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

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

#271

Post by rippercushions »

madballster wrote: post #261

I vividly recall seeing a feature on TV in the mid 80s where they were discussing future technologies for the year 2000. One of them was the cashier-less store: We'd all put in our grocery items in the carts and then the payment would be automagically calculated, no cashier or manual scanning necessary. They assumed it would be microchip based, the chip embedded in packaging. What ever happened to this? Why did this…

It didn't: Uniqlo and Decathlon, to name a few, use exactly this concept at their self checkouts.

However, because RFID chips are too weak to be reliably read in bulk and at a distance, you need to deposit your items one by one in a special trough that scans them. And this is only possible because both Uniqlo and Decathlon are 100% house brand and can thus ensure the chips are present in everything, which is why random corner stores or supermarkets can't copy them.

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

#272

Post by kazinator »

swatcoder wrote: post #197
Spivak wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Food choice being a proxy and signal for class/culture is nothing new. You’d be hard pressed to find a cultural tradition that doesn’t speak to it. While everyone needs sustenance, there are often several adequate choices about how to get it and making those choices become a way of communicating to others. And communicating is an defining and seemingly valuable part of being human. It’s not really weird and it’s not…

Consumption of quinoa doesn't demonstrate your food choice as much as that you follow quaint trends.

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

#273

Post by MomoXenosaga »

madballster wrote: post #261

I vividly recall seeing a feature on TV in the mid 80s where they were discussing future technologies for the year 2000. One of them was the cashier-less store: We'd all put in our grocery items in the carts and then the payment would be automagically calculated, no cashier or manual scanning necessary. They assumed it would be microchip based, the chip embedded in packaging. What ever happened to this? Why did this…

This actually exists. There is a pilot Aldi in the Netherlands.

The idea does not fail in countries with labour shortages. Even with increased shoplifting- it is simply too asinine employing people sitting on their ass all day scanning groceries. Labour costs real money here.

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

#274

Post by ilikehurdles »

bogomipz wrote: post #103
kentosi wrote: post #8

Slightly misleading title. They're closing 8 of their stores across NYC, SF, etc, and this is after they just opened a few more across the US.

From the article: >"The retailer also opened a number of locations last year in Southern California. As of last month, Amazon operated 31 Go stores in total." >"With these closures, the company will have 23 Go stores, the spokesperson said." That's a loss of 8 stores.

It's a loss of 8 Go stores, but Amazon has been ramping up the Amazon Fresh grocery stores over the last 2 years. There are 33 Amazon Fresh stores from my count.

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

#275

Post by jrochkind1 »

jarjoura wrote: post #238
jrochkind1 wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your comment just made something click for me. CVS (a drug store) by me has also gotten rid of cashiers... but for self-checkout. So have Royal Farms, a regional gas station/convenience store chain. At both places, if you really try, you can maybe get a cashier at a single human cashier counter, but it's normally unstaffed, and everyone directed to the multiple self check out stations. (I think USA readers know what…

I too prefer human check-out lines. I always find that self-checkout system that everyone uses to be slower and clunky. The worst is at the grocery store where I have to search and find each item of produce, weigh it and then carefully place it in the bag. If any step in that flow goes slightly wrong, the system freezes and waits for an employee to come by and check what I'm doing. However, in the "fast casual" space…

There are sit-down restaurants near me that now the only way to order is by scanning a QR code, which identifies your table, and ordering on a website. Someone drops your food off when it's ready, you've already paid with a credit card on the website. (You can add a tip).

Started during the pandemic, pretty sure it's never going away. (The folks who made those apps bet right).

I try to avoid them.

But in the area of CVS (USA-style drug stores) or Royal Farms (chain convenience store, often attached to a gas station) -- as well as grocery stores in general -- self-check-out is already predominant around me, and I also don't see it going away. I suspect you're right it will never totally win in the restaurant space, but in the grocery store and convenience store space, it pretty much already has over here.

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

#276

Post by kazinator »

chordalkeyboard wrote: post #204
Spivak wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> What about quinoa made it associated with rich yuppies? poor people use wheat etc.

I'm not aware that quinoa is expensive. Some rich yuppies have the time for following lame food/health/lifestyle trends. However, doing that is lame at any income level. A proper bro dude will never eat yogurts sprinkled with acai berries and quinoa or whatever crap.

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

#277

Post by toofy »

1bent wrote: post #228

I've always found the concept of these puzzling; I find interacting with the folks in stores, even if it's merely exchanging a smile and a friendly word with the cashier, to be a joy in the day to day chores; from the first I heard of these, I thought it tragic that some would want to go there. Horn&Hardart left a lasting memory, but I haven't felt it was nostalgia.

yeah, this push to remove human interaction is really strange to me.

i wonder often what minimizing humans interacting with each other will cause on a grand macro scale/timeline.

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

#278

Post by monsieurbanana »

madballster wrote: post #261

I vividly recall seeing a feature on TV in the mid 80s where they were discussing future technologies for the year 2000. One of them was the cashier-less store: We'd all put in our grocery items in the carts and then the payment would be automagically calculated, no cashier or manual scanning necessary. They assumed it would be microchip based, the chip embedded in packaging. What ever happened to this? Why did this…

That's how a fair amount of stores work, at least in France / Spain. Uniqlo and decathlon for example.

You do need to put the items in a box at the exit to pay (you can't just walk out of the store with the shopping cart), but no manual scanning.

Edit: should have refreshed the page before commenting, Decathlon and uniqlo are popular here

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

#279

Post by CamperBob2 »

nprateem wrote: post #30

I had to go to one to return a package. I couldn't get past the turnstiles because I don't use the app and don't know my password because I use a password manager. This meant I couldn't hand my parcel in at the counter. The woman on the turnstile wouldn't let me in even when I explained the situation. So she went off and got a scanner to take my package. She didn't offer a receipt, and when I asked for one said it wa…

The turnstiles are unfortunate. They send the wrong psychological messages -- complexity, exclusion, a barrier to entry. I can't imagine that they stop any actual thieves, considering how brazen shoplifters are these days.

And they really aren't necessary. The Amazon app has location services permission; it knows when I'm in the store. That's apparently enough to track me along with my purchases, and to flag anyone who tries to enter the store without the app. So what's the point of the turnstiles, exactly?

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

#280

Post by crazygringo »

ryandrake wrote: post #181
CydeWeys wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Preventing crime isn't about cost-effectiveness in individual instances, it's about deterrence. Which is necessary for safety, but which is also "cost-effective" when you account for all the crime that has been deterred, if you tried to measure that in dollars somehow.

But people also have rights, including the right to a trial with a jury of peers. Innocent people can be wrongly accused of stealing large amounts. It's worth the expense of a jury trial to force the prosecution to justify their case and give the innocent the change to defend themselves. And cost effectiveness plays no role here.

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