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Comment by stoops | Hacker News Reader

There is an immense difference between what you describe and the user experience of Amazon Go. It was one of the most revolutionary experiences once I got accustomed to it.

I used to regularly get lunch in < 30 seconds at Amazon Go. My record was 12 seconds for a soda and sandwhich. They added more processing time for that calculation at some point. But I basically could get things as quick as my feet could take me in and out.

It's really not the same experience. You should try it when you get the chance.

Here are my most recent trip times according to the app (assume a 15s overestimate to my real experience):

37s - Dr Pepper

32s - Dr Pepper

1m12s - Dr Pepper, sandwhich, cookies

33s - Dr Pepper

1m33s - Dr Pepper

36s - Dr Pepper

44s - Vitamin Water

46s - Sandwhich, cookies

30s - Vitamin Water

32s - Dr Pepper

31s - Dr Pepper

35s - Dr Pepper

I would estimate that most of these have a 15s overestimate.

This has not been a Dr Pepper advertisement.

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I can and have bought a Coke Zero in that amount of time by using self-checkouts with Apple Pay in Sweden (specifically the ones at Pressbyrån and 7-Eleven). Walk in, grab bottle, scan and press pay, Apple Pay Touch ID, a few seconds for the transaction to approve, and I'm out of the store.

Are there never lines at the checkout in Sweden? Here in the US, we have self-checkout, and we have contactless payment too (though not my stubborn grocery store), but you still often have to wait because the process is slow and the store gets busy.

Though I've never tried a Swedish self-checkout system I'm fairly convinced that it can't possibly be as fast as the Amazon Go stores. However adept you are at manipulating the self checkout machine and paying, that can't compare to the greater speed of not doing that at all and just walking out the door.

Shopping at the Go Store is much faster. When you're grabbing a single item you can have times of ~10 seconds. Grabbing more items and you save more time by not having to check out. No checkout, no lines, no figuring out why your phone or card isn't accepted, or what error message is on screen etc. In and out as simply and efficiently as possible.

I wouldn't say it is revolutionary, but it does cut down the time it takes to go shopping. It's like a perfect version of self-checkout.

I have bought single things using self-checkout that quickly, but I think the difference would be when you buy 5 or more things. Then the time to scan becomes noticeable.

Another, more subtle feature is that I never wait in line because I have trained myself to never go at peak times. I waste a certain amount of time thinking about it.

That said, I find the idea of a cashierless store super-creepy and will be among the last adopters.

Can you do it 20 times in a row like I did?

Does it matter?

It's nice that you save a couple minutes, but I doubt it really has much impact on your day.

Or was that all on Thursday morning?

Classic dismissal of disruptive technology because it seems marginally beneficial.

I absolutely guarantee it will change your spending habits this coming decade.

I'm not sure if there's a way to understand until you experience it being walking distance from your office.

I don't use the vending machine that is there, I drink water.

I suppose it is not so likely there will be a store in walking distance the next few years.

Yeah these times seem really high. The app reported that I averaged about 12s for grabbing the same item every morning (boiled eggs) for about 6 months.

And I think you are overestimating the amount of work in the process I described (hence, overengineering). You can totally grab a soda and walk out in <30s here. Supermarkets are local and small, you’ll rarely find a line at self-checkout.

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