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Edit store price tags using Flipper Zero

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Re: Edit store price tags using Flipper Zero

#301

Post by kennywinker »

Telaneo wrote: post #265
kennywinker wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, actually I can. Understaffed just means you’re not paying well enough. Look what happened recently in new york. $30/hour to shovel snow got them a lineup out the door of people wanting to work. Those companies made the choice to prioritize profit margins above staffing.

You're blaming the store, which I agree with. My question was whether you could blame the GP, or the consumer in general. They have little control over how much the staff of their grocery store is being paid.

Ah, yes i did misunderstand. No i don’t blame them, but i am confused about their preference because it doesn’t match my own.

Re: Edit store price tags using Flipper Zero

#302

Post by kennywinker »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #257
kennywinker wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, actually I can. Understaffed just means you’re not paying well enough. Look what happened recently in new york. $30/hour to shovel snow got them a lineup out the door of people wanting to work. Those companies made the choice to prioritize profit margins above staffing.

Retail business profit margins have always been low single digit percentages. More staff can only mean higher prices. I'll gladly scan my own stuff to have lower prices and be able to get out quicker. https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/KR/kroger/profit-m... https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/ACI/albertsons/net... https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/WMT/walmart/profit... https://www.macrotrends.net…

> Retail business profit margins have always been low single digit percentages.

And yet overall profits remain high - they’re high-volume low margin businesses.

> More staff can only mean higher prices.

When you’re talking about massive chains that are prioritizing profits, usually on behalf of shareholders, that is true. For smaller businesses, coops, or even gov run grocery stores - things that aren’t as focussed on rates of return for investors - it can just mean less profits for the owners.

> I'll gladly scan my own stuff to have lower prices and be able to get out quicker.

It hasn’t matched my experience that prices fell as self checkouts were installed. I think profits went up, prices didn’t come down. Maybe the “quicker” bit… except only if I have just a handful of items.

Re: Edit store price tags using Flipper Zero

#303

Post by kennywinker »

yreg wrote: post #276
kennywinker wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They understaffed, and it sucked. Now you do all the work and are apparently happy about it. Go figure.

No they did not understaff. It is normal to wait if you want an unscheduled 1on1. It was always like that and it was always normal.

I tried pre-booking my checkout session, but the safeway never returned my calls.

Re: Edit store price tags using Flipper Zero

#304

Post by xerox13ster »

ssl-3 wrote: post #235
data-ottawa wrote: post #203

I’m very surprised here. I worked in retail many years, including doing store shelf tear downs and replacement and night shift stocking. Back in the day we would get our planograms from HQ, then we’d print out all the labels on perforated paper, and walk the shelves moving product and updating the price tags, throwing out the old. The epaper tags are very clearly an improvement to that process in both time and waste.…

It doesn't really change anything. Previously, a criminal could just print their own shelf tags. They'd probably do this somewhere other than in the store to get the details right, but it was doable. (We've all probably seen rolls of blank shelf tags sitting around at the store, and thermal printers are inexpensive. So what if it's two crimes instead of one?) And then, in the store, they could just switch out the she…

I’m sorry but this entire premise is dubious at best hilarious at worst.

I’ve worked retail on and off for a decade and been friends with AP in most places and no one has ever mentioned this happening. Never been told to watch for it, or heard a rumor about it from another store.

It’s just not something that happens.

Re: Edit store price tags using Flipper Zero

#305

Post by jojobas »

ssl-3 wrote: post #294
jojobas wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It doesn't really change anything. Yes it does, unlike before, a shits-and-giggles attacker could change all the tags in an aisle into "you're gay" without showing anything on surveillance cameras. He wouldn't gain anything but the store would lose.

That'd be hilarious. Now I want one. But actually: It's not that broad. It's still mostly one at a time, ish. Changing a lot of them would stand out if anyone were paying attention. Although it could certainly be broadened...but an IR emitter that's skookum enough to reliably hit all of the shelf tags in an aisle at once would probably show up as an intensely-bright purple floodlight on the cameras. That would stand…

Well it does need to read individual tag barcodes, so it is indeed one at a time, still you could make an automated camera+beam device, hide at chest level, walk through an aisle as if looking for something, then pick up something in the end of the aisle and go to checkout.

I don't think anyone is paying attention anywhere near enough to pick that up. Additionally, one could read some barcodes and make quite cheap battery-powered narrow beam emitters to be placed in store aimed at particular tags that would only power up once a day at a random time.

Re: Edit store price tags using Flipper Zero

#306

Post by anilakar »

jojobas wrote: post #286
ssl-3 wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't really change anything. Previously, a criminal could just print their own shelf tags. They'd probably do this somewhere other than in the store to get the details right, but it was doable. (We've all probably seen rolls of blank shelf tags sitting around at the store, and thermal printers are inexpensive. So what if it's two crimes instead of one?) And then, in the store, they could just switch out the she…

>It doesn't really change anything. Yes it does, unlike before, a shits-and-giggles attacker could change all the tags in an aisle into "you're gay" without showing anything on surveillance cameras. He wouldn't gain anything but the store would lose.

A very real use case I can see would be Palestine supporters defacing Israeli product labels here (don't shoot the messenger, please).

Re: Edit store price tags using Flipper Zero

#307

Post by LargoLasskhyfv »

ssl-3 wrote: post #235
data-ottawa wrote: post #203

I’m very surprised here. I worked in retail many years, including doing store shelf tear downs and replacement and night shift stocking. Back in the day we would get our planograms from HQ, then we’d print out all the labels on perforated paper, and walk the shelves moving product and updating the price tags, throwing out the old. The epaper tags are very clearly an improvement to that process in both time and waste.…

It doesn't really change anything. Previously, a criminal could just print their own shelf tags. They'd probably do this somewhere other than in the store to get the details right, but it was doable. (We've all probably seen rolls of blank shelf tags sitting around at the store, and thermal printers are inexpensive. So what if it's two crimes instead of one?) And then, in the store, they could just switch out the she…

> It doesn't really change anything.

> Previously, a criminal could just print their own shelf tags.

Between your 'previously' and now is a period of at least two or three decades, where shelf tags have only be for your information in the store, while the real price came from computerized POS-Terminals with attached barcode-readers. Which of the two has priority for the customer may depend on country, law, store policy & good will.

Furthermore stores are completely cam covered nowadays, so much luck with being seen fumbling with your gadget in front of that label, or being seen on 'tape' putting another one over it, or things like that :-)

Re: Edit store price tags using Flipper Zero

#308

Post by jojobas »

anilakar wrote: post #306
jojobas wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It doesn't really change anything. Yes it does, unlike before, a shits-and-giggles attacker could change all the tags in an aisle into "you're gay" without showing anything on surveillance cameras. He wouldn't gain anything but the store would lose.

A very real use case I can see would be Palestine supporters defacing Israeli product labels here (don't shoot the messenger, please).

Or "I made this" with a politician of your choice.

Re: Edit store price tags using Flipper Zero

#309

Post by ssl-3 »

jojobas wrote: post #305
ssl-3 wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That'd be hilarious. Now I want one. But actually: It's not that broad. It's still mostly one at a time, ish. Changing a lot of them would stand out if anyone were paying attention. Although it could certainly be broadened...but an IR emitter that's skookum enough to reliably hit all of the shelf tags in an aisle at once would probably show up as an intensely-bright purple floodlight on the cameras. That would stand…

Well it does need to read individual tag barcodes, so it is indeed one at a time, still you could make an automated camera+beam device, hide at chest level, walk through an aisle as if looking for something, then pick up something in the end of the aisle and go to checkout. I don't think anyone is paying attention anywhere near enough to pick that up. Additionally, one could read some barcodes and make quite cheap ba…

So it needs barcodes to be read?

If the lulz are the point, then: Just build hide the thing in the floor-cleaning robot. Include a decent camera (they're very cheap) to catch the barcodes.

If the comms last long enough as the machine passes by to program some tags every night, then some tags get programmed every night. Nobody will pay attention to the robot's new purple floodlight in the cameras.

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