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“Just walk out” technology by Amazon

justwalkout.com

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Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#391

Post by kart23 »

JohnFen wrote: post #3

> In Just Walk Out-enabled stores, shoppers enter the store using a credit card. They don't need to download an app or create an Amazon account. But you may as well. By giving them a CC# you're allowing Amazon to spy on you anyway -- and that's not even mentioning the copious surveillance in such stores in the form of cameras and behavior detection. > If shoppers need a receipt, they can visit a kiosk in the store an…

can you use those prepaid debit cards or is a credit card required? Because you can buy those with cash at most drugstores, albeit for a $5 fee.

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#392

Post by dfox »

thu2111 wrote: post #358
reaperducer wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And where is the competition? Is there anyone at all who can provide something like this? One of the big tech companies in the 80's demonstrated this. I think it was either IBM or AT&T/Bellcore. Essentially, it was just a scanner at the door that read RFID tags in each item, and your credit card. This was back when RFID was still oh-holy-shit technology. The reason I think AT&T might have been involved is that the vi…

That's not the same thing at all. Doing it with RFID is trivial. The hard part here is the backwards compatibility with a retail ecosystem that uses UPC barcodes rather than (expensive) RFID tags.

Doing it with RFID is surprisingly non-trivial even in the physical sense. That is the error rate of RFID bulk reads is small enough for opportunistic tracking of stuff, but mostly unacceptable for basing any kind of financial transaction on that.

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#394

Post by jshevek »

kortilla wrote: post #386
boublepop wrote: post #246

Aaaand there’s the play. Amazon wasn’t trying to compete with other retails stores by leveraging their tech edge, they were positioning themselves to becoming the single provider of retail checkout solutions for the future. You either opt-in to giving Amazon all your retail data, or you become the only old fashioned “wait in line to get served” store on the street. And where is the competition? Is there anyone at all…

> And where is the competition? Is there anyone at all who can provide something like this? Um, Walmart and most major grocery stores already have self checkout areas. So “wait in line to get served” isn’t quite the comparison. Most companies will give zero fucks about adopting this unless it becomes the expected norm.

I may be misunderstanding your argument, but I think the parent argument still applies whether you are getting served by a human or being served by a machine which has the same "one checkout at a time per person" kind of bottleneck that a human has.

Edit: The "scan your own cart" model is a more compelling counter-argument than the self checkout machines currently at Wal-Mart, as this can accommodate a much higher throughput.

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#395

Post by gajus »

milofeynman wrote: post #287
boublepop wrote: post #246

Aaaand there’s the play. Amazon wasn’t trying to compete with other retails stores by leveraging their tech edge, they were positioning themselves to becoming the single provider of retail checkout solutions for the future. You either opt-in to giving Amazon all your retail data, or you become the only old fashioned “wait in line to get served” store on the street. And where is the competition? Is there anyone at all…

It's interesting that they rolled this out as a thing, but didn't start retrofitting all of their Whole Foods with it. Does it have problems with grocery stores? How does it handle fruits by weight, etc.

Part of Whole Foods experience is the customer experience. The cashiers pack your bags and overall try to engage you in a conversation. The "just walk out" thing would make it less personable.

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#396

Post by zhoujianfu »

larzang wrote: post #385
WalterBright wrote: post #367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and marrying that to what Amazon already knows about you. Amazon is always putting up ads for me based on my purchase history, but they're never what I wind up buying. I have no explanation for what is wrong with their algorithm.

But you just bought a toilet seat, surely you want five more toilet seats, you toilet seat enthusiast you.

Ha, for me it was hammocks.. for years!

Just call me The Hammock Man!

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#397

Post by wlesieutre »

larzang wrote: post #385
WalterBright wrote: post #367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and marrying that to what Amazon already knows about you. Amazon is always putting up ads for me based on my purchase history, but they're never what I wind up buying. I have no explanation for what is wrong with their algorithm.

But you just bought a toilet seat, surely you want five more toilet seats, you toilet seat enthusiast you.

Frequently purchased together: toilet seat, and the exact same toilet seat from a duplicate listing at $20 higher price

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#399

Post by Godel_unicode »

larzang wrote: post #385
WalterBright wrote: post #367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and marrying that to what Amazon already knows about you. Amazon is always putting up ads for me based on my purchase history, but they're never what I wind up buying. I have no explanation for what is wrong with their algorithm.

But you just bought a toilet seat, surely you want five more toilet seats, you toilet seat enthusiast you.

I've always assumed that was an artifact of free returns; if you bought one thing, maybe you're actually still shopping and want to know other options. I've noticed when I get these they're frequently more expensive than the one I already bought.
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