A Look at Apple’s Spot-the-Shopper Technology
bits.blogs.nytimes.com
A Look at Apple’s Spot-the-Shopper Technology
1–10 of 12 posts
Re: A Look at Apple’s Spot-the-Shopper Technology
#2I was hoping this would be a detailed look at how Apple implemented their buy-it-from-your-iPhone-using-your-AppleID-without-ever-talking-to-a-salesperson option in the Apple Store App.* I suppose it's in Apple's best interests to not reveal details of that system to would be thieves though.
* I used this feature when it first came out and found the experience pleasant, and was even prompted to flag down an employee and ask for a bag if I wanted (sure that partly defeats the purpose, but I did it anyway to see what would happen—I received a smile and a bag and a thank you with no hint of suspicion and no double checking of the receipt showing on my phone. I did have to enter the security code from my linked Credit Card.
Re: A Look at Apple’s Spot-the-Shopper Technology
#3This is almost certainly not approved by Apple PR, and is one of the rare instances where any information about Apple's internal operations are released to the public.
I would guess that Diego is about to be out of a job before Christmas :[
Re: A Look at Apple’s Spot-the-Shopper Technology
#4I was hoping this would be a detailed look at how Apple implemented their buy-it-from-your-iPhone-using-your-AppleID-without-ever-talking-to-a-salesperson option in the Apple Store App.* I suppose it's in Apple's best interests to not reveal details of that system to would be thieves though. * I used this feature when it first came out and found the experience pleasant, and was even prompted to flag down an employee…
The system knows when you are in an Apple Store (it is a feature built into the location API apparently (it's an option in the emulator!)) and after you "take a picture" of the barcode it simply communicates with iTunes and charges your card.
Very awesome system in that it removes yet another bit of friction from the buying experience. I no longer have to wait for someone to be available to pay for my purchase, I simply pick it up, pay for it using my iTunes account, and leave the store.
Re: A Look at Apple’s Spot-the-Shopper Technology
#5I was hoping this would be a detailed look at how Apple implemented their buy-it-from-your-iPhone-using-your-AppleID-without-ever-talking-to-a-salesperson option in the Apple Store App.* I suppose it's in Apple's best interests to not reveal details of that system to would be thieves though. * I used this feature when it first came out and found the experience pleasant, and was even prompted to flag down an employee…
The system knows when you are in an Apple Store (it is a feature built into the location API apparently (it's an option in the emulator!)) and after you "take a picture" of the barcode it simply communicates with iTunes and charges your card. Very awesome system in that it removes yet another bit of friction from the buying experience. I no longer have to wait for someone to be available to pay for my purchase, I sim…
this explains how honest people get billed, but says nothing of how they manage loss-prevention.
Re: A Look at Apple’s Spot-the-Shopper Technology
#6I was hoping this would be a detailed look at how Apple implemented their buy-it-from-your-iPhone-using-your-AppleID-without-ever-talking-to-a-salesperson option in the Apple Store App.* I suppose it's in Apple's best interests to not reveal details of that system to would be thieves though. * I used this feature when it first came out and found the experience pleasant, and was even prompted to flag down an employee…
I was hoping it was some awesome machine learning system which separated people who were just browsing from people who actually wanted to buy.. oh well.
Re: A Look at Apple’s Spot-the-Shopper Technology
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
The system knows when you are in an Apple Store (it is a feature built into the location API apparently (it's an option in the emulator!)) and after you "take a picture" of the barcode it simply communicates with iTunes and charges your card. Very awesome system in that it removes yet another bit of friction from the buying experience. I no longer have to wait for someone to be available to pay for my purchase, I sim…
this explains how honest people get billed, but says nothing of how they manage loss-prevention.
From what I have heard from Apple Store Employees who I asked about this topic, at the moment they are doing nothing. Technically someone could grab something from the shelve, look like they are checking out on the phone and walk out and there is no verification that someone has actually paid for the item.
It is going to be interesting how, or even better if, they are going to tackle the issue of loss prevention or if they are going to consider it an operating loss.
The interesting thing is that even before they implemented the self-checkout system it was based on the honor system as well. Nobody has ever asked me if I had paid for the items as I was leaving the Apple store. Nobody flagged me down as I was holding items to pay for them. I didn't have a physical receipt, just one they emailed to me and I've almost never asked for a bag so they can't identify people who have paid vs those who hadn't paid that way...
Re: A Look at Apple’s Spot-the-Shopper Technology
#8I tried the "request assistance" button in Apple's Covent Garden store a month or two ago, and it didn't work. No-one came, and when I asked a real person about this, he said they were aware someone needed help, but the system isn't able to tell them exactly where the person was. But maybe they've fixed it now...
Re: A Look at Apple’s Spot-the-Shopper Technology
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
this explains how honest people get billed, but says nothing of how they manage loss-prevention.
From what I have heard from Apple Store Employees who I asked about this topic, at the moment they are doing nothing. Technically someone could grab something from the shelve, look like they are checking out on the phone and walk out and there is no verification that someone has actually paid for the item. It is going to be interesting how, or even better if, they are going to tackle the issue of loss prevention or i…
Last I was in an Apple store they put a sticker on the purchased goods (this was before the self-checkout).
I assume the sticker was proof-of-purchase (as receipt was being emailed).
Re: A Look at Apple’s Spot-the-Shopper Technology
#10This is almost certainly not approved by Apple PR, and is one of the rare instances where any information about Apple's internal operations are released to the public. I would guess that Diego is about to be out of a job before Christmas :[
I really didn't see anything in the article that you can't glean by going to a store in person and watching the employees work.
Last time I was there I even asked the blueshirt to show me the battery pack/scanner apparatus attached to his phone. It was no big deal and he was happy to talk about it.