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Uniqlo (in Japan and at least in SF) has a cool checkout method. You drop your clothes into a big bin (I’ve always done it one piece at a time, didn’t think to
by smugma 3y ago
Uniqlo (in Japan and at least in SF) has a cool checkout method.
You drop your clothes into a big bin (I’ve always done it one piece at a time, didn’t think to do all at once) and it adds up all your items. I’ve used this maybe 8 times, 100% accurate so far.
Not sure how it works but I guessed RFID and quick Google appears to confirm:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/uniqlos-parent-company-bets-big-on-tiny-rfid-chips-600b124f https://www.wsj.com/articles/uniqlos-parent-company-bets-big...
- browningstreet 3y agoMy local library does the same thing (books not clothes, glass surface not bin).
- pembrook 3y agoI'm pretty sure this is global, have experienced it at all their locations throughout Europe as well.
- dyim 3y agoThe one by Barclays (in NYC) has the same thing! It's the best self-checkout experience I've had.
- kungito 3y agoDecathlon has the same
- mathgeek 3y agoUniqlo in Orlando also does this. Wonderful system.
- gambiting 3y agoDecathlon in the UK has the same thing. You just drop everything in a bin near a till and it "magically" knows what you've put in.
- dahdum 3y ago> Uniqlo (in Japan and at least in SF) has a cool checkout method. Saw this in the Honolulu location and was similarly impressed. It's got to be pretty close to a theoretical minimum in check out speed, while requiring no labor and no accounts.
- rgmerk 3y agoIt’s been discussed before on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38715111 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38715111 Unlikely to work for groceries given the costs of RFID tags, I imagine.
- colinng 3y agoIf we had a better Blue Bin system it might work. Remove tags at home and place in compartment of Blue Bin, and at the recycling centre they get sorted out and sent back to the retailers. But if we really could scale RFID tag production down to 1 cent each, then we’d likely just throw them out. Not that I’m a fan of throwing away silicon…
- Iulioh 3y agoI mean, they cost 5-10c Still more than printed paper but the cost is not astronomical. Some sellers on Alibaba even advertise 3c cad
- madeofpalk 3y agoOrders of magnitude more than existing barcodes which are practically free due to being printed on the packaging. A 10c RFID tag would be 10% of the cost of many products, which im sure is unacceptable to grocery stores which I can't imagine have great margins.
- filoleg 3y ago> A 10c RFID tag would be 10% of the cost of many products, which im sure is unacceptable to grocery stores which I can't imagine have great margins. If the store decides to eat the cost of those? Sure, I can buy that logic. However, I don't see stores being unable to just raise the price of items by 10c without much pushback, which would eliminate that issue with the profit margin entirely (since the cost of it is offloaded to the customer). I, personally, would love to be able to pay just 10c extra per item, if it meant that I can have a checkout experience similar to that of Uniqlo.
- awelxtr 3y agoSelf checkout systems based on RFID are very convenient, quick and quite accurate compared to self checkout on grocery stores'l. The main problem on groceries is that the tags are expensive compared to the product (tags prices are in the order of tens of cents depending on manufacturer and size) Disclaimer: I work on a RFID reader manufacturing company
- parhamn 3y agoAny ideas whats stopping it from becoming much cheaper? RFIDs on everything seem like a good move in the robotics age.
- kjkjadksj 3y agoSeems like a lot of ewaste to me for marginal convenience otoh
- pcchristie 3y agoAgreed. It would be cool if you could recycle them then and there for re-use.
- teruakohatu 3y agoThere has been at least one study on just this question https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350413738_A_Model_of_the_Environmental_Burden_of_RFID_Technology_in_the_Slovak_Republic https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350413738_A_Model_o...
- b112 3y agoI don't want rfid tags in my apples, and putting them on the outside of each one seems costly. And things like onions have a loose outer skin, which falls off. And grocery store clerks peel the outside (wilting) leaves off of things like local lettuce daily. Seems like rfid on groceries would be hard for fresh produce, and we don't need everything wrapped in plastic.
- 3y ago
- Iulioh 3y agoDecathlon does it but it's a little harder to implement in a grocery store. You need to basically have custom packaging so the tags are not easily swappable and the RFID tag is not free too, it could really add up for small price items. The maybe e-waste problem? I'm not really familiar with how much of a problem this really is but on a grocery store size it could add up
- a_random_canuck 3y agoAs far as I can tell, every Uniqlo has this. And you’re right, this is by far the best checkout experience. It’s what Amazon wishes they’d built. I can’t imagine there’s that much untapped profit in the grocery business that Amazon could turn a profit with such an expensive and unreliable mess like Just Walk Out and I find it’s so typical Amazon to find out that the man behind the curtain is actually a bunch of offshore workers in India.
- davidhunter 3y agoDid anyone else check each item manually one-by-one to ensure that the system was accurate?
- none_to_remain 3y agoI have been able to dump about 7-8 items in there at once
- unscaled 3y agoUniqlo checkout experience is really how self-checkout should be look like, but unfortunately relies on controlling the manufacturing of all products to implement efficiently. The closest thing I've seen in a convenience store, was a fully automated 7-Eleven that I ran across in Taipei last year. It seems to rely on smart shelves[1], rather than just product video recognition. This could work for most types of groceries. [1] https://www.retail-insight-network.com/news/7-eleven-itri-store-taiwan/ https://www.retail-insight-network.com/news/7-eleven-itri-st...
- rusticpenn 3y agoI have had the same experience at Zara which has cloths from different manufacturers.
- anshumankmr 3y agoDecathlon (a sports brand) has this thing too.
- getToTheChopin 3y agoDecathlon stores have the same self-checkout experience. Worked flawlessly the few times I've used it.
- prmoustache 3y agoI've had a few times when I bought lots of small items and it missed a few of them. Once, they were recognized when I moved stuff in the bin, another time I made sure I didn't move anything before paying and it worked in my favor.
- hackernewds 3y agoThis exists in most UNIQLOs it's the same mechanism through which the alarm goes off when someone attempts to steal things with the magnetic RFID attached. It's borderline ancient tech. So why is it not applied everywhere? Because stores would rather have you line up and buy stuff from the "impulse aisle" and tip or donate at their PoS (higher rates with an employee glaring at your selection)
- clintonb 3y ago> So why is it not applied everywhere? RFID tags are expensive compared to printing barcodes. The volume of products moved in a grocery store is far larger than that of a clothing store like Uniqlo.
- dgellow 3y agoDecathlon in Europe does this too
- tacocataco 3y agoSome thrift stores let you buy clothes by the pound here in the US. There are always the same people picking out stuff I swear. Probably picking stuff to resell.