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Comment by samwillis | Hacker News Reader

Waitrose in the UK has had something called "Quick Check" for maybe the last 10 years. On the way into the store, you swipe your "My Waitrose" card and collect a barcode scanner. You then scan and bag everything on the way around and return your scanner to a dedicated terminal (which generally have no queue) and very quickly pay. More recently they added the ability to use your smartphone as the scanner so that you don't even need to pick up a barcode reader. They are only one step away from allowing you to pay with your smartphone and walk out... although as it's at the terminal they ID you if you have any restricted items that seem unlikely. Every once in a while (I have had it once in 5 years of shopping there weekly) they will flag you for a "rescan" to check you scanned everything.

It's a brilliant system and doesn't require hundreds of cameras and machine learning.

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My cousin showed me that system back in 2009 when I was visiting. Fantastic system.

He said that around 1 times in 10, the cashier would actually check your items to make sure you weren't stealing anything- and if you had any discrepancies, you could expect to have the cashier check you every time for the next 2 months.

The main principle is that the workload of scanning the items is spread out to the customer, who isn't being paid for their time, rather than the cashier, who is.

Safeway in the UK had it at some of their stores 20 years ago. I think it all got removed when they were acquired by Morrisons. Here's an article from 1998 talking about how they were introduced in 1995!

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/shoppers-to-check-out-sup...

That's something Walmart or anyone else could do. Doing it without compromising on losing items to theft, that's where Amazon is trying to create its moat, and that is where their competitive advantage lies. They have the technology to go completely employee-free. So while it was enlightening and impressive to read about the Waitrose system, it makes it sound like Amazon is being naive and did not think about this simple solution, which I believe is not the case. Amazon could easily do that, but then everyone else could easily copy them. This technology though, Walmart is going to have a really hard time replicating it.

Someone needs to fulfill the items and chiming in under unexpected events, and clean the store. Cashiers might go, but the rest of the crew that needed to operate a store will still be there.

One advantage I would imagine for Amazon Go is going to be the experience for the customers, that without the need to queue and even forget checkout at all, is great. However I doubt how much they could save from going cashier free.

This is true, to be sure. And all this tech will also need expensive maintenance. I am not sure how much they'll actually end up saving. I'd also miss the happy experience that you sometimes get when dealing with a cheerful crew. The ambience and crew is one reason I shop groceries almost exclusively from Trader Joe's.

It is something that Walmart is working on. They're currently piloting it in a handful of stores and it's available at all Sam's Club locations.

Both are by phone, but WM will have dedicated had scanners for those who don't have/want a smartphone.

Costco had something like that a few years ago. It would not save much time because in the end someone would need to check if you were not stealing anything. After maybe less than a year in operation they returned to old cashiers.

That's because Costco has an awfully consumer hostile policy of accusing every customer of theft as they exit the warehouse. I absolutely can't stand being accused of crime in this manner.

They even accuse you of theft when it ENTER the place. They're so militant about it. I'm almost scared to go into one if I ever go to America for fear of them gunning me down with a rifle if I go within twenty meters of the entrance without a card. The hostility towards everyone really puts me off, and I haven't been able to bring myself to get a membership yet.

It varies by location. They rarely check at my local Costco. But they do check your cart on the way out.

Checking membership at the entrance makes sense so that non-members don't waste their time shopping.

Curious what happens if someone just bypasses the person doing the double-checking. Is there any legal recourse for the store? I could only see this as the case if there is something in the member agreement, the stuff is paid for...

Nope. If there's a queue waiting to have their items checked I just walk past them. If they can't do it quickly enough it's their problem.

Last time I tried this, I got yelled at as I walked away, and a manager followed me all the way to my car yelling at me, and snatched the receipt out of my hand as I was unloading the cart into my trunk. Truly the height of rudeness.

Is their policy of letting you return anything anytime without a receipt also consumer hostile?

No, but that's not the policy he said is consumer hostile.

Like that damn policeman on the corner with a radar gun, implicitly accusing every driver of speeding as they drive by.

Is having an RFID detection system at the door of a library that beeps if you forget to check out a book also consumer hostile?

That has always annoyed me as well, though in fairness the two times they caught a discrepancy at the exit it was in my favor (forgot an item at the checkout in one case, double charged in the other).

Maybe Costco should try not treating people that paid for the "privilege" of shopping there like they were criminals..

Stop & Shop in the US has the same system, for a similar amount of time (about 10 years).

Even down to the "rescan" audits by an employee. The only downer with Stop & Shop is the audits went from something I'd encounter a few times a year, to something I'd encounter every other visit.

Sam's Club has an app like this for some stores. Works really well for large bulk items.

The system will not work in many places. It is based on honor code i.e, no body will take an item without scanning it. Most supermarkets have razor thin margins - add theft and they will not be able to make money.

Anyone in Retail Loss Prevention will tell you the Front Door is not where the Loss is, The Loss is going out the back door i.e employee theft.

As to "Razor Thin Margins" that relative, Walmart got in to Groceries because they could make more money then when they were just a General Goods Store. While the per item margin might be slightly lower than General Goods the volumes are WAY higher thus making it over all more profitable. That also means loss is actually less impactful

Giant has that here and it’s a huge pain in the ass and takes way more time than just going through the checkout line to scan everything while you’re shopping, if you’re buying anything more than a few items.

Could you elaborate on why?

I've also used the system at Waitrose and it's completely painless, so I'd guess if there's a problem it's due to poor implementation.

One particular advantage for me was that I could take my backpack around the shop filling it up, so I'd never have to worry whether I was buying too much to fit.

And it also meant I could be sure multi-buy discounts have processed before I got to the checkout, instead of having to check my receipt and make a fuss about it if they didn't.

The only minor issue I noticed is that if you're buying alcohol you need a member of staff to confirm your age, and they often don't have dedicated staff on the QuickCheck machines when it's quiet, but even then it still doesn't take long to find someone.

> They are only one step away from allowing you to pay with your smartphone and walk out...

Apple does this for items below a certain value – you walk in, open the Apple Store app, scan the barcode on the product, then walk out with it.

What happens when you bag something without scanning?

10% of the time you get caught and then are scabbed by an employee every time you come in(like normal)

With the Tesco system in the UK, if you are rescanned by an employee on a random scan and are found to have a mismatch then your Clubcard ( that you swipe to release a hand-scanner from the racks ) is marked as ineligible, and you have to go through the self-service or normal tills in future.

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