
Amazon's latest grocery store concept opens, with high-tech carts - awb
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-store/amazons-latest-grocery-store-concept-opens-with-high-tech-carts-idUSKBN25N0QF
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mcrae
As great as its image, in my view Whole Foods just isn't that great of a
grocery store.

They were out of ground pork the other day and the staff at the butcher
counter insisted they weren't allowed to grind more pork, despite it being on
display. Bizarre.

They are regularly out of things just beyond the norm, like polenta.

Seems less like a grocery store for normal people and more of a spot for
yuppies to buy $8 kombucha or whatever. Blows my mind.

Why can't we have HEB in California?

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neuralRiot
I don’t buy kombucha but I’m vegan and since Amazon bought it the quality and
diversity of the products i used to get has gone down, luckily local
supermarket chains seem to have noticed and started to get more variety of
those products since.

~~~
jasonv
I like Whole Foods but a good number of the vegan products I buy are available
cheaper at Target now, esp frozen. So I make the rounds... Safeway, Sprouts, a
local gourmet shop, etc.

I don’t like what Amazon has done to the selection, and they seem out of
things more often these days. Guessing it’s a mix of supply chain issues and
contractual sourcing pressure that keeps some products out of stock because
Amazon is very selective on product mix, pricing and delivery volumes. When
you ask in the stores, they never seem to know. Peculiarly, they’ve been out
of dry chickpeas a lot, recently.

The stores can be very different from location to location. The Park City
store looks nice but is horrible. Sedona, Reno and Lafayette are great, IMO.
Etc.

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dsundstrom
Awesome article about "high-tech carts"... with no picture of the cart

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chiph
[https://www.amazon.com/b?node=21289116011](https://www.amazon.com/b?node=21289116011)

You sign in by holding your phone with the Amazon app (QR code) up to a
camera. Then scan every item as you place it in the cart. It has some load
sensors so that it can weigh items that are sold by weight.

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darth_avocado
Looks like making them pay a $15 minimum wage only expedited their constant
desire to remove people from the equation.

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aqme28
They were making these moves regardless. Do you have any data that says that a
higher minimum wage expedited it?

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switch11
Do you have any data that says it did not?

In general, it's important to figure out this question because

A) People who believe there should be a higher minimum wage tend to believe it
has zero impact on businesses' likelihood of cutting jobs

WHEREAS

B) People who believe there should be a free market tend to believe that
having a minimum wage reduces jobs

I've never seen either party show Good Data and Stats to prove their point

 __*

So if you're asking him for data (a good question), you should also be willing
to show data

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aqme28
He made a positive claim, so the onus is on him to prove it's true. The burden
of proof isn't symmetrical. It is much harder to prove a negative.

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vondur
There is a rumor that one of these markets is opening soon near where I live.
I’d love to shop and not wait in a line. I’ve been enjoying the Aldi’s that’s
near me. Fast lines and good prices. They are pretty good keeping things in
stock too.

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fcatus
well, at least they're not making customers work for them like in the "self-
checkout" stations that most of grocery stores have adapted to.

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wallacoloo
If the part of shopping where I transfer my goods from my cart into my bag is
“work”, then ought the part where I transfer goods from the shelf into my cart
also be considered work?

IOW haven’t grocers been making the customer work for them ever since the
creation of the supermarket —— long before self-checkout —— based on your
definition of work?

~~~
contingencies
This is true. However, don't forget subscribing to the rest of the automobile
culture: license, car, registration, driving to the store, parking, tickets,
fuel, etc. These are really costs born by the consumer. Now they are also
asking you to bring your own bags, pack your own bags, subscribe as a member
to "save" (be monitored), and in some cases shop in specific hours to avoid
the elderly due to COVID.

One of the most interesting things about living outside of western societies
has been wet markets with zero accessibility for cars but great accessibility
for walking, cycling and motorbikes. They are much friendlier and tend to have
more stores with the same produce but different supply chains, which leads to
more competition, greater variety and friendly personal service.

