Amazon Go • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon Go

#131

Post by _pmf_ » Mon, Dec 05, 2016, 3:54 PM UTC

Someone1234 wrote: post #18

Companies have been discussing "checkout-less" stores since forever, but nobody has been brave enough to do it due to the perceived threat of shoplifting. And while shoplifting is a legitimate threat, are non-shoplifters going to be turned into shoplifters without a checkout? Are normal shoplifters stopped by checkouts? These are the core questions, and until it is tested nobody will know for sure. Target is getting…

real (part of the Metro group of retailers) and IKEA do it in Germany (and have been out of the evaluation phase for some years).

Re: Amazon Go

#132

Post by sndean » Mon, Dec 05, 2016, 3:54 PM UTC

Other interesting possible implications of this:

1) The inability to pay with cash (or debit, or check, etc..). 2) No need to carry any form of money in the store.

Taken to an extreme where every store runs this way, will people have a need for cash, credit cards, or anything else? Why not just have your bank account attached to your Amazon (and every other account) and have money taken out directly?

Re: Amazon Go

#133

Post by coleca » Mon, Dec 05, 2016, 3:54 PM UTC

leesalminen wrote: post #65

bbrks wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the UK, Tesco have been running a 'Scan as you Shop'[0] thing for a couple of years now. Customers pick up a scanner as they enter, scan their items as they go into their cart, and they have special checkouts which read your scanner. There's a random chance that your scanner will be audited by a human against the contents of your shopping cart. Usually the first time you use it, then it backs off. [0] http://www.t…

Stop & Shop in the NE US released this in ~2006

I worked on that project (Shopping Buddy) and a few later iterations of it. This was before the iPad, we had these huge IBM super rugged tablets on the carriages. We used something like Zigbee to triangulate the precise location of the carriage in the aisle, so we could tell whether the cart was at the beginning, middle or end of aisle 5 or aisle 6 and target ads appropriate for where you were. There was a small scanner for you to scan your groceries as you went. It was ridiculously expensive to outfit one store w/the tech so we ended up with a simpler version using Motorola MC70 handheld scanner guns and ditched the exact triangulation and instead went to more generic stuff where we would just check which AP you were connected to so we would know which third of the store you were on (produce, frozen foods, or middle of the store). That system then got ported to iOS and Android so you could use your phone instead of the scanner. The original version despite its issues was pretty advanced for the time (mid 2000s).

They still have the mobile / MC70 version rolled out to the entire chain now, it's very successful from what I hear.

Re: Amazon Go

#134

Post by winteriscoming » Mon, Dec 05, 2016, 3:55 PM UTC

Someone1234 wrote: post #18

Companies have been discussing "checkout-less" stores since forever, but nobody has been brave enough to do it due to the perceived threat of shoplifting. And while shoplifting is a legitimate threat, are non-shoplifters going to be turned into shoplifters without a checkout? Are normal shoplifters stopped by checkouts? These are the core questions, and until it is tested nobody will know for sure. Target is getting…

This reminds me of the story about unmanned stores in Sweden https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/sweden-ope... where you just walk in with a smartphone with a app, buy and checkout all by yourself

Re: Amazon Go

#135

Post by clifanatic » Mon, Dec 05, 2016, 3:55 PM UTC

So, you drive around trying to catch Amazons on your phone?

Re: Amazon Go

#136

Post by mholmes680 » Mon, Dec 05, 2016, 3:55 PM UTC

I would have liked to be in the scrum meeting, and proposed the David Blaine use-case.

Re: Amazon Go

#137

Post by joezydeco » Mon, Dec 05, 2016, 3:55 PM UTC

Someone1234 wrote: post #18

Companies have been discussing "checkout-less" stores since forever, but nobody has been brave enough to do it due to the perceived threat of shoplifting. And while shoplifting is a legitimate threat, are non-shoplifters going to be turned into shoplifters without a checkout? Are normal shoplifters stopped by checkouts? These are the core questions, and until it is tested nobody will know for sure. Target is getting…

Here in Chicago the Jewel/Osco chain of grocery stores tried handheld scanners mated with the self-checkout systems about 10 years ago. I lived near one of the test stores.

It worked pretty well, but from what I heard the shoplifting rate was a lot higher than the comfort level of the store's executives. There really is no way to check that you've scanned every single thing in a large cart full of goods. They experimented with things like random checks from cashiers, but that just added to the labor and confusion. The project was scrapped a year or two later.

RFID could fix that if we're really close to being able to scan a whole cart full of goods in one sweep (which the Amazon project seems to imply). But then you have an issue where every single vendor to your store needs to be inserting compatible tags into the packaging. That adds cost and logistics.

Re: Amazon Go

#138

Post by elicash » Mon, Dec 05, 2016, 3:56 PM UTC

HillaryBriss wrote: post #105

I like the video. But I wonder where they put all the middle aged and elderly customers. Probably in the food.

There are zero children in the video, as well.

Re: Amazon Go

#139

Post by sqeaky » Mon, Dec 05, 2016, 3:57 PM UTC

giarc wrote: post #93

the_duke wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you eat lot's of unhealthy stuff? While we are covering your high blood pressure medication? Well, I guess we'll just increase your rates then...

I doubt Amazon is in the business of selling your data to insurance companies.

Only because its not profitable yet? Or do you have some other reason?

Why wouldn't they, have they demonstrated some level of ethics or concern for personal privacy?

Re: Amazon Go

#140

Post by geekamongus » Mon, Dec 05, 2016, 3:57 PM UTC

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #74

elicash wrote: post #43

I worked at a grocery store for several years, and one thing I recall is customers CONSTANTLY putting items back in a random aisle, rather than where they found it. I wonder how this tech deals with that? Maybe they figured that out, too. But I was amused in the video when I saw the customer putting it back where it belonged, because that's not how I remember that going... All that said, this is fantastic and excitin…

I really wouldn't trust 'picked up off the shelf' detection, not without the whole thing looking like a giant vending machine. RFID tags on products probably works better.

I can't help but picture Indiana Jones swiping the golden idol from the pedestal with one hand, and quickly replacing it with a bag of sand using the other hand.