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Amazon Opens First Whole Foods Equipped With Cashierless Technology (theverge.com) 43

Posted by msmash from the Amazonification dept.
Amazon has brought its cashierless Just Walk Out technology to a Whole Foods store for the first time, allowing customers to shop and leave the store with their items without having to interact with any kind of cashier. The Verge adds: The revamped store opened on February 23rd in Washington, DC's Glover Park neighborhood, where there's been a Whole Foods store for over 20 years. Although Amazon has been operating cashierless grocery stores in increasingly large Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh-branded stores, this is the first time it's bringing the technology to a Whole Foods store. Amazon bought the grocery chain for $13.7 billion in 2017, but until now the brand's integration with Amazon has been more minimal, consisting of discounts and free delivery for Prime subscribers. At 21,500 square feet, the Whole Foods location isn't the largest store to use Amazon's cashierless technology (there's a 25,000 square foot Amazon Fresh store with Just Walk Out tech in Bellevue, Washington, for example). Further reading: Here Comes the Full Amazonification of Whole Foods.
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Amazon Opens First Whole Foods Equipped With Cashierless Technology More

Amazon Opens First Whole Foods Equipped With Cashierless Technology

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  • Amazon has brought its cashierless Just Walk Out technology

    Aren't there are a few big city district attorneys who can claim prior art?

    • Where I live, Lowe's has had a cop on duty near the entrance/exit the last couple times I've been there. Not a mall cop who can call the cops, but an actual cop. Don't know if they're moonlighting and paid by Lowe's, or by the city.

  • Walmart (Score:2, Troll)

    by mschoolbus ( 627182 )
    My local Walmart appears to be cashierless as well.

    • Mine has cut down the actual cashier tills to three. I don't mind it that much except when buying vegetables, where the interfaces just kind of suck for searching. Honestly, I rarely go in the place except for the pharmacy, and prefer a nearby grocery store.

    • This is quite different. You don't swipe each item to check out. Instead the store has cameras everywhere to watch each item you pick up. So when you're done taking stuff, you 'just walk out.'

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jbengt ( 874751 )

        . . . the store has cameras everywhere to watch each item you pick up. So when you're done taking stuff, you 'just walk out.'

        Yes, too creepy for me.
        Not to mention how do you dispute it when they charge you for something you didn't take. (no matter how good the system is, it will inevitably happen.)

        • Yes, too creepy for me.

          Like anything, it is only creepy until you get used to it.

          In a few years, this will be normal, and people will think cashiers are as silly as bank tellers and switchboard operators.

          Not to mention how do you dispute it when they charge you for something you didn't take.

          Meh. It is just as likely they will miss something without charging. So it's a wash.

  • This is the inevitable consequence of the calls for raising the minimum wage. Loss of jobs. The grocery business operates on razor thin margins so faced with higher labor costs they will cut where they have to. Same with fast food joints. It won't be long before robots are flipping burgers. And don't be surprised to see robots at your local Starbucks in the not too distant future whipping up your favorite latte.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jbengt ( 874751 )

      This is the inevitable consequence of the calls for raising the minimum wage.

      Bullshit.
      If you cut the minimum wage in half, Amazon would still do this.
      Your typical Mom & Pop store would not do this even if you doubled the minimum wage (they might do other things to hire fewer full-time workers if they can't afford to pay employees a living wage)

      • "If you cut the minimum wage in half, Amazon would still do this." - Amazon WANTS higher minimum wages. Why? Because they can absorb the cost and their smaller competitors (i.e. the Mom & Pop stores you mention) can't. This is a backdoor way for them to squash competition while appearing virtuous. Amazon operates at scale so robots make sense for them. For the smaller operators, not so much.

        "Your typical Mom & Pop store would not do this even if you doubled the minimum wage" - In which case the Mom

    • Automating away the jobs almost nobody enjoys, during a time of severe labor shortages, is called society making vital overdue progress. It astounds me that there are people who think it's a bad thing (outside of those who happen to be working in that particular job at this moment and understandably don't relish the thought of all the stress involved in finding a new job -- the vast majority of people who complain about automation don't seem to be these workers though).

      • Spot on. Automation is nothing new. We have been doing it for centuries. Every major advancement - the wheel, electricity, the automobile, flight - brings change and most of it is good for mankind as a whole.

        This is not like it was for the serfs of centuries ago. We have unprecedented mobility today, unprecedented learning opportunities. Heck, a lot of good jobs today don't even require a 4 year degree.

        My advice to someone stuck in a shitty job - do something about it.

  • Whole Foods hasn't been for a while now. Call it what it is -- amazon foods, and expect that level of mediocrity and lack of humanity.

    There are better alternatives for healthy groceries.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Cyberax ( 705495 )

      Call it what it is -- amazon foods, and expect that level of mediocrity and lack of humanity.

      Soo... Just as before?

      There are better alternatives for healthy groceries.

      There are no "healthy" or "unhealthy" groceries in the US. It's all pure marketing. A kale from QFC is the same as kale from Whole Foods, likely even sourced from the same sources.

  • I've already seen this in other nations around the world, New Zealand, Australia, France, etc., especially where labor costs are high. It's a growing trend and frankly, I'm surprised that Amazon didn't go to this sooner. You already have grocery stores where you have to bag your own groceries after the clerk scans them, now you get to do it all yourself. Of course, you won't save anything, I mean Amazon isn't reducing prices perish the thought.

    We did it with gasoline stations because we could save a nickel

  • So what happens if/when the tech doesn't notice an item and fails to charge you? Do you owe them? Will you be branded a thief? Is it really shoplifting if you're *allowed* to leave at any time?
    • It is worse to be overcharged for items you did not take and impossible to get your money back.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by kmoser ( 1469707 )
        You can deny the charges on your credit card. Thankfully that's one area which is relatively friendly toward the consumer.

  • There have been shoppers using "Just Walk Out technology" for ages. They call it the "five finger discount" though.

    Can this tech really differentiate between the two? Humans fail at it often enough.

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