12 ms·

I wish that the shopping experience was 1) I go to a store and pick up what I need 2) I walk out of the store with everything and take it home 3) Store knows w

I wish that the shopping experience was 1) I go to a store and pick up what I need 2) I walk out of the store with everything and take it home 3) Store knows what I took (RFID tags) 4) Store knows who I am (Cameras, gait analysis, face, whatever, fingerprint at the door, phone swipe, credit card swipe, be creative) 5) I receive an e-bill when the vendor identifies me 6) I set up an auto-pay on my e-bill Honestly, tap-to-pay doesn't seem like any difference at all vs cash or credit to me. Show me something where I don't even need to interact on exiting the store!

hinkley 10y ago
The original pitch for the RFIDs was that they'd just be able to scan your whole cart. I'm not sure what happened in the interim.
- seanp2k2 10y ago
  RFID didn't work reliably from more than a few inches away and with that many items? Tagging every item including bulk things like produce was a non-starter for merchants due to all the extra labor involved? RFID tags cost much more than the barcode already on product packaging? Check out hardware for this was massively expensive, didn't integrate with existing lane systems smoothly, confused consumers, was largely unavailable due to lack of demand, and was super buggy / unreliable? Those are all guesses but they all seem likely to me.
  - TillE 10y ago
    > from more than a few inches away Nah, you can always crank up the power in line with the inverse square law. Your other reasons are plausible. RFID tags are fairly cheap, but they can't compete with printing a barcode on a label.
- ploxiln 10y ago
  I'm sure a few of the engineers knew that would never happen. But it's someone else's job to sell the tech to businesses, and the stock to wallstreet ...
- someemptyspace 10y ago
  > The original pitch for the RFIDs was that they'd just be able to scan your whole cart. I'm sure the limiting factor at the moment is the incremental cost to the product. If an RFID tag costs 25¢ would you be willing to spend $1 instead of 50¢ for a can of corn, just for the privilege of not interacting with anyone? You might, but the average customer won't. RFID is primarily used in application where the tag can be reused. I haven't seen many disposable RFID tags.
akeck 10y ago
I've done (almost) this at an Apple Store with their store app. It was surreal. ;-)
- MBCook 10y ago
  As incredibly convenient as that is, I always feel like I'm stealing stuff from the Apple store. You walk in, pick something up, fiddle with your phone, and walk out. The fact that the Apple people know that I bought something and smile or are nice to me on the way out just makes me feel more like they're watching me thinking I stole something.
  - webXL 10y ago
    I feel the same way. It is very bizarre! Reminds me of that scene from Holy Grail when the guards are just smiling and nodding when the prince is trying to escape from the castle. But how do they know? Someone must know. Is it broadcast to their headsets?
    - MBCook 10y ago
      I don't know, but I figure they must know because otherwise they'd think you're shoplifting too.
tedmiston 10y ago
There is one neighborhood convenience store that approximates that experience but in a low tech way. http://gizmodo.com/theres-smartphone-powered-store-in-sweden-with-no-human-1761930134 http://gizmodo.com/theres-smartphone-powered-store-in-sweden...

hinkley 10y ago

The original pitch for the RFIDs was that they'd just be able to scan your whole cart. I'm not sure what happened in the interim.

seanp2k2 10y ago
RFID didn't work reliably from more than a few inches away and with that many items? Tagging every item including bulk things like produce was a non-starter for merchants due to all the extra labor involved? RFID tags cost much more than the barcode already on product packaging? Check out hardware for this was massively expensive, didn't integrate with existing lane systems smoothly, confused consumers, was largely unavailable due to lack of demand, and was super buggy / unreliable? Those are all guesses but they all seem likely to me.
- TillE 10y ago
  > from more than a few inches away Nah, you can always crank up the power in line with the inverse square law. Your other reasons are plausible. RFID tags are fairly cheap, but they can't compete with printing a barcode on a label.
ploxiln 10y ago
I'm sure a few of the engineers knew that would never happen. But it's someone else's job to sell the tech to businesses, and the stock to wallstreet ...
someemptyspace 10y ago
> The original pitch for the RFIDs was that they'd just be able to scan your whole cart. I'm sure the limiting factor at the moment is the incremental cost to the product. If an RFID tag costs 25¢ would you be willing to spend $1 instead of 50¢ for a can of corn, just for the privilege of not interacting with anyone? You might, but the average customer won't. RFID is primarily used in application where the tag can be reused. I haven't seen many disposable RFID tags.

akeck 10y ago

I've done (almost) this at an Apple Store with their store app. It was surreal. ;-)

MBCook 10y ago
As incredibly convenient as that is, I always feel like I'm stealing stuff from the Apple store. You walk in, pick something up, fiddle with your phone, and walk out. The fact that the Apple people know that I bought something and smile or are nice to me on the way out just makes me feel more like they're watching me thinking I stole something.
- webXL 10y ago
  I feel the same way. It is very bizarre! Reminds me of that scene from Holy Grail when the guards are just smiling and nodding when the prince is trying to escape from the castle. But how do they know? Someone must know. Is it broadcast to their headsets?
  - MBCook 10y ago
    I don't know, but I figure they must know because otherwise they'd think you're shoplifting too.

tedmiston 10y ago

There is one neighborhood convenience store that approximates that experience but in a low tech way. http://gizmodo.com/theres-smartphone-powered-store-in-sweden-with-no-human-1761930134 http://gizmodo.com/theres-smartphone-powered-store-in-sweden...