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“Just walk out” technology by Amazon

justwalkout.com

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Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#721

Post by JohnFen »

morganvachon wrote: post #683
altec3 wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And they didn't just do that with AWS. They did it with ecommerce as well. Become the biggest online retailer, nail the implementation, then get everyone else to jump on your platform.

They are following it up with shipping and logistics. Amazon has been pushing us hard to switch from FedEx/UPS/USPS to using them for most of our packages, and it's working. Our defect rate is less with Amazon despite all of the anecdotal evidence of lazy/incompetent last mile Amazon personnel, and our rep bends over backwards to make sure she can fix any issues and get us what we need. She's sending us free label pr…

> Amazon has been pushing us hard to switch from FedEx/UPS/USPS to using them for most of our packages

I hope that there's always a USPS option. My apartment complex has package lockers that can only be used by the USPS, so that's the only safe way to get packages delivered when I'm not home.

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#722

Post by JohnFen »

heavenlyblue wrote: post #284
altec3 wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And they didn't just do that with AWS. They did it with ecommerce as well. Become the biggest online retailer, nail the implementation, then get everyone else to jump on your platform.

They are only good because Ebay is pathetically bad.

Amazon has become my "last resort" place. These days, I check eBay before Amazon.

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#723

Post by JohnFen »

WWLink wrote: post #620
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last Thanksgiving, I visited my parents in the town where I lived before college, and we went to the Whole Foods where we used to shop at all the time. It looked basically the same, except that there were these huge, bright blue Amazon Prime ads everywhere . It felt vaguely dystopian—a store of my youth invaded by the giant tech monolith. If Amazon is trying to not noticeably change Whole Foods, they're doing a prett…

What? You don't want to buy an Alexa smart microphone device?! But we'll give you one for free! Here! FREE ECHO MINI DOT THING! -aggressively hands over- LET US SPY ON YOU AT HOME!!!one!

I'd take it for free -- I can always use the parts for something.

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#724

Post by JohnFen »

derefr wrote: post #541
leetcrew wrote: post #437

Earlier quoted context omitted.

maybe it's just a coincidence, but I've noticed all kinds of everyday things being out of stock (eg, brussels sprouts and lettuce) at whole foods since the purchase. I'm wondering if amazon is getting more aggressive with the JIT inventory strategy.

I'd guess that that one's down to increased usage of grocery delivery services, rather than logistical optimization. If you've got a Whole Foods and a less-upmarket grocery store equally far from you, you're gonna get your staple foods from the less-upmarket store, and just go to the Whole Foods for the things only they carry. But if you're making an online order with a fixed-overhead delivery fee from Whole Foods, y…

> you're not going to make a separate online order with a fixed-overhead delivery fee from the less-upmarket store

If I were doing this, I would be far more likely to make a separate order online than physically. It takes no effort to do it online, but to shop at more than one physical store is additional inconvenience.

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#725

Post by JohnFen »

war1025 wrote: post #461
iNate2000 wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It knows who you are and where you are, so it knows when you're using a scale - so it would just tag the weight to the fruit in your basket. Or, just over charge by a large enough margin to make up for it.

I know they have scales in the produce section, but I don't think I've ever actually used one. It's something I'll do occasionally if I'm buying from a bulk bin, but fruit or vegetables I just grab however many I think I"m going to need.

I buy my produce "just in time", so I'm frequently using those scales to be sure that I've purchased as close to exactly what I need as possible for what I'm making that day. I don't want leftover produce.

For example, I made two apple pies the other day. The recipe calls for 2 lbs of apples each, so I bought 5 lbs of apples (to account for the weight loss from coring and peeling).

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#726

Post by drdec »

0xffff2 wrote: post #639
CurrentB wrote: post #611

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So if you close your eyes and visualize a grocery store experience where you put stuff directly into your tote bags or your backpack and walk right out, with 0 time spent on anything after you have everything you need, this doesn't seem like something completely beyond self-checkout to you? I've used plenty of self checkout lanes too and it's roughly the same satisfaction as going in a cashier lane. It's still X + Y…

>So if you close your eyes and visualize a grocery store experience where you put stuff directly into your tote bags or your backpack and walk right out, with 0 time spent on anything after you have everything you need, this doesn't seem like something completely beyond self-checkout to you? Not at all. It seems like a tiny, infinitesimal even, improvement over self checkout. Waiting in line is annoying, spending a m…

Now imagine you are shopping for a family of six for an entire month and you have two carts bursting with groceries. Still think it's only a tiny improvement?

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#727

Post by JohnFen »

monkin wrote: post #542
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…

> 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. Is this still a thing? In Poland most shops allows you to scan and pay for products in matter of seconds without any help. No lines, no hassle. :)

> In Poland most shops allows you to scan and pay for products in matter of seconds without any help. No lines, no hassle.

In my part of the US this is common as well, but there's almost always a line to use the scanners that is about the same as the line for the a human checkout clerk. So I almost always opt for the human.

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#728

Post by StrictDabbler »

HUSSTECH wrote: post #692
Animats wrote: post #602

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do any of those companies actually have a live customer? Not a demo store, a real paying customer with more than one location live? Standard.ai apparently has a demo store in SF, although it's been closed due to the coronavirus epidemic. Grabango - one installation in test at a Giant Eagle store. Getzippin - one installation in test at a Lojas Americanas store. Their site gives the impression that it's really about g…

https://www.thirdeyelabs.com/ - real customers - real money - multiple-sites Plus they beat Amazon to this concept by a good few months. https://www.thirdeyelabs.com/news . Granted all the focus/attention in this space is in the US. But it is happening elsewhere too.

"Beat them to this concept"? I can't even remember the first time I heard about this idea. 2003? 1995? I half-suspect I read about the idea in OMNI Magazine.

It's always been a question of when the supporting technology was going to be good enough to make it work. The idea has been around long enough for most of the early patents to expire.

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#730

Post by JohnFen »

laughinghan wrote: post #649
pacala wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GMail solved a thorny problem: convince users to browse the web while logged in, preferably with their real life identity. To then collect and aggregate an extensive personalized dossier of their online activity without any fear of legal repercussions. This is priceless. Then just play the trends: how much space the median user actually uses, user adoption trends, planned storage capacity, storage cost. Possibly the…

I'm not saying Google isn't evil, but I don't buy this particular piece of conspiracy theory. Every major browser including Google Chrome is starting to phase out third-party cookies, which prevents exactly that kind of tracking.

Just a couple of years ago, Google was one of the major tech companies who were strenuously defending the use of third-party cookies. They're shifting to eliminating them (someday) solely because they were forced to. The other major browsers were committed to doing it, and it became clear that this could pose a threat to the dominance of Chrome if Chrome didn't follow suit.

But at the same time, Google (as well as the rest of the marketing industry) is working on replacing the functionality of third party cookies without having to use them -- thus negating the entire reason to restrict third party cookies.

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