“Just walk out” technology by Amazon • Hacker News Board

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#41

Post by Someone1234 » Mon, Mar 09, 2020, 4:53 PM UTC

vsskanth wrote: post #17

In terms of cost-convenience trade-off, can someone tell me how is this better for a store when compared to self-checkout counters or scan-as-you-go apps (as suggested below) ? I use these frequently at Walmart and Sams without any problems. Rarely have to deal with an actual checkout person unless I have to get a gift card. IMO you can get very far simply addressing annoying latency and UX issues with self checkout…

We went in on Black Friday because we needed normal groceries. There was a 10+ minute wait to check out, even at the self-checkouts. This would mitigate that by allowing some customers to check themselves out.

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#42

Post by JohnFen » Mon, Mar 09, 2020, 4:55 PM UTC

txcwpalpha wrote: post #31

JohnFen wrote: post #3

> In Just Walk Out-enabled stores, shoppers enter the store using a credit card. They don't need to download an app or create an Amazon account. But you may as well. By giving them a CC# you're allowing Amazon to spy on you anyway -- and that's not even mentioning the copious surveillance in such stores in the form of cameras and behavior detection. > If shoppers need a receipt, they can visit a kiosk in the store an…

Not sure why you're harping so hard on the privacy front in regards to those statements. The quotes you've chosen (and the linked website) make no attempt to say that they are privacy related at all. The purpose of mentioning that they don't need to download an app or create an account are about mentioning the level of effort that patrons have to go through to sign up (as compared to current Amazon Go stores that do…

> The quotes you've chosen (and the linked website) make no attempt to say that they are privacy related at all.

I was pointing those out because of their obvious privacy implications, not because I thought that the article was presenting them as privacy-related.

> your comment feels like you're building a strawman.

How so? I was merely pointing out two of the several things the article said that got my spidey-senses tingling. I don't see how what I said is anything remotely like a strawman argument.

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#43

Post by shadowgovt » Mon, Mar 09, 2020, 4:55 PM UTC

femiagbabiaka wrote: post #15

vessenes wrote: post #13

Seeing a few negative comments here; I think these are short-sighted in the extreme. Labor is a major cost for retail; anything that massively reduces labor costs is going to be hugely game changing. Combined with amazon promises that it takes only a few weeks to integrate (seriously??) if this works at all, this is going to be a super fast growth group at Amazon. For reference think back to how many stories you’ve r…

if only most of the US labor force didn't rely on jobs in that sector...

I thought most of the US labor force relied on trucking?

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#44

Post by anoonmoose » Mon, Mar 09, 2020, 4:55 PM UTC

Analemma_ wrote: post #38

vessenes wrote: post #13

Seeing a few negative comments here; I think these are short-sighted in the extreme. Labor is a major cost for retail; anything that massively reduces labor costs is going to be hugely game changing. Combined with amazon promises that it takes only a few weeks to integrate (seriously??) if this works at all, this is going to be a super fast growth group at Amazon. For reference think back to how many stories you’ve r…

Do these actually reduce labor costs though? I frequently use the Amazon Go store in Seattle right next to the Spheres, and there seem to be as many if not more employees there than at an ordinary convenience store: there's always one person by the liquor area to check IDs, one or two people walking around the store restocking the shelves and helping the clueless tourists download the app, and several people in the k…

If there are no savings to be had from using this, people won't use it.

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#45

Post by tines » Mon, Mar 09, 2020, 4:55 PM UTC

Someone1234 wrote: post #33

vessenes wrote: post #13

Seeing a few negative comments here; I think these are short-sighted in the extreme. Labor is a major cost for retail; anything that massively reduces labor costs is going to be hugely game changing. Combined with amazon promises that it takes only a few weeks to integrate (seriously??) if this works at all, this is going to be a super fast growth group at Amazon. For reference think back to how many stories you’ve r…

So you're saying the "upside" against people's negativity is mass layoffs?

How does your rebuttal differ from the one made against all automation?

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#46

Post by ttoinou » Mon, Mar 09, 2020, 4:55 PM UTC

In France all our Decathlon (generic sport gear) stores already have RFID chips and checking out (at a free outlet to self checkout or at a cashier who'll basically do the same thing as you) consist of only putting the goods in a basket, the recognition / scanning of the RFID chip is very good and fast. If you walk out with goods you didn't buy the guard will have a notification on his smartphone with the list of unpaid items.

They're already very close getting to "Just Walk Out" from Amazon situation but I'm not sure how expensive putting an RFID chip in every product is.. ?

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#47

Post by dapuz » Mon, Mar 09, 2020, 4:55 PM UTC

vsskanth wrote: post #17

In terms of cost-convenience trade-off, can someone tell me how is this better for a store when compared to self-checkout counters or scan-as-you-go apps (as suggested below) ? I use these frequently at Walmart and Sams without any problems. Rarely have to deal with an actual checkout person unless I have to get a gift card. IMO you can get very far simply addressing annoying latency and UX issues with self checkout…

And then with scan-as-you-shop (some shops even have apps, I know Asda does) latency is reduced further, it's only the time to transfer you're already scanned basket and to pay

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#48

Post by gok » Mon, Mar 09, 2020, 4:56 PM UTC

Having used it a few times, it is really cool. I noticed my local Amazon Go locations never really had items worth stealing out on the shelves though, which make me wonder if they're not actually confident in its performance yet. I'd be curious to see if they're willing to give retailers some kind of loss prevention SLA.

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#49

Post by Leynos » Mon, Mar 09, 2020, 4:56 PM UTC

JohnFen wrote: post #3

> In Just Walk Out-enabled stores, shoppers enter the store using a credit card. They don't need to download an app or create an Amazon account. But you may as well. By giving them a CC# you're allowing Amazon to spy on you anyway -- and that's not even mentioning the copious surveillance in such stores in the form of cameras and behavior detection. > If shoppers need a receipt, they can visit a kiosk in the store an…

I really wish everyone offered email receipts. They soon build up, and you spend a lot of time shredding them.

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#50

Post by buffin » Mon, Mar 09, 2020, 4:56 PM UTC

robszumski wrote: post #14

What a weird site and roll out of this announcement. The page doesn't even have a or call to action other than a buried email. Is this someone's pet project to state that our landing page captured XX,000 hits in 24 hours?

Amazon has a history for being awful with making web pages. I had to peruse the Amazon HTML code once for a research project not long ago, and their code was littered with issues, including duplicate id. Their UX and even UI is rotten beyond belief.