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I was surprised how bad these machines were in the UK and the US. It’s possible to implement the idea better. A big source of friction seems to be the (IMO) unr

by t8sr 3y ago

I was surprised how bad these machines were in the UK and the US. It’s possible to implement the idea better. A big source of friction seems to be the (IMO) unreasonable focus on theft prevention, and the second is that stuff in the store isn’t labeled properly. Somehow, the self checkouts in Switzerland are mostly free of both problems. I’m guessing they’re more willing to take the theft risk, to increase throughput. My point is that giving up on this technology seems rash, when it could be tweaked to work well with a software update and a policy adjustment.

fy20 3y ago
I think part of the problem is the technology hasn't changed in the last 20 years. During college I worked at a large UK retail store when they had the self checkouts installed, and other than a slightly nicer design, today it is effectively the same as it was then. For example today I still struggle to scan things with the laser barcode scanner, where as cameras are much more reliable for scanning barcodes today. The system could collect data when an item does not match the weight in the database and 'learn' that it should be different, but this is impossible as behind the scenes it's still using a POS system that was designed 30 years ago.
- 6510 3y ago
  Right, it should be able to tell what kind of fruit or vegetable is on the scale and [at least] highlight it in the maze of menus. The larger the supermarket the funnier the search. Likewise it could see I have 2 croissants with cheese in stead of having me search though a list of packaged bread half of which isn't even on the shelve. It should be able to see the shelves too. It doesn't need good vision, if it can see there are 5 big piles from afar and people purchase 5 kinds it gets rather obvious which are the most likely candidates. If 3 out of 5 shelves are empty you shouldn't display all the nice things I cant have. It seems a fun project to work on.
rcbdev 3y ago
> Somehow, the self checkouts in Switzerland are mostly free of both problems. You're experiencing the difference between high- and low-trust societies.

by t8sr 3y ago

fy20 3y ago

I think part of the problem is the technology hasn't changed in the last 20 years. During college I worked at a large UK retail store when they had the self checkouts installed, and other than a slightly nicer design, today it is effectively the same as it was then. For example today I still struggle to scan things with the laser barcode scanner, where as cameras are much more reliable for scanning barcodes today. The system could collect data when an item does not match the weight in the database and 'learn' that it should be different, but this is impossible as behind the scenes it's still using a POS system that was designed 30 years ago.

6510 3y ago
Right, it should be able to tell what kind of fruit or vegetable is on the scale and [at least] highlight it in the maze of menus. The larger the supermarket the funnier the search. Likewise it could see I have 2 croissants with cheese in stead of having me search though a list of packaged bread half of which isn't even on the shelve. It should be able to see the shelves too. It doesn't need good vision, if it can see there are 5 big piles from afar and people purchase 5 kinds it gets rather obvious which are the most likely candidates. If 3 out of 5 shelves are empty you shouldn't display all the nice things I cant have. It seems a fun project to work on.

rcbdev 3y ago

> Somehow, the self checkouts in Switzerland are mostly free of both problems. You're experiencing the difference between high- and low-trust societies.