DJariya

X - Formerly Twitter

X - Formerly Twitter

Apparently people complained about being charged for things they didn't buy.

And it was also expensive to maintain


For those who never shopped at these stores, you would check-in with your app and there are cameras all over the store, including the shelves. And the items you pick up and add to your shopping cart would be added to your account.

Once you walk out, it's billed to your Amazon account.


This short video when it launched explains how it worked.

You Tube

There is an Amazon Fresh store near me and I don't visit it much. But, I did in one instance pick up a drink while I was shopping and was billed twice. I was already home when I realized it, so it was only a few bucks and not worth the hassle to make a stink of it. But, that happened when the store 1st opened.

fujishig

To me the takeaway from this is that it was a lot of manual work, they had a bunch of workers offshore manning cameras. I guess they hoped that they could use machine learning to get it more automated but it never worked out/was cheap enough I guess.

https://gizmodo.com/amazon-reportedl...res-1851381116

TheBang

To clarify, the human workers were there to verify and correct mistakes made by the machine learning, and thus, provide reinforcement and training for the ML. But, apparently, even after all that work, it did not get good enough.

The one time I used a store that had it at LAX, it correctly billed me for what we purchased. I scanned in with my credit card, but it was my daughter who picked out what she wanted, and I believe she was holding it as we walked out. I wonder if that transaction required manual review.

Edit: Found this article from Amazon that explains the tech. Does not make any mention of the human workers required.
https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/ret...-walk-out-work

I just noticed in the article that it's just Amazon Fresh that is getting rid of Just Walk Out. Other companies and stores that use it (like the store I visited in LAX, or others mentioned in the Amazon article above) can continue to license it from Amazon. I wonder how they feel about it, now that Amazon Fresh stores themselves have abandoned it.

davidh777

I’ve used it at the WNBA and NHL games here and not noticed any issues. But I might’ve just missed an additional $5 or whatever charge.

fujishig

Yeah, when they first announced it I don't remember them talking about the human workers at all, which is why I was surprised when they mentioned that 70% of the orders had to be double checked.

As far as smaller stores, I'd think the technology is much more accurate when you have a smaller selection and you're not a full fledged grocery store with thousands of items to keep track of.

milo bloom

I recall hearing about how people were hacking this system by putting some kind of spoofer on their cart that made it look like you were paying when you weren't, I wonder if those weren't getting caught properly.

TheBang

Yeah, it sounds like it probably works really well for sports stadium vendors, as mentioned above, and is really beneficial for that situation ("grab and go" greatly reducing checkout congestion).

I think you're confusing Just Walk Out with self-checkout.

Why So Blu?

I've yet to go one of these. It's overpriced, especially when I have a Super King and Vons nearby, along with Trader Joes, etc.

PhantomStranger

I see Amazon Fresh stores all over the place and rarely see them busy unlike just about every other grocery store. They've also placed them in unexpected venues. I guess they try avoiding competing directly against traditional grocery chains.

milo bloom

I guess I was thinking they were one and the same...

They put in one near us and when we go in to return Amazon orders, the stores are always fully staffed but there's usually only a couple actual customers.

But what I do notice far more often is the Amazon employees putting together the delivery shipments, so that option seems to be kinda popular.