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“Just walk out” technology by Amazon

justwalkout.com

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Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#51

Post by txcwpalpha »

buttersbrian wrote: post #20
Spivak wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does this really change anything compared to every other POS system that you swipe your credit card into and get your receipt sent to your email?

But i have an option to get it printed right there and NOT give them my email, or phone number.

Not in most (all?) online shopping scenarios, and I don't really see any uproar about privacy concerns with those.

AFAIK many retailers (Target, for example) use an identifier derived from your CC number and don't even need your email or phone number to build a profile on you.

I totally agree with being concerned about your privacy, but I don't understand the increased harshness on this service specifically as opposed to the already-pervasive services that already collect your data on a daily basis. Is it just because this one is Amazon and it's fun to hate on them?

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#52

Post by JohnFen »

Spivak wrote: post #11
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…

Does this really change anything compared to every other POS system that you swipe your credit card into and get your receipt sent to your email?

No, but it removes the choice of paying via cash as part of your privacy defense strategy. Some of us don't pay with credit cards and never have receipts emailed, because of the obvious privacy issues involved.

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#53

Post by skuthus »

JohnFen wrote: post #24
asdkhadsj wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This sort of thing is a privacy disaster. I wouldn't set foot inside a store that does this. If they make it accessible enough, all stores may. Even if they don't, I imagine all stores will have something similar in some timeframe. So.. what will you do then?

> If they make it accessible enough, all stores may. I think that's unlikely. There is likely to be a large enough percentage of shoppers who avoid this sort of thing to support at least a couple of stores who make it a selling point that they don't do this. But, if there is no option then I'll have to figure out what my response will be. It would likely have to be a compromise position between buying as much as I ca…

I really don't think there is. I think this is going to be more like the loyalty cards - at first people oppose it on principle, but it becomes so commonplace that opposing it seems absurd

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#54

Post by judge2020 »

smoyer wrote: post #25
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…

Another major cost in retail is "loss" ... I can see this being pretty effective at loss prevention and coupon fraud (even my small town grocery store require an associate to visit the self-check kiosks if a customer has a coupon).

I bet. Places like Kroger already apply coupons just by having them on your account and scanning your member barcode/QR at checkout, so that's most likely how couponing will work with this (if the store decides to have the 'scan your ID when you walk in' system for regular customers).

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#55

Post by shadowgovt »

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…

This sounds like the kind of thing that works better at scale. Against a regular 7-11, probably not. But what stops the model in question from being applied to a warehouse-style store with still only four employees needed?

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#56

Post by vsskanth »

dapuz wrote: post #47
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

yeah exactly. I guess I don't understand the marginal improvement in adding so many cameras and advanced processing, all so that you can "just walk out", with the possibility of having to deal with billing related customer service issues.

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#57

Post by JohnFen »

txcwpalpha wrote: post #51
buttersbrian wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But i have an option to get it printed right there and NOT give them my email, or phone number.

Not in most (all?) online shopping scenarios, and I don't really see any uproar about privacy concerns with those. AFAIK many retailers (Target, for example) use an identifier derived from your CC number and don't even need your email or phone number to build a profile on you. I totally agree with being concerned about your privacy, but I don't understand the increased harshness on this service specifically as oppose…

> Not in most (all?) online shopping scenarios

But this is real-life shopping, not online. Online shopping is 100% optional. Real-life shopping is not.

> Is it just because this one is Amazon and it's fun to hate on them?

No, my criticisms and concerns about this would be no different regardless of what company was doing it.

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#58

Post by bobloblaw45 »

Good or bad, this just tickles me because it reminds me of that ibm rfid commercial from the 90's (I think?) where it looks like a shoplifter is blatantly robbing a supermarket and the security guard stops them and says they forgot their receipt. They also had a bunch of other commercials that got super close like kids watching on demand streaming movies.

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#59

Post by reggieband »

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…

I love self-checkout and use it when available and reasonable. However, I have seen lines. It feels the same as ATMs for me. Occasionally I am waiting behind someone who just takes forever. I always wonder what they are doing, how it can take what feels like 10 minutes to do what I attempt to get done in 1 minute.

Self-checkout is a bottleneck since there are a limited number of available machines. I can see efficiency gains by removing that bottleneck.

Re: “Just walk out” technology by Amazon

#60

Post by sky_rw »

lozaning wrote: post #29

IDK what happened to it, but for a while the Mountain View Walmart had a system where your cart had a pricing gun thing and you'd scan stuff as you put it in your cart. Then when you got to self checkout you paid in the Walmart app and left with no other steps. I thought it was pretty convenient. Its no longer there and I've not seen it anywhere else so I guess maybe it was a failed pilot program or something.

Was probably a local pilot. Wallmart labs is located in Mountain View. Would not be surprised if that area was used for a lot of experiments.
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