4 ms·

I'm sure that's great, but it's a bit impractical for groceries. Even the relatively small cost of an NFC tag is going to be a real problem given how thin most

I'm sure that's great, but it's a bit impractical for groceries. Even the relatively small cost of an NFC tag is going to be a real problem given how thin most groceries' margins are (and how cheap small amounts of food can be, even now). But groceries are one of the best examples of where this would be a big time-saver. I will say that I really do prefer self-check in convenience stores, where a big purchase is three or four items. But for groceries... it's too much if you're actually doing a big shopping day.

filcuk 3y ago
For larger shopping, I like to use the scanning gun. I get that it's used to track me, but the fact is I get to track the price, pack items as I go and just pay on the way out.
- WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
  You kind of need it for the big & heavy stuff. I hit somewhere without one and of course half my basket was 50lb this and 32ct that.
- Reason077 3y ago
  Some of the UK supermarkets are bypassing the scanning gun now and just doing self-scan with an app. Works really well. Nice price checking feature in some of the apps too.
matthewdgreen 3y ago
When I started looking at RFID tech in 2004, the disposable tags cost maybe $.50-$1 but general consensus was the costs would follow a Moore’s law like trajectory, halving every 2-3 years until they were on even the cheapest items. And yet here we are 20 years later and I don’t see RFID checkout systems very often at all. Are the tags still really expensive? Or is it the extra cost of attaching them to packaging?
- ky0ung 3y ago
  RFID tags are ~10c (Impinj) and are getting cheaper each year. they're widely used in apparel stores. think it'd be tough to justify attaching them to low value items in a grocery store. self checkout prob more effective using computer vision
- manmal 3y ago
  Are you suggesting to put trillions of copper, silicon, and aluminum parts on disposable items like bananas, so people have a slightly better shopping experience?
  - nothercastle 3y ago
    Absolutely worth it
  - matthewdgreen 3y ago
    I am not suggesting it. It was widely presented as inevitable once the costs dropped enough. Retail inventory management and checkout is expensive.
    - manmal 3y ago
      Apologies for the strawman then. I just hope humanity can pass on that one, for once.
  - xboxnolifes 3y ago
    We kind of already do that, just with plastic, adhesive, and ink.
    - byyll 3y ago
      My bananas don't have plastics, adhesive or ink and regardless, adding another chip to them won't make it any better.
      - bombcar 3y ago
jareklupinski 3y ago
> Even the relatively small cost of an NFC tag is going to be a real problem given how thin most groceries' margins are (and how cheap small amounts of food can be, even now). something that's been worrying me: how long until grocery stores stop keeping fresh fruit and vegetables because it just isn't worth it anymore? or has produce always been a loss-leader to get people buying other things in the store... maybe just put NFC tags on the milk and butter, and let people walk out with as many oranges as they can carry?
- Reason077 3y ago
  Produce is not a loss-leader. Pretty solid margins if you compare market prices on produce with what the supermarkets sell them for. And if you’ve been in any UK supermarket near closing time on a busy weekend day, you’ll see that they routinely sell out of many/most items before restocking overnight. Stuff that hits its best-before date gets marked down to sell. Generally speaking, there isn’t a huge amount being wasted.
  - klondike_klive 3y ago
    The waste is externalised. Supermarkets regularly renege on their agreements with farmers, leaving millions of tonnes of produce to rot. Check out getfairaboutfarming.com
    - Reason077 3y ago
      It is certainly unfair to growers if supermarkets are reneging on purchase agreements. But the link you sent has just a single anecdotal "case study", and the site seems to be a marketing site for an organic food box supplier. Hardly by itself evidence of a systemic problem. Besides, if a purchase agreement falls though with produce already grown, normally what happens is the produce is sold on the wholesale market instead. In that case, growers might receive a lower price, perhaps resulting in a loss, but that's not as bad as leaving it "to rot" and getting nothing at all. Produce would typically only be dumped in the case of a huge market glut (when prices are so low that it is not even worth harvesting/transporting them), or if there are labour shortages making it difficult or uneconomical to harvest.
Shinchy 3y ago
Not seen it on groceries, but I know Uniqlo use this same method and it's fantastic.

filcuk 3y ago

For larger shopping, I like to use the scanning gun. I get that it's used to track me, but the fact is I get to track the price, pack items as I go and just pay on the way out.

WarOnPrivacy 3y ago
You kind of need it for the big & heavy stuff. I hit somewhere without one and of course half my basket was 50lb this and 32ct that.
Reason077 3y ago
Some of the UK supermarkets are bypassing the scanning gun now and just doing self-scan with an app. Works really well. Nice price checking feature in some of the apps too.

matthewdgreen 3y ago

When I started looking at RFID tech in 2004, the disposable tags cost maybe $.50-$1 but general consensus was the costs would follow a Moore’s law like trajectory, halving every 2-3 years until they were on even the cheapest items. And yet here we are 20 years later and I don’t see RFID checkout systems very often at all. Are the tags still really expensive? Or is it the extra cost of attaching them to packaging?

ky0ung 3y ago
RFID tags are ~10c (Impinj) and are getting cheaper each year. they're widely used in apparel stores. think it'd be tough to justify attaching them to low value items in a grocery store. self checkout prob more effective using computer vision
manmal 3y ago
Are you suggesting to put trillions of copper, silicon, and aluminum parts on disposable items like bananas, so people have a slightly better shopping experience?
- nothercastle 3y ago
  Absolutely worth it
- matthewdgreen 3y ago
  I am not suggesting it. It was widely presented as inevitable once the costs dropped enough. Retail inventory management and checkout is expensive.
  - manmal 3y ago
    Apologies for the strawman then. I just hope humanity can pass on that one, for once.
- xboxnolifes 3y ago
  We kind of already do that, just with plastic, adhesive, and ink.
  - byyll 3y ago
    My bananas don't have plastics, adhesive or ink and regardless, adding another chip to them won't make it any better.
    - bombcar 3y ago

jareklupinski 3y ago

> Even the relatively small cost of an NFC tag is going to be a real problem given how thin most groceries' margins are (and how cheap small amounts of food can be, even now). something that's been worrying me: how long until grocery stores stop keeping fresh fruit and vegetables because it just isn't worth it anymore? or has produce always been a loss-leader to get people buying other things in the store... maybe just put NFC tags on the milk and butter, and let people walk out with as many oranges as they can carry?

Reason077 3y ago
Produce is not a loss-leader. Pretty solid margins if you compare market prices on produce with what the supermarkets sell them for. And if you’ve been in any UK supermarket near closing time on a busy weekend day, you’ll see that they routinely sell out of many/most items before restocking overnight. Stuff that hits its best-before date gets marked down to sell. Generally speaking, there isn’t a huge amount being wasted.
- klondike_klive 3y ago
  The waste is externalised. Supermarkets regularly renege on their agreements with farmers, leaving millions of tonnes of produce to rot. Check out getfairaboutfarming.com
  - Reason077 3y ago
    It is certainly unfair to growers if supermarkets are reneging on purchase agreements. But the link you sent has just a single anecdotal "case study", and the site seems to be a marketing site for an organic food box supplier. Hardly by itself evidence of a systemic problem. Besides, if a purchase agreement falls though with produce already grown, normally what happens is the produce is sold on the wholesale market instead. In that case, growers might receive a lower price, perhaps resulting in a loss, but that's not as bad as leaving it "to rot" and getting nothing at all. Produce would typically only be dumped in the case of a huge market glut (when prices are so low that it is not even worth harvesting/transporting them), or if there are labour shortages making it difficult or uneconomical to harvest.

Shinchy 3y ago

Not seen it on groceries, but I know Uniqlo use this same method and it's fantastic.