Amazon is closing its cashierless stores in NYC, San Francisco and Seattle • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon is closing its cashierless stores in NYC, San Francisco and Seattle

#181

Post by ryandrake » Sun, Mar 05, 2023, 5:36 PM UTC

CydeWeys wrote: post #66

justeleblanc wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Larceny goes to a jury where you live?

It's a criminal charge, so yes, according to the Sixth Amendment it could go to a jury trial in any jurisdiction.

Maybe I've been living in California for too long, but I'm kind of shocked/confused at how someone stealing from a Target would go all the way to a jury trial. Surely the amount stolen was less than the cost of the police's time, the legal system, judges, attorneys, clerks, jurors, and so on. It would be more cost effective to simply have the local government reimburse Target for the loss.

Re: Amazon is closing its cashierless stores in NYC, San Francisco and Seattle

#182

Post by mynameisvlad » Sun, Mar 05, 2023, 5:37 PM UTC

vlovich123 wrote: post #152

mynameisvlad wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The liability equation is massively different on the pharmacy side where there are strict penalties involved with distributing controlled OTC meds even, let alone prescriptions and controlled prescriptions. Nobody is going to come down and slap a fine on you for having a dozen cameras stolen. They very certainly will if that cough syrup wasn’t distributed correctly.

The kinds of things that are locked up aren't even OTC meds that could be used for illicit purposes. We're talking about antacids and COVID tests too.

If they already lock up regulated medicine, then it costs them next to nothing to add high-value items to it. They have the space and the staff to handle it already.

Re: Amazon is closing its cashierless stores in NYC, San Francisco and Seattle

#183

Post by CydeWeys » Sun, Mar 05, 2023, 5:38 PM UTC

zxcvbn4038 wrote: post #92

I used to visit one of the NYC the Go stores daily until covid happened. It was cute and surgically clean, worked wonderfully, and their inventory management was much better then CVS and Duane Reade which often sell out of things and have empty shelves for days. But nobody ever went there - no matter what time of the day I went, there would be one person doing inventory and stocking, two people standing by to help pe…

Isn't the whole point of Amazon generally, and these stores specifically in not having staff, that it's supposed to be cheaper? I think you've pinpointed the reason it failed, but I can't imagine why they thought it was going to succeed at those prices.

Re: Amazon is closing its cashierless stores in NYC, San Francisco and Seattle

#184

Post by kube-system » Sun, Mar 05, 2023, 5:38 PM UTC

bogomipz wrote: post #130

kube-system wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vending machines have very strict packaging requirements. They simply can’t handle a wide variety of products.

That hasn't been true in a very long time. A walk through any major airport shows otherwise. The Best Buy Express vending machine is 10 years old at this point and that is just one of many brands now that have similar offerings. See: https://blog.bestbuy.ca/tv-audio/headphones-tv-audio/best-bu... and https://thepointsguy.com/news/things-sold-airport-vending-ma...

Those are all uniform packages that meet strict requirements. Grocery stores, including Amazon cashierless stores, sell things like produce.

Picking an apple, banana, or bunch of grapes off a shelf is more difficult for a machine. The items are not uniform in size or shape. For a lot of produce, no mechanized handling system exists for quantities smaller than a bushel.

Re: Amazon is closing its cashierless stores in NYC, San Francisco and Seattle

#185

Post by permo-w » Sun, Mar 05, 2023, 5:39 PM UTC

pessimizer wrote: post #112

amelius wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The endgame in capitalism is something that is remarkably close to a bureaucratic all-controlling government.

Incorporation is just governments franchising. Before you have a massive central administration, you use "tax farmers" to collect revenue. Before you have the technical ability for a total centralization of surveillance and control, you have corporations.

can we infer from this that you believe there's some kind of central government conspiracy that never changes and is always pushing ahead with the exact same very specific plan?

Re: Amazon is closing its cashierless stores in NYC, San Francisco and Seattle

#186

Post by CydeWeys » Sun, Mar 05, 2023, 5:40 PM UTC

buzzerbetrayed wrote: post #117

CydeWeys wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's definitely an Amazon failure, as Amazon controls all sides of this return.

It can be a failure on Amazons part without it being a failure of the cashierless store concept.

Well it's definitely a failure of the Amazon cashier less store concept if they railroad you into doing your returns there but then it doesn't even work.

Re: Amazon is closing its cashierless stores in NYC, San Francisco and Seattle

#187

Post by mynameisvlad » Sun, Mar 05, 2023, 5:40 PM UTC

nprateem wrote: post #161

mynameisvlad wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but Amazon Go is, as the comment you replied to states, a store which literally is built to require an app to use . This argument is thrown out the window when you shop at a store which explicitly and from its inception has required this. As the commenter stated, > So then why attempt to go to a store that’s entirely based on using the app?

Because it wasn't clear I needed to use an app (and therefore would require access to my password which I didn't have on my phone) since I was just trying to return a product.

Amazon lists lockers in buildings with controlled access as drop off points as well. It’s up to you to confirm you have access to the locker.

If you need an app to enter that store and you need to enter the store to return an item, then it’s pretty clear you need an app to return an item at that store.

Re: Amazon is closing its cashierless stores in NYC, San Francisco and Seattle

#188

Post by Spivak » Sun, Mar 05, 2023, 5:41 PM UTC

bitxbitxbitcoin wrote: post #171

zxcvbn4038 wrote: post #92

I used to visit one of the NYC the Go stores daily until covid happened. It was cute and surgically clean, worked wonderfully, and their inventory management was much better then CVS and Duane Reade which often sell out of things and have empty shelves for days. But nobody ever went there - no matter what time of the day I went, there would be one person doing inventory and stocking, two people standing by to help pe…

Putting quinoa in everything and assuming the addressable market had more disposable income seems like one of the signs of the last bubble.

Why are people so weird about food? What about quinoa made it associated with rich yuppies? If you didn’t already know you would probably assume the main consumers would be dudes who want their chicken and carb to have even more protein.

Re: Amazon is closing its cashierless stores in NYC, San Francisco and Seattle

#189

Post by flutas » Sun, Mar 05, 2023, 5:44 PM UTC

rootusrootus wrote: post #169

jstummbillig wrote: post #99

I have actually had a very positive experience with cashier-less shopping – albeit not with Amazon Go and in the EU. As of now, it's been heavily benefited from never having to wait in a line (because the vast majority of people will still opt for the cashier lanes) but I actually found the UX (which in my case always included scanning of products like a cashier would) actually quite delightful and surprisingly never…

> What are other experiences? For a number of years now our local grocery/everything store has operated a cashierless option. When you enter, you grab a handheld scanner, and scan as you go. It's pretty cool. But it seems like nobody really uses it. And the two locations closest to me seem to have dropped it altogether. People are apparently more comfortable with just using old school self-checkout. Those have contin…

> old school self-checkout

Man, the old ones were better than the new ones my local Kroger has.

The new ones are like they took an old checkout stand and just put a self checkout kiosk in it, so you place your items on a belt...that moves them 5 feet away after you scan them.

So the flow is scan everything, checkout, then bag everything while people stare at you figuring out how to avoid doing what you're doing (and are angry at you for "wasting their time"), only for them to do the exact same thing.

Re: Amazon is closing its cashierless stores in NYC, San Francisco and Seattle

#190

Post by harvey9 » Sun, Mar 05, 2023, 5:47 PM UTC

tiedieconderoga wrote: post #141

harvey9 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a tipping point where it's cheaper to employ staff to get stuff out of a cabinet than to catch all the people stealing.

Sure, but it's very strange when that threshhold seems to be in the $2-4 range. Some US cities, you show up for a conference or something, walk to the corner store across from your hotel, and find that all of the toothbrushes and bags of trail mix are locked away. How little are they paying these people who are doing the unlocking, that it's worthwhile for such small items?

I'd speculate they are doing some balance of what gets stolen the most, and price. But I'm in the UK and I mostly see higher priced items like brand name razor blades getting locked away.