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1247 points mangoman | 2 comments | 05 Dec 16 14:57 UTC | HN request time: 0.517s | source
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elicash ◴[05 Dec 16 15:31 UTC] No.13105963[source]▶
I worked at a grocery store for several years, and one thing I recall is customers CONSTANTLY putting items back in a random aisle, rather than where they found it.

I wonder how this tech deals with that? Maybe they figured that out, too. But I was amused in the video when I saw the customer putting it back where it belonged, because that's not how I remember that going...

All that said, this is fantastic and exciting.

Edit: I also hope they're already thinking about EBT cards and WIC.

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kirykl ◴[05 Dec 16 15:44 UTC] No.13106095[source]▶
Avoiding getting charged is an incentive to put it back in the right place that doesn't exist currently. Maybe not even where you picked up just a discard area
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DashRattlesnake ◴[05 Dec 16 16:08 UTC] No.13106338[source]▶
Honestly, that's an "incentive" that should be illegal. You should only get charged for something if you actually take it home or use it. Anything else is a cop out to push the costs of a deficient system onto the user/customer.
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TulliusCicero ◴[05 Dec 16 16:55 UTC] No.13106817[source]▶
Why? If it's understood that the way the system works is that it's in your 'virtual cart' as soon as you take it off the shelf, why isn't it the customer's job to put it back if they don't want it anymore? There are other checkoutless systems that use the customer scanning a barcode as they pick up each item; same deal there.
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1. DashRattlesnake ◴[05 Dec 16 20:36 UTC] No.13109239[source]▶
Why is it the customer's responsibility to figure out and comply with the rules of your (nonstandard) system to avoid getting charged for something they don't intend to buy and didn't in fact use or take out of the store?

There are all kinds of reasons why that is unreasonable:

* different stores might have systems with different rules and policies, causing confusion;

* people may not remember where to return the item;

* the magic machine-learning system might glitch and not recognize the item was replaced, and you probably won't notice since there's little feedback from the "virtual cart" since you're not interacting with it directly;

* another glitch could put another customer's item in your "virtual cart", so you have nothing to return;

* etc.

Systems like this should fail in customer-friendly ways, and "item returned to the wrong place" is a kind of failure.

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2. TulliusCicero ◴[13 Dec 16 23:45 UTC] No.13172434[source]▶
> Why is it the customer's responsibility to figure out and comply with the rules of your (nonstandard) system to avoid getting charged for something they don't intend to buy and didn't in fact use or take out of the store?

Because that's the store's policy. If you don't like it, nobody is forcing you to shop there.