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Walmart Testing iPhone-Based Self-Checkout System for Retail Stores

I was thinking of this about a month ago in my local supermarket. I wanted a method of scanning items as I put them into my cart, so I can just leave when I am done. This store has the usual 20 cash registers but only two to four of them in use at any given time.
 
jontech said:
Why shop there?

I haven't shopped there in years. I would rather drive 10 more miles and pay more then buy from them
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To save money. Duh. Most people, whether rich or poor, like to save money. I know a millionaire that shops at Wal-Mart because it's cheaper to buy certain items there than Costco, Sam's Club, or ordinary grocery stores.

Why save money? Because it's smart.

Why not throw away money? Because it's dumb to waste it.
 
Although the majority Wal-Mart's consumer base probably don't own iPhones, I would like this feature to avoid waiting in lines. Imagine scanning each grocery item as you put them in your cart and then tapping "buy now" once you're done and walk straight out of the store. I'm just not sure how they'd be able to differentiate shoplifters from paying customers.
 
NathanMuir said:
Like others, I think you're mistaking the segment of the population that shops at Wal-Mart for the middle class. You're also ignoring the total cost of ownership for the device.

Have you been in a Wal-Mart? When I am, I see 'astonishing' number of non iPhones (hell, non smartphones) being used.
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Everyone shops at Wal-Mart, from the dregs of society, to the upper middle class. And why shouldn't they? It's relatively inexpensive, and you're guaranteed to find one within 5 miles of your house. Wal-Mart has succeeded mostly on being convenient.

...amongst other things, but that's an entirely separate subject.

I've noticed that a person's opinion of Wal-Mart's clientele is colored mostly by the location of the store, or what times they happen to visit. A Wal-Mart located in the middle of a city is likely to land comparatively upper crust customers as opposed to a Wal-Mart out in the middle of nowhere. Then you have the scheduled folk. Visit early in the morning, and practically all you'll see are elderly retirees. Early afternoon to evening? Middle class soccer moms and nurses. Midnight on? That's when it gets surreal.

You can't peg Wal-Mart as exclusively lower class.
 
Small White Car said:
RFID tags.

If I scan a bag of OREOs but send a box of Captain Crunch down the conveyor belt it stops and sends it back.

Computers know everything these days.

Based on the comments it sounds like some other stores use scales, but I'm certain mine uses RFID since it does this on a conveyor belt and I don't see how it could weigh stuff while it's moving.
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Yours may be different. Ours are all weight, including those that now have rollers. When they first came out there were some issues as many items were not given the proper weight in the system. (some need a range, like produce paid for per item) But I haven't seen a conveyer belt.
 
Lark.Landon said:
To save money. Duh. Most people, whether rich or poor, like to save money. I know a millionaire that shops at Wal-Mart because it's cheaper to buy certain items there than Costco, Sam's Club, or ordinary grocery stores.

Why save money? Because it's smart.

Why not throw away money? Because it's dumb to waste it.
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It's also dumb to put money that you earned into corporations that move that money out of your community and out of the country as quickly as possible. Duh. Why put resources back into your community? Because investment is always better than waste.

Renzatic said:
Everyone shops at Wal-Mart, from the dregs of society, to the upper middle class. And why shouldn't they? It's relatively inexpensive, and you're guaranteed to find one within 5 miles of your house. Wal-Mart has succeeded mostly on being convenient.
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Not everyone. Some of us are lucky to live places that don't allow those types of businesses. Not coincidentally, small businesses and citizens' sense of responsibility towards their neighbors are thriving.
 
When we visit the us the place we go has self check out in the neighborhood market and home depot. I like it a lot.

Where we live in mexico there will never be self check out. Even sensodyne toothpaste is in a lock box they have to open up front. Either everything has security tape so it cannot be opened, lock boxes or if it's hanging a lock wehere someone has to get it off. Otherwise the stores would be empty in a day.
 
troop231 said:
Fail. The point of a self-checkout is to get through faster and avoid the lines. If you have cases of soda or water, you cannot fit the damn things on the scale, and if you can, you have to remove the previous bags. And due to this, you need to get approval for all of the scenarios.
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Designed for people with a few items. Not a cart full of groceries and toys.
 
Orange Crane said:
It's also dumb to put money that you earned into corporations that move that money out of your community and out of the country as quickly as possible. Duh. Why put resources back into your community? Because investment is always better than waste.
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If you were correct in your thinking, places like Hong Kong, the US, and Singapore would be dirt poor, while places like Cuba and North Korea would be heaven on earth. The US and other wealthy places around the world are that way PRECISELY because they trade.

Comparative advantage... how does it work?
 
Finally!
Now i don't have to drink sodas in the store or try to sneak some pens in my underwear. Or eat some candy while nobody watches.
:)
 
troop231 said:
No... the quantity isn't the issue, it's the size of the items. They should only need to approve it one time when you hit do not bag item, not for every additional time. They have cameras all over the damn place anyways.
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I never had a problem with a case of water and a case of cola at the self check out. I've never seem a person have this problem either. This is not to say it does not happen occasionally.

What I do see all the time are people making large order in the self checkout taking an hour. The posters claim was for the above scenarios not for which you said fail. If you are to stupid or have to many items, don't use self checkout.
 
cfedu said:
I never had a problem with a case of water and a case of cola at the self check out. I've never seem a person have this problem either. This is not to say it does not happen occasionally.

What I do see all the time are people making large order in the self checkout taking an hour. The posters claim was for the above scenarios not for which you said fail. If you are to stupid or have to many items, don't use self checkout.
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It wouldn't take an hour if the software was better.
 
I agree that wal-mart stores vary by region; My favorite nearby one almost never has a line! I thought I was in the Twilight zone the first time I went there.

I've seen some really crappy Wal-marts too, recently I stopped by one that had lines so long that they were going along the aisle instead of just across it! This rule also applies to Targets; some are fantastic, and some are nightmares.
 
troop231 said:
It wouldn't take an hour if the software was better.
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I thought you said it was the hardware that was the problem. Now it's the software?

With 25 items or less it is a viable option, if you have 150 items and 150 coupons it does not take rocket science to figure out there may be a problem.
 
Orange Crane said:
It's also dumb to put money that you earned into corporations that move that money out of your community and out of the country as quickly as possible. Duh. Why put resources back into your community? Because investment is always better than waste.
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Put it back into my community? So by not shopping at Albertsons for my paper towels I'm robbing my community? Please. This is the real world. I have two children and a limited income. I'm not going to over-spend to "help my community", and be left without enough money to buy diapers at the end of the month. Yeah, it's a vicious cycle. I didn't create it, I'm just playing the cards I was dealt. I don't have the luxury to "think about the greater good". I need to provide as best I can for my three dependants and create a savings so my children can go to college. The plan you propose would leave my kids without food, diapers, and college fund.
 
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Small White Car said:
RFID tags.

If I scan a bag of OREOs but send a box of Captain Crunch down the conveyor belt it stops and sends it back.

Computers know everything these days.

Based on the comments it sounds like some other stores use scales, but I'm certain mine uses RFID since it does this on a conveyor belt and I don't see how it could weigh stuff while it's moving.
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The problem with this thread is that it's about WalMart. People automatically assume (wrongly) that the only people that shop there are herp-derp and shoplifters. I don't doubt that this may increase shoplifting a little. But it's all going to be calculated loss. They are likely saving more money by moving larger volumes of shoppers, paying fewer checkers, etc.
 
At Sam's Club (Walmart's sister store), when you leave, hand your receipt to a clerk who matches your receipt with the items in your cart. This actually adds in an extra step where you'll be a special exit to pay and most likely have your items matched.
 
cfedu said:
I thought you said it was the hardware that was the problem. Now it's the software?

With 25 items or less it is a viable option, if you have 150 items and 150 coupons it does not take rocket science to figure out there may be a problem.
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JGowan said:
At Sam's Club (Walmart's sister store), when you leave, hand your receipt to a clerk who matches your receipt with the items in your cart. This actually adds in an extra step where you'll be a special exit to pay and most likely have your items matched.
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Really it can be both, but Sam's Club's implementation of the self-checkout is amazing (We have it locally, but some stores may not yet). You leave everything in your cart, and pick up a wireless bar code scanner, and scan everything, then you pay and let the person at the door check over the receipt as you leave.
 
How does this work for produce where your're paying by weight? Whenever I use self checkout it always gets hung up on items where it has to check the weight.
 
NathanMuir said:
How many of those people can afford iPhones in the first place though?

I have no doubts that if such a system is put into place that theft/ shoplifting/ 'I-thought-I-paid-for-it's' will increase exponentially and cause problems. But given Wal-Marts clientele, I think a majority will be 'iPhoned' out from the get go.
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They can just go to electronics and steal an iPhone first.
 
Lark.Landon said:
Put it back into my community? So by not shopping at Albertsons for my paper towels I'm robbing my community? Please. This is the real world. I have two children and a limited income. I'm not going to over-spend to "help my community", and be left without enough money to buy diapers at the end of the month. Yeah, it's a vicious cycle. I didn't create it, I'm just playing the cards I was dealt. I don't have the luxury to "think about the greater good". I need to provide as best I can for my three dependants and create a savings so my children can go to college. The plan you propose would leave my kids without food, diapers, and college fund.
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All due respect, "just playing the cards" you were dealt is the exact mentality that results in a civilizations demise. The economy and overall world is suffering by this very nature. If you don't vote with your dollars, you will lose more in the end. It's this short sighted thinking that has created an imbalance, causing a larger rift between the "have's" and "have not's". If we collectively worked to spend our dollars wisely would make a difference; yet this fatalist mentality is causing more harm than good.

It is very unlikely that not-shopping at Walmart will inevitably result in such dramatic repercussions as losing college funds, allowances for diapers, and other such extreme examples. There are plenty of non-mass corporate alternatives in providing for one's self and family; they may require a little more time and effort to initially work towards, however that initial blood, sweat and tears is always necessary for monumental revolutions (revolutions can't exist with defeatism). Otherwise, the vicious cycle is never broken and the status quo remains.
 
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