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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

#11

Post by chrischen »

endisneigh wrote: post #7

Amazon Go seems incredibly overengineered. Why is this superior than a portable scanning plus toggleable RFIDs that disable items on scan and alarm gates? Cameras everywhere and computer vision seems overkill.

In the midwest we have a giant store called Woodman's that just does low-tech self-checkout lanes and 24-hour stores... Self-checkout is just you doing the scanning and paying yourself... Aside from a high-precision scale and one worker for all of the self-checkout lanes (to assist in errors), it's more or less honor system that just works for the most part.

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

#12

Post by leesalminen »

chrischen wrote: post #11
endisneigh wrote: post #7

Amazon Go seems incredibly overengineered. Why is this superior than a portable scanning plus toggleable RFIDs that disable items on scan and alarm gates? Cameras everywhere and computer vision seems overkill.

In the midwest we have a giant store called Woodman's that just does low-tech self-checkout lanes and 24-hour stores... Self-checkout is just you doing the scanning and paying yourself... Aside from a high-precision scale and one worker for all of the self-checkout lanes (to assist in errors), it's more or less honor system that just works for the most part.

My mother-in-law operates the self-checkout lanes at a Kroger brand store in the midwest. The honor system definitely does not work there. Shoplifting is through the roof over the past couple years. It's gotten so bad that management is debating shutting off the self-checkout lanes.

A few months ago she was pepper sprayed after confronting a shoplifter who had an entire cart of things, but only scanned and paid for 3.

Then last month, someone came in and just wheeled out the entire tobacco shelving unit with a dolly.

These are just a couple egregious examples. We hear other shoplifting stories from her every week.

The police don't respond to shoplifting calls anymore, and the thieves know it. Employees are now instructed to not confront shoplifters in any way after she got pepper sprayed.

It's a total free for all. My mother-in-law estimates the theft to be $10,000 per day at her store.

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

#13

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

endisneigh wrote: post #7

Amazon Go seems incredibly overengineered. Why is this superior than a portable scanning plus toggleable RFIDs that disable items on scan and alarm gates? Cameras everywhere and computer vision seems overkill.

>Cameras everywhere and computer vision seems overkill.

If the goal is cashierless, why not just have a store full of vending machines? You pick what you want, tap your card or phone, then you get it, then walk out.

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

#14

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

novia wrote: post #3

I'm really bummed about this! I wanted to be able to just go in a store and grab a juice or an apple and then leave the store. I don't live in NYC or San Fran or Seattle, but I'd hoped these stores would spread.

>I wanted to be able to just go in a store and grab a juice or an apple and then leave the store.

So, basically something a vending machine could provide?

We've had those since like the '50s, except without computer vision, user tracking and machine learning.

I don't know why Amazon was trying to reinvent the wheel here in the most expensive way possible.

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

#15

Post by danpalmer »

danielvaughn wrote: post #9
novia wrote: post #3

I'm really bummed about this! I wanted to be able to just go in a store and grab a juice or an apple and then leave the store. I don't live in NYC or San Fran or Seattle, but I'd hoped these stores would spread.

I never went into one of those stores, but I'm down in Florida, and my apartment building has what they call a "sundry shop". It's connected to the main office but it's 24 hours - you get in with an electronic key. It's like a little convenience store, like a corner store in NYC. But the checkout is self-service, and there's a camera. It's amazing, I love it.

My grandparents used to live in a small village (rural U.K.). The village shop was tiny, just a few shelves and a fridge with basics. No checkout, no cameras, often no volunteer (definitely no paid staff). They just wrote down what they took in a little book and paid at the end of the month.

In small enough groups where there is a good sense of community it’s amazing what can work.

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

#18

Post by MonkeyMalarky »

chrischen wrote: post #11
endisneigh wrote: post #7

Amazon Go seems incredibly overengineered. Why is this superior than a portable scanning plus toggleable RFIDs that disable items on scan and alarm gates? Cameras everywhere and computer vision seems overkill.

In the midwest we have a giant store called Woodman's that just does low-tech self-checkout lanes and 24-hour stores... Self-checkout is just you doing the scanning and paying yourself... Aside from a high-precision scale and one worker for all of the self-checkout lanes (to assist in errors), it's more or less honor system that just works for the most part.

Trusting customers to key in the correct product code when using the scale is foolish though. Supposedly there's a store out there that sold more bananas in weight through the self-checkout than they had shipped in.

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

#19

Post by improv32 »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #13
endisneigh wrote: post #7

Amazon Go seems incredibly overengineered. Why is this superior than a portable scanning plus toggleable RFIDs that disable items on scan and alarm gates? Cameras everywhere and computer vision seems overkill.

>Cameras everywhere and computer vision seems overkill. If the goal is cashierless, why not just have a store full of vending machines? You pick what you want, tap your card or phone, then you get it, then walk out.

I'm guessing the longer term interest Amazon has is to use these stores to generate a dataset for their computer vision system, which they could license as a loss prevention technology to other stores

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

#20

Post by endisneigh »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #13
endisneigh wrote: post #7

Amazon Go seems incredibly overengineered. Why is this superior than a portable scanning plus toggleable RFIDs that disable items on scan and alarm gates? Cameras everywhere and computer vision seems overkill.

>Cameras everywhere and computer vision seems overkill. If the goal is cashierless, why not just have a store full of vending machines? You pick what you want, tap your card or phone, then you get it, then walk out.

to be honest I'm surprised no one has funded such an effort.
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