from Hacker News

AWS Just Walk Out Technology

by amalfra on 8/14/22, 2:46 AM with 80 comments

  • by asah on 8/14/22, 5:29 AM

    Meh - I was excited by JWO but it now looks like self-checkout will win because it works pretty well these days, and it handles all the corner cases including product sold by weight, large items, identical-looking items (common in grocery), etc.

    With self-checkout, you don't need an account which is crucial for travelers. Self-checkout also supports cash for the unbanked.

    I've tried SC in multiple countries, just hit the button for English, scan, scan, scan, weight, scan, scan, scan, checkout, touch my credit card, go.

    Late night in Stockholm train station, I bought one bottle of fizzy water and checkout added 30 seconds or so.

    Obviously, from place to place you sometimes get "rough edges" with mis-scans etc but JWO has its own problems.

    I'm not even sure how much floor space JWO saves vs self-checkout.

  • by nprateem on 8/14/22, 5:10 AM

    Expect to have to install an app for every store you want to go into over the next few years with all the accompanying snooping. This tech is a wet dream for retailers.

    Who needs store cards when they can just see in realtime what you're picking up and putting back, along with your demographic data.

  • by SteveNuts on 8/14/22, 4:51 AM

    That's a really unfortunate name considering their reputation for employees walking out on the job.

  • by tbrownaw on 8/14/22, 5:01 AM

    > 60 percent of respondents state that long wait times to check out are a major concern while shopping in a store. The report also revealed that 80 percent of retail executive respondents believe that smart checkout is one of the most important solutions to invest in over the next five years.

    The local Kroger instances here have these handheld things you can use to scan items as you put them in your cart rather than at a checkout station.

    I don't exactly see a large number of people using them. Like, I think I might have seen one, once?

  • by ALittleLight on 8/14/22, 5:10 AM

    I've been impressed by the Amazon Go stores. They seem to work pretty well. I'm glad to see Amazon at least trying to spread this technology. I enjoy using it.

    I do think the palm reading thing will be a potential vulnerability in two regards. First, maybe as a "hack". Is there a way to fake the palm scan? Something you could put on your palm to assume someone else's palm print? If I use this service will I have to be concerned with thieves scanning my palm print? Second, I think it will also invoke a "creepiness" concern among the general population when Amazon starts wanting your palm prints.

    I am also confused as to why this falls under the AWS umbrella. It seems very unlike other AWS offerings. This requires adding hardware to your store.

  • by KerrAvon on 8/14/22, 4:21 AM

  • by outside1234 on 8/14/22, 4:46 AM

    Great idea - let me install of this stuff to let you suck analytics out of my store and then compete with me in two years.

    Yeah, no thanks.

  • by topicseed on 8/14/22, 12:06 PM

    Many commenters haven't read the blog post. A retailer app or Amazon One account is not necessarily required. From my understanding, you can simply enter with a credit or debit card.

    > Consumers can enter a Just Walk Out technology-equipped store using one of three methods—method types available can vary by store: (1) Amazon One, a contactless identity service that uses your palm to pay; (2) credit or debit card; or (3) app-based entry, using retailer-branded apps.

  • by awill88 on 8/14/22, 8:12 AM

    As I read this title, for whatever reason, I imagined Walk Out Technology as being some kind of worker’s union SaaS and had to do a double take.

    I’m not intending to be unproductively facetious mind you, those types of specialized SaaS offerings that let workers operate and organize and educate should exist, and if AWS ever wanted to spend PR money in the right place… eh? Eh?