Subscribe
Sign in
160
Replies
Most grocery stores service a 2 mile radius. So in reality this is still remarkably inefficient. However, the ideas are sharp. If they can figure out how to leverage non specific areas for small grocery then they have a winner IMO. Otherwise most grocery stores carry anywhere from 10x-20x the number of SKUs you actually buy as an individual and so there is a lot of efficiency lost and a great deal of waste. It's a bet on what people will buy or what they can convince people to buy. I still think online grocery with an off market warehouse storing most of the food is the most efficient model I've heard of. Delivery to efficient locations like lockers makes the most sense economically and environmentally.
But hey, look, no wait time ;)
Very compelling vision and an interesting extension of Amazon's real-world strategy. As a customer, I'd give it a shot if it were convenient (location is key) but I'd be unlikely to go out of my way to shop there unless the prices and/or selection are clearly better. In terms of the business, this is category where Amazon has the right scale, brand, and financial strength to expand into... but don't see it contributing to their business in a significant way since these things take time to build out and location is so very important to winning over customers.
Not sure if I'm more surprised that Amazon actually made this a reality or that Sears is still around to see it happen. 🤔
Top Hunter
Apple has been doing a variation of this (self checkout on your own phone) for a couple years now, but this takes it to a whole different level!
@chrismessina what I can’t tell is…. Do you use the Amazon Go app to scan each item and then leave (aka you are the check out) or do you just grab and item and leave and it does everything for you automatically?
@gavindonovan @chrismessina I bet the early versions are a hybrid. There's still a checkout scanner of some sort, but it pairs with your phone.
Love it!
Posit: Queues at the entrance because people can't handle QR codes (see plane boarding cards).
Isn't there an easier way to solve this? (Beacons, WiFi, ..)
@lehrjulian I feel like something similar to Android/Apple pay would work well. NFC is faster and you don't have to perfectly line up a barcode with a scanner.
Edit: Although a barcode would be compatible with all phones, but also less secure.
@lehrjulian It's the best solution available right now for low entry barrier. I'm sure they'd rather use NFC, but with Apple having it locked down, they'd be missing a gigantic marketshare to not implement something that can be used by everyone.
@dnuzum @lehrjulian @sleumasm yes onboarding aspects are super important, for me there is a ton of friction to get into the store, you can't just walk in and pay cash. But I assume that people will be willing to do a heavier onboarding process for the benefit of not having to wait in line to pay.
Surely this tech is somehow related to tech they would have to know what robot has picked up what package from a shelf in a warehouse??? Different application same motion 🤔
I'd love for the app to tell me where things are in the store. That's my #1 frustration in stores. I hate asking people where stuff is, and they seem to hate being asked.
This is definitely going to be a revolutionary way to shop for developed nations like US. It would be even great to see how Amazon puts their efforts to bring this to other nations.
I heard rumors about this a while back but it was dismissed as being a marketing scheme for their stores and now here it is! genius! Remember when they announced the Echo and the Dash Buttons and ... Amazing
I can see more stores doing the checkout on your phone. Similar to Sam's Club https://www.producthunt.com/post...
@tonybrix Some stores have tried it and discontinued it due to low adoption, it being too easy to shoplift, and problems with produce items that have to be weighed. It works well at Sam's Club due to the size of the items (harder to steal).
@askdaylen almost all technologies have had an initial slow adoption period. (the first touch screen cell phone came out in the early '90s.) But I think this is a much better alternative to Apple/Android/etc. pay
Haha no way … two days ago on the way home from shopping, I said to my girlfriend that our children will just walk out of the store and pay as they leave. I also gave a detailed explanation of how the technique could look like – its exactly what you see in the video 😱
I started out in retail in 1977 at Macy part time and have been involved with the vertical for almost 40 years in one way or another.
This is a complete game changer--stores can't hire competent help if they try. It's just not there to be had.
Look for the apparel retailers like old navy and H and M to jump right on this next
This is brilliant. It is taking out the annoying from shopping and removes friction.
What happens if there is a credit limit or problem with your credit card? You still walk out?
Amazon closing out 2016 with a ton of announcements. Super interesting to see them expand to brick and mortar, a huge growth opportunity, and do it in a unique, tech-centric way.
@rrhoover I love this product. It's exactly what we're working on at Selfycart but implementing it into existing stores. This will be the future of retail.
@bear_silber @rrhoover While the self-check-out is awesome and probably the future of retail check-out. I think the main benefits of Amazon Go is much more.
With the ability to just take and buy an item, without scanning ever, the friction of buying is greatly reduced (similar to one-click purchases). This will definitely increase what people buy, particularly families.
Personally, I think the greatest advancement for Amazon Go will be tracking of the stores. Amazon could collect every moment of the store (like the casino in Oceans 13). They can get the reactions of customers for every product. They can see where the consumers eyes are going. Amazon could change the lighting to highlight/feature items for every individual.
With Amazon's Kiva systems, they could even customize the shelves for particular times of the day without any effort from employees.
Retail stores will have to "Grow or die" -Phil Knight
I'm excited to see where retail stores will go.
@matthewtwhuang @bear_silber @rrhoover Super glad to hear that I'm not the only person who made any Oceans 13 references when talking about Amazon Go.
@bear_silber - I just wanted to check out Selfycart's website -
Can you please fix it so that it's not 100mg to have it come up before the site shows anything on it [36secs] ? even with a fast connection that's insane :/
[a full load is 164mg :/]
IssyBot Wordsearch