Earlier quoted context omitted.
Insurance companies will love it the most.
explain
So you eat lot's of unhealthy stuff?
While we are covering your high blood pressure medication?
Well, I guess we'll just increase your rates then...
Amazon Go
61–70 of 1001 posts
Re: Amazon Go
#62Companies have been discussing "checkout-less" stores since forever, but nobody has been brave enough to do it due to the perceived threat of shoplifting. And while shoplifting is a legitimate threat, are non-shoplifters going to be turned into shoplifters without a checkout? Are normal shoplifters stopped by checkouts? These are the core questions, and until it is tested nobody will know for sure. Target is getting…
In the UK, Tesco have been running a 'Scan as you Shop'[0] thing for a couple of years now. Customers pick up a scanner as they enter, scan their items as they go into their cart, and they have special checkouts which read your scanner. There's a random chance that your scanner will be audited by a human against the contents of your shopping cart. Usually the first time you use it, then it backs off. [0] http://www.t…
Waitrose have had the exact same thing for many years now.
Re: Amazon Go
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was thinking that, but then realized that the concept of fraud doesn't really apply in the way we're used to. I mean you're allowed to walk into the store, take anything you want, and then walk out. How would you even define fraud in that context? Presumably there are things you could do to confuse or mislead the technology, but it seems to me that as presented the onus is on Amazon to just charge you the correct a…
Presumably they'll want to deactivate the accounts for people who don't settle their bills, and they'll want to keep out folks who don't have accounts. This seems attackable to me, probably because they haven't released enough details about how it works.
Yes those two things are trivial though. Presumably the technological advance here is the ability to tell what a person has chosen and charge them for it without barcode scanning or checkout.
Re: Amazon Go
#64Wow. So groceries without checkout. I thought that at some point RFID would replace barcodes providing similar experience. However, this system claim to be based on cameras and image recognition.
I'm absolutely shocked big chains aren't doing this already. I hate the lines at my local grocery, it's fucking annoying as hell, a terrible UX and everyone always seems upset (i try to be chill, fwiw.. for the cashier sake lol) . I sort of doubt i'll ever see these Amazon stores though, Brick and Mortar is quite hard. I suspect i'll see someone (Amazon or otherwise) add this to the big chains i already use, though.…
I wouldn't be shocked. Remember the now-shut-down retailer payments app CurrentC? And this seems even MORE difficult.
Re: Amazon Go
#65Companies have been discussing "checkout-less" stores since forever, but nobody has been brave enough to do it due to the perceived threat of shoplifting. And while shoplifting is a legitimate threat, are non-shoplifters going to be turned into shoplifters without a checkout? Are normal shoplifters stopped by checkouts? These are the core questions, and until it is tested nobody will know for sure. Target is getting…
In the UK, Tesco have been running a 'Scan as you Shop'[0] thing for a couple of years now. Customers pick up a scanner as they enter, scan their items as they go into their cart, and they have special checkouts which read your scanner. There's a random chance that your scanner will be audited by a human against the contents of your shopping cart. Usually the first time you use it, then it backs off. [0] http://www.t…
Stop & Shop in the NE US released this in ~2006
Re: Amazon Go
#66Am I normally unaware of Amazon's new products, or have they been releasing an abnormally high amount of new offerings recently?
[deleted]
Re: Amazon Go
#67I worked at a grocery store for several years, and one thing I recall is customers CONSTANTLY putting items back in a random aisle, rather than where they found it. I wonder how this tech deals with that? Maybe they figured that out, too. But I was amused in the video when I saw the customer putting it back where it belonged, because that's not how I remember that going... All that said, this is fantastic and excitin…
Knowing Amazon they will charge the first few customers for the products, claim it was a glitch the do something panicky to either fix or prevent the problem.
Re: Amazon Go
#68They will most certainly be tracking a lot more than just you picking up your item. The data they collect about shopping behavior will be interesting. Like, how long I hesitated before I picked up something, what I had already in my "cart" at the time, what deals I looked at but passed on, etc.
More interesting are the shopping patterns like purchase frequency, the time periods between them, the kinds of flavors you like and other products you've not considered. Less insidious. More along streamlining your purchase process and identifying similar behaviors and tastes. Much of which any store with a rewards program should already know.
Re: Amazon Go
#69Companies have been discussing "checkout-less" stores since forever, but nobody has been brave enough to do it due to the perceived threat of shoplifting. And while shoplifting is a legitimate threat, are non-shoplifters going to be turned into shoplifters without a checkout? Are normal shoplifters stopped by checkouts? These are the core questions, and until it is tested nobody will know for sure. Target is getting…
Amazon has the money to run the studies to prove whether it increases revenue. I suspect it wouldn't be too hard to both detect shoplifting and differentiate it from legitimate purposes using a modern high-end multisensor fusion machine learning system.
Better make sure to carefully balance the samples in your training set to avoid confounding variables though, or else your AI is going to get quite racist and sexist very quickly.
Re: Amazon Go
#70Technology aside, shoppers are going to feel so weird doing this at the beginning. There's already social anxiety when people pay for things and walk past a security guard, or a security barrier. Whether it's an airport, or a clothes store, or a ticket barrier, there's always a nervousness about being called out. It's bad enough in the Apple Store where you can pay and walk out, this will take some real getting used…
I think the challenging part will be when you get used to it and then start to do it like that in any other shop accidentally ;)