In a nutshell: Their tech can't track items if there's a lot of people or fast movement.
and goods misplaced on wrong shelves. Kinda hard to track.
Amazon Delays Opening of Cashierless Store to Work Out Kinks
11–20 of 107 posts
Re: Amazon Delays Opening of Cashierless Store to Work Out Kinks
#12I wonder if these stores will suffer any more from shoplifting than regular stores. I assume they will function roughly the same, i.e. an alarm goes off as an unpaid high ticket item leaves the store, but what's the psychological impact of having a human near the front door? will people feel they are stealing from a robot rather than a person (in fact they are stealing from neither), and will that lower the cognitive…
It doesn't seem to function the same at all. If an item is detected leaving the store, then the person who took the item (or the person the store thinks took the item) is charged. And if they aren't detected, there's no way to have an alarm.
how exactly is someone charged when they don't have an amazon account / connected phone / whatever method of payment is being used here? are you saying you need to swipe your card on the way in?
Re: Amazon Delays Opening of Cashierless Store to Work Out Kinks
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
It doesn't seem to function the same at all. If an item is detected leaving the store, then the person who took the item (or the person the store thinks took the item) is charged. And if they aren't detected, there's no way to have an alarm.
how exactly is someone charged when they don't have an amazon account / connected phone / whatever method of payment is being used here? are you saying you need to swipe your card on the way in?
Yes. You need to have the Amazon Go app installed on your phone, and you scan your phone at what looks like a turnstile to enter the store, from the store's PR videos. Then the store keeps track of what you pick up using computer vision, your phone and various sensors, and charges everything you walk out with to your account.
Unless you can avoid the requirement to load an app and scan it to get into the store, walking out of the store with goods stuffed in your jacket or bag isn't shoplifting, because the store knows you picked those things up and is charging them to your Amazon account.
Re: Amazon Delays Opening of Cashierless Store to Work Out Kinks
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
It doesn't seem to function the same at all. If an item is detected leaving the store, then the person who took the item (or the person the store thinks took the item) is charged. And if they aren't detected, there's no way to have an alarm.
how exactly is someone charged when they don't have an amazon account / connected phone / whatever method of payment is being used here? are you saying you need to swipe your card on the way in?
Yes, that's how it's working for now, anyway. The app has a QR code you scan at the entrance to gain access to the store.
Re: Amazon Delays Opening of Cashierless Store to Work Out Kinks
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
And once they hear Amazon can't track a lot of people moving quickly... A lot of people will decide to start moving quickly.
I can already foresee a dozen people showing up in zebra-striped hoodies to see what happens when they shop together.
I'm sure that some people will but there will almost certainly be security in the store that will politely ask them to stop.
Re: Amazon Delays Opening of Cashierless Store to Work Out Kinks
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
And once they hear Amazon can't track a lot of people moving quickly... A lot of people will decide to start moving quickly.
I can already foresee a dozen people showing up in zebra-striped hoodies to see what happens when they shop together.
They realize that amazon now measures the height of each customer, also has a miniature drone following them around and each floor tile measure the weight of the people for that extra data point, oh and some have employees disguised as customers whom help the system when in doubt.
Re: Amazon Delays Opening of Cashierless Store to Work Out Kinks
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
how exactly is someone charged when they don't have an amazon account / connected phone / whatever method of payment is being used here? are you saying you need to swipe your card on the way in?
Yes. You need to have the Amazon Go app installed on your phone, and you scan your phone at what looks like a turnstile to enter the store, from the store's PR videos. Then the store keeps track of what you pick up using computer vision, your phone and various sensors, and charges everything you walk out with to your account. Unless you can avoid the requirement to load an app and scan it to get into the store, walki…
ah, interesting - thanks for the explanation (and sorry if that was mentioned in the article, I couldn't get past the paywall).
Re: Amazon Delays Opening of Cashierless Store to Work Out Kinks
#18I wonder if these stores will suffer any more from shoplifting than regular stores. I assume they will function roughly the same, i.e. an alarm goes off as an unpaid high ticket item leaves the store, but what's the psychological impact of having a human near the front door? will people feel they are stealing from a robot rather than a person (in fact they are stealing from neither), and will that lower the cognitive…
I think they will still have people working in loss prevention / security. I'm not sure though.
Re: Amazon Delays Opening of Cashierless Store to Work Out Kinks
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
how exactly is someone charged when they don't have an amazon account / connected phone / whatever method of payment is being used here? are you saying you need to swipe your card on the way in?
Yes. You need to have the Amazon Go app installed on your phone, and you scan your phone at what looks like a turnstile to enter the store, from the store's PR videos. Then the store keeps track of what you pick up using computer vision, your phone and various sensors, and charges everything you walk out with to your account. Unless you can avoid the requirement to load an app and scan it to get into the store, walki…
So children are not allowed in the store? What's stopping someone from just stuffing their kid full of high end goods and asking them to wait in the car?
Re: Amazon Delays Opening of Cashierless Store to Work Out Kinks
#20I wish more companies would delay their products due to quality concerns. It shouldn't be viewed as a bad thing.