Whole Foods No Cashiers

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Alpha8472
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Whole Foods No Cashiers

Post by Alpha8472 »

Two new Whole Foods will open with no cashiers. You will just walk out after cameras and sensors track your purchases. The stores will be in Washington DC and Sherman Oaks, California.
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Re: Whole Foods No Cashiers

Post by mbz321 »

So is it like the Dash carts being used at Amazon Fresh? Because from my trials of those, they are not that great and are more cumbersome than going through a regular checkout.
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Re: Whole Foods No Cashiers

Post by storewanderer »

mbz321 wrote: September 8th, 2021, 8:57 pm So is it like the Dash carts being used at Amazon Fresh? Because from my trials of those, they are not that great and are more cumbersome than going through a regular checkout.
I am not sure this type of concept is even consistent with the Whole Foods brand. I always saw the brand as more service focused (that means actual cashiers).

The first time I even used a self checkout at Whole Foods was sometime this year... first time I ever saw one in a Whole Foods. Seems like they are going a bit fast on this service change on the front end...

For retailers that are really wanting to cut labor (I mean can't hire anyone right now), I could see them pushing this dash cart type concept even if it is more cumbersome than a regular cashier would be...
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Re: Whole Foods No Cashiers

Post by BreakingThrough »

Pardon the question, but I'm curious as to what makes the Dash carts more cumbersome than regular check out? Isn't the idea you just wheel yourself right out to your car? Or are there bagging issues / stopped at a door for an audit?
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Re: Whole Foods No Cashiers

Post by Brian Lutz »

On an experimental basis I think this makes sense (their cashierless store concept has gradually scaled over time from convenience stores to small grocery stores, and attempting this on the scale of a Whole Foods seems like a logical next step) but I don't see this becoming widespread. The City of Philadelphia and the State of New Jersey specifically targeted Amazon with ordinances in 2019 requiring all retail stores to accept cash payments (calling it a form of discrimination to not allow this), which forced Amazon to allow customers in their stores to pay cash. I suspect attempts to spread this concept could result in similar regulatory backlash in other jurisdictions.
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Re: Whole Foods No Cashiers

Post by HCal »

I think this is more like the Amazon Go convenience stores, where there are cameras/sensors all over the store to track what you're picking up, rather than the Amazon Fresh dash carts where the sensors are in the cart itself.

As for laws requiring cash, that is easy to get around. Those wanting to pay cash can borrow a handheld device, use it to shop, and then pay with cash instead of walking out.
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Re: Whole Foods No Cashiers

Post by mbz321 »

BreakingThrough wrote: September 9th, 2021, 1:05 pm Pardon the question, but I'm curious as to what makes the Dash carts more cumbersome than regular check out? Isn't the idea you just wheel yourself right out to your car? Or are there bagging issues / stopped at a door for an audit?

The carts themselves, although bulky have a small basket area for product. if you are doing a large shopping order (where this kind of technology would be most beneficial), forget it. If you stack stuff too high in the cart, it will error out. Also, the sensors aren't that smart..I had to wave stuff in front of them a few times for it to recognize. Then there is the checkpoint at the end which shouldn't really be a hold up unless you encounter an error. Oh, and maybe the biggest thing, the carts aren't allowed to go outside, so if you have multiple bags or bulky times, you need to move it over to a regular cart before leaving. Then of course you are bombarded with ads on the shopping cart itself, not to mention it is basically monitoring your shopping habits, which is only going to benefit marketers in the end. It just doesn't seem like much of a time saver overall.
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Re: Whole Foods No Cashiers

Post by storewanderer »

mbz321 wrote: September 12th, 2021, 6:09 pm
BreakingThrough wrote: September 9th, 2021, 1:05 pm Pardon the question, but I'm curious as to what makes the Dash carts more cumbersome than regular check out? Isn't the idea you just wheel yourself right out to your car? Or are there bagging issues / stopped at a door for an audit?

The carts themselves, although bulky have a small basket area for product. if you are doing a large shopping order (where this kind of technology would be most beneficial), forget it. If you stack stuff too high in the cart, it will error out. Also, the sensors aren't that smart..I had to wave stuff in front of them a few times for it to recognize. Then there is the checkpoint at the end which shouldn't really be a hold up unless you encounter an error. Oh, and maybe the biggest thing, the carts aren't allowed to go outside, so if you have multiple bags or bulky times, you need to move it over to a regular cart before leaving. Then of course you are bombarded with ads on the shopping cart itself, not to mention it is basically monitoring your shopping habits, which is only going to benefit marketers in the end. It just doesn't seem like much of a time saver overall.
Sounds like my experience using "scan bag go" at Kroger. I just didn't see the time savings.

Having to switch carts before leaving the store is terrible. They need to figure something out for that because that is a real friction point.

The Scan and Go at Sam's Club- you scan the items and go straight to the exit check and you are out.
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Re: Whole Foods No Cashiers

Post by mbz321 »

mbz321 wrote: September 12th, 2021, 6:09 pm
BreakingThrough wrote: September 9th, 2021, 1:05 pm Pardon the question, but I'm curious as to what makes the Dash carts more cumbersome than regular check out? Isn't the idea you just wheel yourself right out to your car? Or are there bagging issues / stopped at a door for an audit?

The carts themselves, although bulky have a small basket area for product. if you are doing a large shopping order (where this kind of technology would be most beneficial), forget it. If you stack stuff too high in the cart, it will error out. Also, the sensors aren't that smart..I had to wave stuff in front of them a few times for it to recognize. Then there is the checkpoint at the end which shouldn't really be a hold up unless you encounter an error. Oh, and maybe the biggest thing, the carts aren't allowed to go outside, so if you have multiple bags or bulky times, you need to move it over to a regular cart before leaving. Then of course you are bombarded with ads on the shopping cart itself, not to mention it is basically monitoring your shopping habits, which is only going to benefit marketers in the end. It just doesn't seem like much of a time saver overall.
And just another update, the carts have issues when you try to add 'by the pound' produce. I tried to buy a couple onions last night and the whole cart 'crashed'! The staff didn't really seem to have a clue how to fix it so they just didn't charge me for them. And I only bothered to try again as they again put out another $10 off $20 coupon (and not a unique code either, just a generic QR that anyone can use). And..they put a paper coupon in my bag for the following week (not as valuable though). Not sure if this is 'normal', or business has been lower than anticipated. I've still noticed a lot of out-of-stocks and very close-dated items in dairy.
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Re: Whole Foods No Cashiers

Post by storewanderer »

mbz321 wrote: September 22nd, 2021, 7:26 pm

And just another update, the carts have issues when you try to add 'by the pound' produce. I tried to buy a couple onions last night and the whole cart 'crashed'! The staff didn't really seem to have a clue how to fix it so they just didn't charge me for them. And I only bothered to try again as they again put out another $10 off $20 coupon (and not a unique code either, just a generic QR that anyone can use). And..they put a paper coupon in my bag for the following week (not as valuable though). Not sure if this is 'normal', or business has been lower than anticipated. I've still noticed a lot of out-of-stocks and very close-dated items in dairy.
With this model I think the produce needs to be sold by the piece, across the board. It is lousy for size variation produce but Trader Joe's makes 100% by the piece produce work and this format needs to figure it out too.

I can only imagine how this works at Whole Foods who sells so many things by the pound. Things other stores do not sell by the pound. Bakery cookies, bars of soap, etc. Plus all that prepared food. How can they tell if that is a cup of soup at unit price per cup or a cup of pasta from the by the pound bar? Also how can this thing tell an Organic produce from a non-Organic (must be really good at seeing the sticker?).
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