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Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

businessinsider.com

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Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#301

Post by ensignavenger »

improv32 wrote: post #131
jdietrich wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I rarely get useful assistance in large chain stores. Asking "where is the pesto?" usually gets an answer like "I dunno, somewhere in aisle 7 maybe" with an indifferent shrug. I'd happily make three attempts at using a clunky voice interface if I got the answer "Aisle 7, bay 11, shelves 3 and 4. We have 18 different kinds of pesto currently in stock. Would you like me to take you there?" It almost seems too obvious t…

Trader Joe's is excellent about this. I'm not sure if it's explicit policy but every single time I've asked an employee where something is they dropped what they were doing, walked over to the exact spot and literally handed me the item I was looking for. I guess that's only possible in a small store though.

Walmart used to do this, back in Sam Walton's day. (I grew up and live in Southwest Missouri, and remember Walmart as our small, regional competitor to the big national giants like Kmart :)

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#303

Post by frgtpsswrdlame »

maxerickson wrote: post #293
frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My answer is self-evident. I go partway down the rabbit hole. However deep "refusing to use the self-checkout" is.

Sure, I thought you answered it in your other comment, I was just explaining that I hadn't posted just for the sake of being antagonistic or whatever.

Oh I see. Yeah my initial response was a bit rude, sorry about that.

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#304

Post by ams6110 »

dbcurtis wrote: post #198
notatoad wrote: post #167

The immediate take away i get from this is that it really isn't about taking over human jobs. humans don't do this job nearly as frequently as the robots would do it, because in a standard retail environment like wal-mart, it doesn't really matter all that much if the reported in-stock quantity is slightly off for an item. that is to say, it matters, but not so much that the big-box retail environments i've worked in…

Also consider that better inventory data allows better just-in-time inventory refill, increasing $/ft^2 inventory turnover and therefore total $ sales per store. I suspect this is about driving analytics with higher quality, more frequent data.

Yes, I think this is more likely what they are doing. With people shopping the store, they can never really be sure about on-hand inventory even with robot checks. The robot could confirm that an item is on the shelf, and then a moment later a customer could put that item in a shopping cart and not check out for another 30 minutes or more. During that time the on-hand count is wrong.

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#305

Post by daveguy »

taneq wrote: post #202
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I already choose grocery stores with ample self checkout, which is so much better to me than waiting in line then interacting with a clerk. I for one welcome our robot service providers.

Interesting - after the "new shiny toy" factor wore off, I've deliberately gone through the staffed checkouts where at all reasonable to do so. This way I feel like I'm keeping someone's job relevant and maybe even keeping them employed. I admit this isn't a very rational response, though, because I'm fine with self-service airport check-ins and generally pretty happy to talk to a machine rather than a human.

I always choose a cashier because they are, without fail, more efficient at getting me checked out than having me fumble with a checkout machine. And that's without having any sort of fresh produce. If I have fresh produce then the machine is even worse. Making me do the job you once paid someone to do? No thank you, grocery/bigbox store. Maybe once in the last 10 years when I had a single item and it was holiday season -- even there express checkout is usually faster.

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#306

Post by speedemin »

jdietrich wrote: post #95
JSONwebtoken wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the foreseable future, robots and chatbots will be poorer UX than speaking to a human. Since it's not adding value to their product it's obviously being done for cost cutting and scale reasons.

I rarely get useful assistance in large chain stores. Asking "where is the pesto?" usually gets an answer like "I dunno, somewhere in aisle 7 maybe" with an indifferent shrug. I'd happily make three attempts at using a clunky voice interface if I got the answer "Aisle 7, bay 11, shelves 3 and 4. We have 18 different kinds of pesto currently in stock. Would you like me to take you there?" It almost seems too obvious t…

I wonder if we could use a dewey decimal system style lookup service for stores?

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#307

Post by daveguy »

improv32 wrote: post #131
jdietrich wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I rarely get useful assistance in large chain stores. Asking "where is the pesto?" usually gets an answer like "I dunno, somewhere in aisle 7 maybe" with an indifferent shrug. I'd happily make three attempts at using a clunky voice interface if I got the answer "Aisle 7, bay 11, shelves 3 and 4. We have 18 different kinds of pesto currently in stock. Would you like me to take you there?" It almost seems too obvious t…

Trader Joe's is excellent about this. I'm not sure if it's explicit policy but every single time I've asked an employee where something is they dropped what they were doing, walked over to the exact spot and literally handed me the item I was looking for. I guess that's only possible in a small store though.

All grocery stores I have been to are like that. They will drop what they will tell you where to find it off the top of their heads and offer to take you to it. Publix, Piggly Wiggly, Winn Dixie. This is why I still do most of my grocery shopping in grocery stores and not big box.

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#308

Post by ams6110 »

taneq wrote: post #202
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I already choose grocery stores with ample self checkout, which is so much better to me than waiting in line then interacting with a clerk. I for one welcome our robot service providers.

Interesting - after the "new shiny toy" factor wore off, I've deliberately gone through the staffed checkouts where at all reasonable to do so. This way I feel like I'm keeping someone's job relevant and maybe even keeping them employed. I admit this isn't a very rational response, though, because I'm fine with self-service airport check-ins and generally pretty happy to talk to a machine rather than a human.

I use staffed checkouts for a different reason -- it is vastly faster if you are purchasing more than a few items.

All I have to do in a staffed checkout is remove items from my cart and place them on the belt. The cashier scans them, and can begin this task while I'm still emptying the cart. And most of the time, the cashier is practiced at this task and can do it quickly. When I'm in a self-checkout I see seconds wasted per item as people turn them over and around one-by-one to find where the bar code is.

And the staffed checkout usually has another person to bag the items, and again can begin doing this while the cashier scans more items, collects payment, etc.

At a self-checkout I'm doing all these tasks myself, stepwise because the computer insists that I bag each item before I scan the next one.

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#309

Post by drusepth »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #110
jdietrich wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I rarely get useful assistance in large chain stores. Asking "where is the pesto?" usually gets an answer like "I dunno, somewhere in aisle 7 maybe" with an indifferent shrug. I'd happily make three attempts at using a clunky voice interface if I got the answer "Aisle 7, bay 11, shelves 3 and 4. We have 18 different kinds of pesto currently in stock. Would you like me to take you there?" It almost seems too obvious t…

I already choose grocery stores with ample self checkout, which is so much better to me than waiting in line then interacting with a clerk. I for one welcome our robot service providers.

I can't agree with this enough. Taking it one step further: I actively _avoid_ grocery stories that don't have ample self-checkout. If I have to deal with a human clerk once, I'm way less likely to return to that store.

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#310

Post by ksenzee »

hourislate wrote: post #177
racl101 wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's worse is that a lot of Walmart employees don't speak English. They can barely understand what you are saying, much less, conjure up a response. Usually they have to go and fetch a much smarter or knowledgeable person to help out. Terribly inefficient. So Walmart Employees, if this is you: I'm sorry but if you want to keep working at Walmart, time to step up your game, learn some English and be more responsive.…

You're being junked because most of the folks in the US haven't experienced what you're referring to. Here in the US everyone speaks English. I understand it's a little different in Canada because there are many more immigrants working at grocers and stores like Walmart that may not have mastered English yet.

I think it's more because "smarter and more knowledgeable" is being conflated with "speaks English." That kind of casual ignorance doesn't elevate the discussion here.
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