[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4Cast #603: The future of retail doesn't include cashiers

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OPLIN 4Cast #603: The future of retail doesn't include cashiers
July 18th, 2018

[image: Cashier] In 2006, a commercial from IBM
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eob532iEpqk> made waves (and actually is
stuck in my memory over a decade later) because it depicted a man seemingly
shoplifting numerous items from a grocery store, only for the viewer to
discover that he wasn't shoplifting at all. As he leaves the store without
appearing to pay, an employee stops him: not to accuse him of stealing, but
rather to hand him his receipt.  IBM then proudly proclaims that stores
without cashiers are the "future of e-business."

Fast-forward twelve years, and that technology is not only here, but
beginning to expand.  Sadly for IBM, it's not at the forefront of
cashierless checkout. Amazon was the first to open a store without checkout
lines, but it certainly isn't going to be the last, or even necessarily the
biggest. As this technology expands to the retail giants, how long until
it's in use at small businesses...or in libraries?

   -
   - Microsoft tech may help Walmart get rid of cashiers and checkout lines
   <https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/06/microsoft-tech-may-help-walmart-get-rid-of-cashiers-and-checkout-lines/>
   [Ars Technica] "Microsoft's store tech is designed to help retailers 'keep
   pace' with Amazon as the online shopping giant dabbles more in
   brick-and-mortar endeavors. Specifically, retailers who may use Microsoft's
   technology could better compete with Amazon Go, the company's cashierless
   convenience store. "
   - Between Walmart and Kroger, 500 stores are about to ditch cashiers
   <https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/09/between-walmart-and-kroger-500-stores-are-about-to-ditch-cashiers.html>[CNBC]
   "Kroger's recently introduced platform, known as 'Scan, Bag, Go,' will roll
   out to 400 of the grocery chain's stores later this year. That will put the
   company ahead of Walmart, which anticipates having its "Scan & Go" service
   at fewer than 200 stores by the end of 2018."
   - End of the checkout line: the looming crisis for American cashiers
   <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/aug/16/retail-industry-cashier-jobs-technology-unemployment>
   [The Guardian] "Another report, by McKinsey, suggests that a new generation
   of high tech grocery stores that automatically charge customers for the
   goods they take – no check-out required – and use robots for inventory and
   stocking could reduce the number of labor hours needed by nearly
   two-thirds. It all translates into millions of Americans’ jobs under
   threat."
   - I Tried Shoplifting in a Store without Cashiers and Here’s What
   Happened
   <https://www.technologyreview.com/s/608765/i-tried-shoplifting-in-a-store-without-cashiers-and-heres-what-happened/>
   [MIT Technology Review] "The company trains its deep neural networks to
   recognize items in the store, too, in a process that takes about two
   minutes per item and consists of an employee grabbing the item and doing
   things like turning it over, putting it behind their back, and placing it
   in a basket in view of the cameras."

*From the Ohio Web Library <http://ohioweblibrary.org>:*

   - Has Grocery's Future Already Passed 'Go'? AMAZON'S CASHIERLESS CONCEPT
   IS INNOVATIVE, BUT ALIBABA'S HEMA STORES MAY SHOW GROCERY'S TRUE POTENTIAL
   <http://proxy.ohiolink.edu:9099/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=128314419&site=ehost-live>
   (Hofbauer, R. (2018). Has Grocery's Future Already Passed 'Go'? AMAZON'S
   CASHIERLESS CONCEPT IS INNOVATIVE, BUT ALIBABA'S HEMA STORES MAY SHOW
   GROCERY'S TRUE POTENTIAL. *Progressive Grocer*, *97*(3), 72-74.)
   - The Cashierless Convenience Store: Fad or Future?
   <http://proxy.ohiolink.edu:9099/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=129035386&site=ehost-live>
   (Mastroberte, T. (2018). The Cashierless Convenience Store: Fad or
Future?. *Convenience
   Store News*, *54*(4), 61-63.)
   - CASHIERLESS CONVENIENCE
   <http://proxy.oplin.org:2054/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=9X9BULNEWSMMGLSTRY000359293878&site=ehost-live>
   (2018, February 6. CASHIERLESS CONVENIENCE. *Townsville Bulletin*. p.
   23.)

------------------------------
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