Amazon’s “Smart Stores” EXPOSED – 1000 Indians Were Watching You The Whole Time

Do you recall Amazon bragging about their new high tech store?

You just walk in, grab what you want and walk out like you’re a looter in New York or San Francisco.

Only, you’re automatically charged by the Just Walk Out technology.

Neato!

What could go wrong?

Who needs the human touch anyway?

Robots are the way forward! (Don’t watch Terminator 2. It’s anti-robot propaganda).

Well, it looks like Amazon was lying.

What a surprise!

Did you get an odd feeling on the back of your neck while you read that granola bar label?

That was probably caused by the nearly 1,000 people in India watching you.

Amazon slows "walk-out" grocery store ambitions after it turns out their high-tech system was just a thousand dudes in India watching cameras. Story below: pic.twitter.com/GoSxqfI3Y4

— Niche Gamer (@nichegamer) April 5, 2024

CNN reports:

When Amazon debuted cashier-less technology, it was hailed as the future of retail. But now, Amazon is walking back its “Just Walk Out” technology at its grocery stores, reining in grand promises of an automated, friction-less checkout.

Amazon said it is removing the technology at US Amazon Fresh grocery stores which allows customers to pay for their groceries without waiting in line for a cashier or using a self-checkout machine. Instead, Amazon said it’s replacing it with Dash Cart at its more than 40 locations, a “smart shopping cart” which allows shoppers to scan groceries, link to online shopping lists and check out their groceries. The company has been testing Dash Carts at some Fresh and Whole Foods locations in the past.

Customers just haven’t bought into cashier-less technology, especially in grocery stores where they purchase larger quantities and face extra tasks such as weighing produce. Amazon says the checkout technology may be more seamless in smaller stores – that could include the Amazon Go convenience stores.

In a statement, Amazon said it will continue using the Just Walk Out technology in Amazon Go stores, at smaller format Fresh stores in the UK, and third-party locations such as certain sports stadiums and college campuses. Amazon had used roughly 1,000 humans in India, according to some news reports, to help monitor accurate checkouts. The company told CNN it’s “reducing the number of human reviews” while developing the “Just Walk Out” technology. Amazon said besides data associates’ main role in working on the underlying technology, they also “validate a small minority” of shopping visits.

Customers entered Fresh stores using Amazon One palm recognition, the app or a credit or debit card. Amazon said “sensors, cameras, and deep learning tools” caught what customers took off the shelf, automatically charging them.

Amazon says it is also installing self-checkout kiosks and assisted checkout options at Fresh locations once they’ve transitioned to using Dash Cart.

Retailers from Dollar General to Walmart and Costco are rethinking the reliance on self-checkout, as they find it leads to higher merchandise losses from customer mistakes and shoplifting.

The tech giant opened its first Amazon Fresh store in 2020, and has more than 40 locations across the US. After Amazon bought Whole Foods in 2017, it added cashier-less checkout in those stores as well.

In 2021, Amazon eliminated checkout lines in a full-sized, 25,000-square-foot Amazon fresh store in Washington state, and announced it was ramping up openings of the stores. But Amazon Fresh has faced setbacks since it debuted, including challenges getting shoppers to buy groceries in its Amazon Fresh grocery stores, and it laid off workers.

1. Amazon is discontinuing its “Just Walk Out” system, which allows shoppers to scan a QR code upon entry, take items from shelves and leave the store.

This system relied on more than 1,000 people in India watching and labelling videos via cameras to ensure accurate checkouts. pic.twitter.com/taoKvvAZE0

— BFM News (@NewsBFM) April 3, 2024

Now that’s a company we should buy from and trust with out credit cards and transactions, right?

Hmm, maybe not.

Looks like this lie has been 12 years in the making, since 2012.

Imagine that. Planning deceit for over a decade.

And that’s just 1 thing that’s been exposed.

What else are they not telling us?

Or is this the only thing they decided to lie about? They’re 99.999% honest otherwise, right?

I doubt it.

This video went viral with 17M views, now has it’s comments off. I wonder why?

Looks like they’ve got another plan up their sleeves though.

Self-Scanning Carts.

“Don’t worry. You can trust us this time, honest.”

But can you?

By the way, I was kidding about not watching Terminator 2.