401–410 of 769 posts
Amazon would have to add the stickers for now, but it could revolutionize retail. IIRC I read that a bookstore chain revolutionized their retail industry by putting barcode stickers on all their books, allowing computerized inventory, and now publishers print them by default.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> how come everything with an app is so much more expensive? After ton of investment investors are finally looking for returns now. And consumers have decided convenience reigns supreme. Right from the SAAS products to daily breakfast customers there is lot of premium on convenience.
> After ton of investment investors are finally looking for returns now. We need a quippy phrase for this, but unfortunately "Pump and Dump" is already taken for a kind of stock-market manipulation. Instead, I would like to coin/nominate "Tease and Squeeze". First consumers are teased by the idea that the disruptive new service has invented a magic new secret to low prices and great value... But after the company as…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Self checkout systems based on RFID are very convenient, quick and quite accurate compared to self checkout on grocery stores'l. The main problem on groceries is that the tags are expensive compared to the product (tags prices are in the order of tens of cents depending on manufacturer and size) Disclaimer: I work on a RFID reader manufacturing company
Any ideas whats stopping it from becoming much cheaper? RFIDs on everything seem like a good move in the robotics age.
Materials alone provide a huge challenge.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wish it could all be managed intelligently; I'm hungry but I can wait, let orders collect and make them all at once or something. Dominos had this down pat twenty years ago, how come everything with an app is so much more expensive?
>Dominos had this down pat twenty years ago, how come everything with an app is so much more expensive? The people making the app need a much bigger cut than Domino's. Domino's cut only needs to be big enough to pay their delivery drivers, they make their money selling pizza and the delivery is just an additional service that drives business. The app maker needs a cut big enough to pay their delivery driver and also…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Stop and Shop (in New England) had hand scanners you could do this with 15 years ago. I have been shocked that the technology didn't spread. It was so easy to scan and bag then just plug the scanner in at checkout and pay.
Stop and Shop now has self-checkout where you have to scan and move your items one at a time into your bag, because it's doing continuous weight-based reconciliation. So if you have six of the same yoghurt, you have to scan them and then place them in your bag one at a time. And if you have a 24 pack of sodas, you need to haul it out of your cart onto the scales as you're checking out. And if anything goes wrong (ite…
[flagged]
Seattle Target was the worst shopping experience I've ever had. No cashiers because the employees are tasked with opening locked cabinets instead, even for sunscreen. Security guards with bulletproof vests add to the ambience. Gave up on buying oranges cause the checkout machine wouldn't scan them.
Target now puts every valuables behind steel doors, not even a cage anymore. That's fucked up to think about how our society has turned out.
"Ginger Market" on the SJSU campus has attempted to use a similar "Just Walk Out" approach. It has not worked well. I've been double charged, charged for items I did not take, not charged for items I've taken, etc. The refund process was also a pain. It was so bad that they had to stop using it last spring, although they claim they are going to give it another go. Why even bother? Self checkout or a cashier work so m…
Doesn't that take away jobs students used to get? Which storefront is that? The one at the bottom of MLK Library or McQuarrie Hall?
This is pretty sad to read. Before Covid, the Amazon Go store experience was phenomenal. All the convenience of a 7-Eleven but with the pricing of a normal grocery store. The food options were really good and the BlueApron style meal-kits were amazing. The Alexa integration was also nice for being able to just verbally ask what's the next step on a recipe while you're busy stirring or chopping things. When it rolled…
Lots of services would be phenomenal when you can offload much of the cost to run them to cheap offshore labor. Remember how great Uber and Doordash were when much of the cost of operating was offset by underpaid workers and VC funds? Now that they don't have unlimited piles of money and cities/states are making them pay more fair wages, the cost-benefit of those services has diminished. I was ok paying $5 for $20 of…
This is pretty sad to read. Before Covid, the Amazon Go store experience was phenomenal. All the convenience of a 7-Eleven but with the pricing of a normal grocery store. The food options were really good and the BlueApron style meal-kits were amazing. The Alexa integration was also nice for being able to just verbally ask what's the next step on a recipe while you're busy stirring or chopping things. When it rolled…
Lots of services would be phenomenal when you can offload much of the cost to run them to cheap offshore labor. Remember how great Uber and Doordash were when much of the cost of operating was offset by underpaid workers and VC funds? Now that they don't have unlimited piles of money and cities/states are making them pay more fair wages, the cost-benefit of those services has diminished. I was ok paying $5 for $20 of…
Cheap wages? Both of your examples paid decent wages, especially in the example of Uber.
It was just an unprofitable business model subsidized by VC money or Amazon corporate profits.
That sounds like a good thing?