Amazon Unveils Shopping Cart That Knows What You're Buying

[appalachiablue]

Source: Associated Press

(By Joseph Pisani, 1 hr ago). NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon has a new cure for long supermarket lines: a smart shopping cart. The cart, which Amazon unveiled on Tuesday, uses cameras, sensors and a scale to automatically detect what shoppers drop in. It keeps a tally and then charges their Amazon account when they leave the store. No cashier is needed.

It’s the latest attempt by Amazon to shake up the supermarket industry and offer a solution to long checkout lines. The online shopping giant opened a cashier-less supermarket in Seattle that uses cameras and sensors in the ceiling to track what shoppers grab and charge them as they leave. Amazon.com Inc. also has roughly 25 cashier-less convenience stores with similar technology.

The cart, called Amazon Dash Cart, will first show up at a new Los Angeles supermarket Amazon is opening later this year. The store will have cashiers, but Amazon said it wanted to give shoppers a way to bypass any lines. In the future, it could be used at Amazon’s Whole Foods grocery chain or other stores, if Amazon sells the technology, but there are no plans for either right now. Several startups are already making similar smart shopping carts that are being tested in stores, but many require scanning groceries before dropping them in.

There’s no scanning on the Amazon cart. A screen near the handle lists what’s being charged, and the cart can detect when something is taken out and have it removed from the bill. And there’s also a way to let the cart know if you need to throw a jacket or purse in the cart so you don’t have to carry it around. ~ End.

Read more: https://apnews.com/f2e83ab1261fd6fe3935cf51e976b4a5

[soothsayer]

1. Wow

[bluedigger]

2. Sounds like a real boon for the Chinese electronics industry!

[Ohiogal]

3. Goodbye cashier jobs

[Sherman A1]

12. Precisely

The stores that are left in the near future will very much different from what we see today.

[Initech]

29. I will miss browsing and impulse buying for sure.

[Initech]

27. I'm pretty sure we'll all be working for Amazon after this.

Amazon really is the company store that Tennessee Ernie Ford warned us about.

[FBaggins]

4. Can't remember the last "long checkout line" I waited in

Doesn’t seem remarkably superior to self-checkout options.

[Blue_Adept]

10. Some places don't offer self checkout unfortunately

Often because people complained it took away jobs but was mostly used by employees getting stuff for breaks.

Long lines are pretty common in a lot of markets, even during the pandemic where they're keeping the number of people limited in the store.

[FBaggins]

13. Sure... but I don't see how this is superior

There are developing countries that apparently never installed landlines. By the time their economies progressed... cell systems were so much cheaper (and otherwise superior) that they just skipped the older technology.

But this technology wouldn't make a dent in grocery store lines unless it's installed in quite a few carts... in which case, just installing the self-checkout lanes would be easier/cheaper. Alternatively, the Sams model of self-scan and pay by app could be appealing.

[Sherman A1]

31. It is about reducing labor costs

And eliminating checkers.

[SoCalNative]

23. I almost always wait in them now

Thanks, COVID!

[Backseat Driver]

5. So much for sharing those wobbly-wheeled carts with family and friends.../eom

[Grokenstein]

6. I understand it also

...provides free wi-fi, allows you to watch your personal information being sold in real time, insults your shopping choices, and forcibly takes your temperature rectally.

[Mike 03]

7. "allows you to watch your personal information being sold in real time"

[Bengus81]

15. Store started that BS years and years ago with those phony "rewards" cards

They had all your personal info and shopping habits and let YOU do the work so they no longer had to pay for that type of marketing service.

99.99% of customers would never get ONE CENT back in a "reward" on those BS cards. I stopped going into Office Depot just for that reason.

[appalachiablue]

14. It also knows what you're thinking, if you've been

overeating, not exercising, under the influence, smoking or behaving badly..

[not_the_one]

33. "forcibly takes your temperature rectally"

FINALLY. Repeat daily shoppers will be thrilled!!! OOPS! Forgot something. I'll be right back...

[BillyBobBrilliant]

8. Who still buys anything

from Amazon? or its associated businesses?

[Blue_Adept]

11. Seriously?

[Bengus81]

17. I don't buy as much as I did but certain things........

They have some of the best printer carts for my Canon printer that work perfect and are a hell of a price. I think the Company sells exclusively on Amazon.

People do need to still comparison shop, Amazon many time is far from the cheapest. Computer parts comes to mind for me, I rarely buy from them.

[lagomorph777]

22. Especially the Post, Right? "Welcome" to DU.

Have a nice visit.

[SoCalNative]

24. Other than the grocery store

I still do the majority of my shopping on Amazon. Even groceries on occasion from Amazon Fresh.

[msongs]

32. lol the people who complain about evil amazon are their best customers nt

[frazzled]

9. How does it weigh produce?

Or tell the difference between, say, parsley and cilantro? I’d think you’d have to bag and label each of your produce or bulk items, but it suggests these carts do not, like others being developed, require shoppers to scan their items.

This article is very vague about the technology.

[FakeNoose]

16. I wouldn't want this, and I'm a very choosy shopper

When I shop at my favorite grocery stores, I sometimes put things in my cart but then I might change my mind. Sometimes I take an item back out again, sometimes I add more items. It's not that I'm indecisive, it's more that my plan forms (or re-forms) as I see what is available fresh in each store.

As a senior citizen I'll occasionally remember something - "whoops, almost forgot" - after I've already gone through the store. Then I have to double back to get the thing I forgot. I really wouldn't want all these things recorded or logged in on any tracking device. I would either disable the device, or I would avoid the store that's doing it.

On the other hand, I'm OK with stores that keep a record of my purchases - I have Rewards Cards for several of my favorite retailers. Once I have checked out and paid for my purchases, they can track those if they want to.

I know that Amazon.com does the same thing. OK fine. Just don't charge me for something before I've actually purchased it.

[Boxerfan]

18. The homeless will love the free wifi!

And they probably scrap better than the standard cart.

And if shoppers somehow dropped a heavy item on the touchscreen oooops!


Things happen just sayin.

[Yavin4]

19. Next step: The cart judges your purchases.

"You know you shouldn't be eating that, Helen. There are way too many calories in that."

[appalachiablue]

20. +1 It will be reported to health insurance cos.

and employers, if people have them.

[lordsummerisle]

26. Exactly n/t

[Initech]

28. "Hey! Put that mac and cheese back! Shouldn't you be eating more kale salad instead?"

[Steelrolled]

30. Oldie but goodie video on ordering pizza in the information age....

[Bayard]

21. Read Bentley Little's, "The Store".

It is our future.

[yonder]

25. We have many problems that need attended to. Now.

Another shiny, new thing that seems to benefit the consumer but really gives more eyeballs to corporate invasion of privacy, solves nothing in the big picture. People need food in their belly, not scrutiny of their choices at the very likely expense of local employment opportunities.

At least that's the view of this semi-Luddite.