Waitrose in the UK has had something called "Quick Check" for maybe the last 10 years. On the way into the store, you swipe your "My Waitrose" card and collect a barcode scanner. You then scan and bag everything on the way around and return your scanner to a dedicated terminal (which generally have no queue) and very quickly pay. More recently they added the ability to use your smartphone as the scanner so that you d…
What happens when you bag something without scanning?
10% of the time you get caught and then are scabbed by an employee every time you come in(like normal)
Welllll. Now that idea for a Smart Shopping Cart that I drew up 10 years is completely obsolete hahaha. Like it or not, this Amazon Go store is a model for all future brick and mortar establishments. In 20 years we will recall the good old days when we waited in line and used cash much like people look back at the time when people sent cards and letters before email.
The smart-cart seeems a much simpler, cheaper solution than the smart-store, doesn't it? Scanning cart items is trivial in comparison to tracking objects moving through the whole store
Yes, they also eliminate edge cases like customer taking item from shelf A and putting it back on Shelf B. Also they are easily deployable in any stores without putting in lots of cameras all over.
I know the standard reaction from a lot of HN folk will be to celebrate this progress: it's faster, more efficient, and no one likes to waste time waiting in line. Still, though, I think Amazon's automation of the retail experience is helping to create a society where there is even less real social interaction, and I think it's a factor (if even a small one currently) in the increasing tribalism in American society.…
Citation needed on the tribalism. 55 years ago the white tribe and the black tribe had separate schools. The percentage of Americans identifying as Christian is going down about a percent a year.
That's because Costco has an awfully consumer hostile policy of accusing every customer of theft as they exit the warehouse. I absolutely can't stand being accused of crime in this manner.
Is their policy of letting you return anything anytime without a receipt also consumer hostile?
No, but that's not the policy he said is consumer hostile.
That's because Costco has an awfully consumer hostile policy of accusing every customer of theft as they exit the warehouse. I absolutely can't stand being accused of crime in this manner.
They even accuse you of theft when it ENTER the place. They're so militant about it. I'm almost scared to go into one if I ever go to America for fear of them gunning me down with a rifle if I go within twenty meters of the entrance without a card. The hostility towards everyone really puts me off, and I haven't been able to bring myself to get a membership yet.
It varies by location. They rarely check at my local Costco. But they do check your cart on the way out.
Costco had something like that a few years ago. It would not save much time because in the end someone would need to check if you were not stealing anything. After maybe less than a year in operation they returned to old cashiers.
That's because Costco has an awfully consumer hostile policy of accusing every customer of theft as they exit the warehouse. I absolutely can't stand being accused of crime in this manner.
Like that damn policeman on the corner with a radar gun, implicitly accusing every driver of speeding as they drive by.
Costco had something like that a few years ago. It would not save much time because in the end someone would need to check if you were not stealing anything. After maybe less than a year in operation they returned to old cashiers.
That's because Costco has an awfully consumer hostile policy of accusing every customer of theft as they exit the warehouse. I absolutely can't stand being accused of crime in this manner.
Is having an RFID detection system at the door of a library that beeps if you forget to check out a book also consumer hostile?
I love this - shows why Amazon keeps growing. Seems like the total investment in this store/technology is probably in the single digit digit millions (or maybe low double digit). If it doesn't work? Lose, ~$10 million. But if it works there's likely huge upside. It's just a smart bet for a big company. Sometimes your bets turn into AWS, and sometimes they turn into the Fire phone. Most companies I've worked at are ve…
I always assumed the whole thing was mostly to demo the tech, which they will then sell to other retailers.
? In what universe would Amazon sell this tech to other retailers
Waitrose in the UK has had something called "Quick Check" for maybe the last 10 years. On the way into the store, you swipe your "My Waitrose" card and collect a barcode scanner. You then scan and bag everything on the way around and return your scanner to a dedicated terminal (which generally have no queue) and very quickly pay. More recently they added the ability to use your smartphone as the scanner so that you d…
That's something Walmart or anyone else could do. Doing it without compromising on losing items to theft, that's where Amazon is trying to create its moat, and that is where their competitive advantage lies. They have the technology to go completely employee-free. So while it was enlightening and impressive to read about the Waitrose system, it makes it sound like Amazon is being naive and did not think about this simple solution, which I believe is not the case. Amazon could easily do that, but then everyone else could easily copy them. This technology though, Walmart is going to have a really hard time replicating it.