Somtimes what makes life more simple also has the ability to make it more difficult when you look at the big picture. I don't mind interacting with people when I go shopping for groceries. Working with cashiers to tally up totals and rightfully purchase goods has always been a way of life... I've used automated checkout before and that is straightforward enough... But soon the days of working with people will have come to an end.
According to a recent article published by Business Insider, the corporate giant, Walmart is currently in the process of developing a store with no cashiers. This is their ideal store of the future further reducing costs in and effort to maintain their role as the number one low cost leader of merchandise in the United States.
According to reports it can be compared to Amazon's Amazon Go store and Walmart's secret Code Eight team is in charge of its design and implementation.
The Code Eight team is a part of their Store No. 8 tech incubator.
Are we being led to believe that this is going to be the future of shopping? If that is the case then I think we may as well start showing retailers that we disapprove by boycotting their stores.
According to Walmart, they have a new vision for the store, called Project Kepler. Not much is known yet but apparently there is talk of using advanced features like "computer vision" to track and charge for purchases without the use of a traditional cashier. The eye in the sky so to speak.
Sketchs of the idea make the concept looking extremely similar to Amazon's Amazon Go store, which uses tracking cameras and machine learning software to charge customers for things they take off the shelf. Although Amazon is in the lead regarding this effort, they may soon find Walmart is not far behind.
Of course this is all just speculation at this point and can't be verified because unsurpisingly, Walmart did not respond immediately to a request for comment. Generally these types of stories have the possibility of angering customers and people in general. Who likes to hear about greedy corporations further cutting costs and taking the human race out of the equation, unless you're a customer.
What other stores to you expect to be fully automated in the coming decade? Do you think that Walmart will be successful in automating their stores? What does this mean for the future of retail shopping?
Please leave your thoughts and comments below!
Source:
Walmart is reportedly developing a store of the future with no cashiers - Business Insider
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