who needs a cash register job anyway

[blackjedii]

Amazon Go: We’re All F**kedIf you haven’t heard, Amazon just launched a promo for a storefront that sells meal kits and grocery basics with no checkout lines. It’s based in Seattle and currently open to Amazon employees, with the public launch set for early 2017. While Amazon hasn’t explained their “Just Walk Out” technology that powers the

Comments

[anguisel]

To be honest, I don't see this taking off simply because people lie and steal. The walk-in store would be retrofitted with a toll system so that their products will be checked (much like costco/sam's club) and I doubt having one or two people doing the checking it gonna tide over well, specially with a busy time or area. More likely the cashier stations will get moved to cover the exit and gate customers. The drive thru? Again all products checked before handing to the customer so they can't say I didn't get the *insert expensive product here* in my bag.

[elenbarathi]

They can automate the checking by printing a code on products, so that if an item wasn't checked out and paid for, it sets off an alarm at the door.

[anguisel]

If someone is gonna steal, they are gonna find a way. Hell even the advert showed single people shopping, not a mom with 2 kids. Plus there whole put it back thing? Yeah, you ever see a shopper put something back in the right spot? 9 to 10 they are just gonna leave it somewhere else and then complain that they got charged for something they didn't buy. The whole store is basically what people scream of being watched 24/7 the moment you walk in. Even if they automate a code, it does not stop someone from simply ripping the code off of the 99 cent whatever they paid for, ripping the barcode off the item that's expensive and walking out. And like say that cupcake she picked up? What to stop her from dumping the cupcake out, and putting something else in the cupcake box and putting the empty box back on the shelf

[elenbarathi]

Hmm, these are all good points you make. There's no system humans can devise, that humans can't figure a way around.

[crucified]

Yeah, I really don't see this taking off, either. There's just way too many ways it could go wrong.

[amw]

Am i missing something here, but isn't this concept basically the same as self checkout? In Canada this has been a fairly normal way to shop for 4-5 years now. No one checks your bags, they just trust that you aren't going to rip the place off. Even if there are a handful of scammers, I suspect it's still a net benefit for companies, because people who hate waiting in line will go out of their way to shop at stores with self checkout

[redstar826]

Every store I have visited that uses self-check out does have an employee assigned to those kiosks though. They may be watching a 6-8 machines, but there is someone there to help the folks who don't know how to use them and to do things that require a manual override (for instance, if I buy beer at the self check out at the grocery store, the employee has to verify that I am at least 21)

[amw]

This is true. Though a few years ago I was in a 24 hour grocery store in the middle of the night and there was only self checkout with no clerks around at all. I wasn't sure if I was being punk'd but just checked out normally anyway :D I guess my point is, I don't think they will need clerks specifically for security. For fixing stuff if it goes wrong, sure, but I don't see the security issue as so much of a problem as some of the other people on this thread do.

[redstar826]

I think security will always be an issue for any physical retail establishment. In my experiences working in retail, people will find ways to steal anything that isn't nailed down.