazon Go Store: How to Pay With Cash
Jun 11, 2019 - I Used Cash at Amazon's Cashless Store and I'm So Sorry, Rahim
Nov 22, 2019 - https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/amazon-cashless-supermarket-backlash/Amazon Go stores:
Nov 25, 2019 - Amazon Go stores to accept cash after Philly, New Jersey ban cashless stores
Regarding product theft (not cash). In the video I linked to above: 1) you can’t enter the store without the app on your phone, you have to scan the code on the your phone to pass the entrance turnstile and 2) Amazon Big Brother is watching and scanning everything you touch and walk out with. Linus put the box of pads on the shelf in the liquor department (there was an employee checking something in the section, almost surely his ID) and took it back to check if he would be charged for it. He was.
Bottom line, while it’s possible to steal a product off the shelf, it’s a lot more difficult with dozens, if not hundreds of cameras and sensors tracking your every movement!
I’m waiting for someone to file a discrimination lawsuit because they were inconvenienced and felt singled out when paying cash vs everyone else just walking out of the store! You know it’s going to happen!
Isn’t that the reason for some of the cash free bans? Supposedly it discriminates against the poor and homeless who are aren’t likely to have a bank account or credit card. I’m fine with letting the business decide if they want to go cash free. A place that sells sandwiches to white collar office workers in the business district might go cash free to speed things up and avoid dealing with cash. A place that sells 40 ounce bottles of beer will certainly accept cash and be used to the homeless person coming in with spare change.
Why? There are lots of (poor) people that are unbanked/underbanked. Reloadable debit cards are ≈ $5 per deposit (varies slightly depending upon merchant doing it); at the minimum $20 load that’s 25% of you deposit in fees. Even at $50 that’s a 10% cost. Would you use your bank/credit card if it cost you 10% every time?
Do they have their own data plan or are they wifi only? Do they have GPS sensors in them to know where you are (within the store)?
I imagine the Amazon Go app (mentioned on the list) is compatible with the Amazon Fire Tablet, but I don’t know for sure. It’s in the Amazon App Store, which makes me think so.
It isn’t; I checked.
Weird- I had dug around a bit and couldn’t find compatibility info at all. Where is compatibility listed? I found it oddly hard to find it on the Amazon App Store.
The stealability of merchandise is not affected one way or the other by policies regarding method of payment.
There is definitely a cost associated with accepting cash payments. Cashiers screw up the accounting of cash during transactions, they steal, or major strong-arm robberies by third parties are a serious risk. At the beginning of the day, someone has to ensure that the till has an adequate assortment of bills and coins for making change, incurring a labor cost. At the end of the day, someone has to count up the cash and make a deposit, incurring more labor cost. Throughout the day, accumulations of cash must be collected from the till and secured in a safe, incurring more labor cost.
Transit systems do typically accept cash for payments when recharging ride cards. The machine into which you feed your cash is very accurate at tallying up the total and (if necessary) dispensing change, and it does not steal from its employer. I suspect these machines are rarely targeted for strong-arm robbery.
Given the possibility of strong-arm robberies for businesses with large amounts of cash on hand, I wonder if insurance premiums might be lower for a cashless business as well.
That sounds noble and all, but the motivation is really that having employees chase down shoplifters or try to tackle robbers opens the business to liability on multiple counts, while ‘let them leave and insurance handle the loss’ costs them much less. I suspect that if a policy of ‘fight shoplifters and robbers’ didn’t result in any extra liability costs, a very different policy would result.
It comes to the same thing: the costs (financial and otherwise) associated with lives lost or damaged far exceed the costs associated with mere property losses.