this post was submitted on 25 Sep 2023
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[–] [email protected] 88 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Self checkout is not automation. It's making the customer do the work.

Automation would be: Stick an RFID-tag to all your items, make me check in with my phone at the entrance. Automatically "scan" all the items when my cart and my phone leave the store at the same time. Bill me.

[–] RQG 47 points 1 year ago

Yeah. That's like saying a buffet automates waiters.

[–] LesserAbe 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

As the customer you're already taking stuff out of your cart and putting it on the counter. Maybe automation isn't the right word, but it's certainly more efficient than having a human clerk. It removes a bottleneck.

[–] jaybone 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

But it’s not a bottleneck. It’s the opposite. An experienced human checker will tap in the code for oranges way before you find it in their stupid menu.

[–] LesserAbe 1 points 1 year ago

It is a bottleneck, because the experienced human checker is only entering orange codes for one person at a time. There could be ten people all checking themselves out simultaneously. Even if one or two get slowed down by a menu, it's still a net decrease in average time spent at checkout.

[–] Foggyfroggy 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And introduces others: “unexpected item in bagging area”

[–] LesserAbe 1 points 1 year ago

True, but isn't that an implementation issue that can be fixed, rather than an inherent issue with the concept?

[–] JJROKCZ 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Those Amazon just walk out stores like you’re describing are extremely expensive to setup though. Even a spall space requires tons of cameras and sensors, all items to be placed on shelves a certain way, lots of networking backend, etc. Most business are unable to do so right now and I’d say most buildings can’t accommodate it. My work looked into putting one of those in one of our spaces as a test and the cost/work to make it happen in even a small area of our business wasn’t worth it

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

So it will take more time until the tech is cheaper. Or, hear me out, this one is crazy: We employ cashiers!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I went to a gas station that had this… it was kind of incredible. Put like 10 items on a sensor and it recognized all of them. Then put them in a bag.