self-checkout
Latest
Amazon Go is the inevitable evolution of supermarket retail
Amazon's cashierless "Go" markets have popped up in San Francisco, Seattle and Chicago, promising patrons the "future of shopping": a frictionless grocery buying experience that relies on high-tech tracking technology instead of human interaction to get products off the shelves and into your canvas totes. This indeed may be the supermarket of the future, at least as Bezos envisions it, but not one that we couldn't have predicted. The development of the Go shopping experience is little more than the latest step in the logical evolution of retail.
Kroger is the next grocery chain hoping to cut checkout lines
It's not just tech giants like Amazon or corporate behemoths like Walmart that are hoping to reduce the need for checkout lines. Kroger is expanding its Scan, Bag, Go self-checkout technology from a handful of stores in the Cincinnati area (which have been testing it for 5 years) to 400 stores in 2018. The system is mostlysimilar to Walmart's approach: you scan items as you add them to your cart throughout the store, letting you breeze through the self-checkout terminal once you've paid through your goods (in this case, at the terminal itself). It's not certain which stores will receive the tech, but an announcement is expected in early 2018.
Ex-NBAer Rex Chapman allegedly stole from Apple Stores by faking EasyPay
Remember when Apple introduced its EasyPay self-checkout feature in 2011, and everyone wondered "how can they really tell if a customer is buying something or just shoplifting?" According to the Scottsdale, AZ police, former college and professional basketball player Rex Chapman had the same thought and acted on it. They arrested the 12-year NBA veteran at 1:45 PM local time, after employees recognized him as a former player for the Phoenix Suns and tied him to a string of thefts. Chapman is accused of committing seven instances of theft over a few months, snagging gear worth more than $14,000 and selling it at a local pawnshop for cash. All of this was allegedly done by picking up the items, pretending to use the self-checkout feature in the iPhone's Apple Store app and then just walking out. Now Chapman is facing nine counts of Organized Retail Theft and five counts of Trafficking in Stolen Property -- all of which are felonies -- and we're wondering if Tim Cook has another security issue that could use some attention. [Image credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS]
Walmart testing 'Scan & Go' iPhone self-checkout app, cashiers becoming endangered species
Reuters was tipped off to a survey that reveals Walmart, the world's largest retailer, is testing a new system that would allow customers to scan items with their iPhone then quickly pay at a self-checkout counter. The "Scan & Go" feature won't let you pay with your phone, at least not yet, but rather than scanning each item individually in line, shoppers will be able to quickly transfer their list to the kiosk and pay in one quick step. The hope is that the new system will dramatically speed checkout times and reduce congestion in the stores. The trial is taking place at the supercenter Rogers, AR, where the entire event will be monitored and recorded for research purposes. Participants are being rewarded with $100 and a $25 gift certificate towards their shopping experience. When or if "Scan & Go" will be delivered to John Q. Public remains to be seen. But we're sure fans of rolled back prices are eager to see it go live.
