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Amazon Robots Poised To Revamp How Whole Foods Runs Warehouses (bloomberg.com)
After Amazon announced it would buy Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion earlier this month, John Mackey, Whole Foods' chief executive officer, rejoiced and reportedly gushed about Amazon's technological innovation. "We will be joining a company that's visionary," Mackey said. "I think we're gonna get a lot of those innovations in our stores. I think we're gonna see a lot of technology. I think you're gonna see Whole Foods Market evolve in leaps and bounds." Specifically, Mackey is talking about the thousands of delivery robots Amazon uses in its facilities. Bloomberg reports: In negotiations, Amazon spent a lot of time analyzing Whole Foods' distribution technology, pointing to a possible way in which the company sees the most immediate opportunities to reduce costs, said a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the issue was private. Experts say the most immediate changes would likely be in warehouses that customers never see. That suggests the jobs that could be affected the earliest would be in the warehouses, where products from suppliers await transport to store shelves, said Gary Hawkins, CEO of the Center for Advancing Retail and Technology, a Los Angeles nonprofit that helps retailers and brands innovate. As Amazon looks to automate distribution, cashiers will be safe -- for now. Amazon sees automation as a key strategic advantage in its overall grocery strategy, according to company documents reviewed by Bloomberg before the Whole Foods acquisition was announced. Whole Foods has 11 distribution centers specializing in perishable foods that serve its stores. It also has seafood processing plants, kitchens and bakeries that supply prepared food to each location. Those are the places where Amazon could initially focus, according to experts. While the company said it has no current plans to automate the jobs of cashiers in Whole Foods stores after it finishes acquiring the grocery chain, it's likely only a matter of time before cashier positions become automated. According to Bloomberg's report, Amazon may bring the robots to the stores after automating Whole Foods' warehouses. "The first ones will likely navigate aisles to check inventory and alert employees when items run low, said Austin Bohlig, an advisor at Loup Ventures, which invests in robotics startups," reports Bloomberg.
According to Bloomberg's report, Amazon may bring the robots to the stores after automating Whole Foods' warehouses. "The first ones will likely navigate aisles to check inventory and alert employees when items run low,
This makes no sense at all. Seriously? Robots large enough to see the top shelves just wandering up and down aisles, getting in the way of and creeping out customers, just so they can inform employees that items are running low? What the hell happened to things like RFID technology keeping track of store inventory in real time, which would accomplish the same thing without getting in the way? Or just build the smarts into the shelving if you really think this is so damned important! Who on earth thinks this is a good idea?
said Austin Bohlig, an advisor at Loup Ventures, which invests in robotics startups,"
Ah, of course.
That seems ridiculous. It would be diametrically the opposite of the Whole Foods brand.
Mini bars in hotels have been able to check stock levels for many years. RFID tags, sensors in shelves and, perhaps cameras could all check stock status easily without intrusive robots wandering the aisles.
It's not like modern grocery stores don't already have stock information simply by deducting sales and wastage from the existing stock level, so even the above adds little value to the existing marketplace. Warehouse efficiency is one thing, but Amazon isn't going to transform the retail side by knowing someone took a bottle of olive oil from the shelf five minutes before a competitor would learn the same thing at the checkout.
Looking through their twitter feed, they don't seem to have any idea either. Seems their phone/e-mail went down, and now the waiting begins.
There is no XUL, only WebExtensions...
Having robots do inventory in the store shows a lack of experience in retail. For some stores this may work, but Whole Foods is a place where there is a diverse inventory.
They are talking about inventory management at the distribution level, not keeping the individual stores stocked. No one would see any robots if the first phase of automation matches what is described in this article. Also, are you really saying Whole Foods has a more diverse inventory than Amazon? That is quite a laughable assertion.
Customer service knowing where things are makes a big difference in sales and customer experience. The best way to know where things are is to query the people who stock. Having cashiers and floor employees participate in stocking is beneficial.
Whole Foods customers like their iPhones just as much as the rest of us (probably more), and a phone app which knows the exact location of every object, including recommendations of alternatives or complementary items, would almost certainly be a better experience than finding someone who stocks the shelves.
-- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
You still might want a robot going around and scanning shelves just to locate items that are out of place. People spot something that they'd prefer to have and swap it with another item in the cart instead of taking the first back to where it actually belongs, or a parent removes something that little Johnny decided to sneak into the cart and has no idea where it belongs. There's also inventory shrinkage through theft that isn't going to be accounted for at the register as you point out, but that's not going to occur frequently enough to be a problem, but the same result through entirely legitimate means if you have a popular product fly off the shelves, but customers have other items to purchase and haven't reached the check-out line yet. If you have limited shelf-space, it might be good to know as soon as possible that stock is out or quickly approaching that point.
At some point, the robots will be good enough to do the restocking anyways so you might as well program them to scan for other items that are going to need restocking while they're en-route to a particular aisle or returning.
Folks, we're doomed. This is just a start.
It is quite depressing when people foresee a world where very few people need to work and they reaction is "we're doomed."
I look forward to a day where people find self worth in being a a great amateur baseball player, skier, bridge player, gardener, etc. instead of getting it from their job. Perhaps a world where the average person works 5-10 years out of their life and then spends the rest in leisure. A select few work much more but live in extreme luxury. Doesn't sound all that bad.
-- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
Retail needs to track shrinkage, aka theft by staff or customers. Other benefits such as more real-time tracking of stock levels are possible, but I would think they would do all that via RFID...
... but there's not one goddam piece of wisdom here, including from me.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
A combination of Alexa and one of these takes care of both of those.
"Ok Google" already knows when I'm in Lowe's and Home Depot, and when I look up a product, they tell me not only the availability in the store I'm in, but the shelf location it is at. Part of that is the Home Depot and Lowe's websites wanting to know my location -- which is very useful.
RFID tags on all products will allow you to check out just by pushing your cart thru the lane -- like driving thru a toll booth with an EZ Pass (or equivalent). It could speed up checkout by a great deal.
If enough people want their shopping to be a social experience, then there is a market for that and it'll happen. I don't expect my local farmer's markets to wholly automate anytime soon.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
I don't think the best use of robots at a supermarket is in taking over individual jobs that humans do at supermarkets. The robots can make a major change to shopping. I'm starting to like the idea of services like Blue Apron, where one can get all of the ingredients to prepare a meal in one package (essentially). Imagine if when you went shopping at the supermarket, you submitted your order, not as a list of items to buy, but as a series of meals you want to prepare. Then, robots at the store "pick" and package the ingredients that you want for a meal together, and you just pick up your set of packages, one (or a small number) of packages per meal, all measured/portioned out for you. If you were able to order on-line, it could all be ready for you when you swing by the store. The nature of the store would change dramatically. If Amazon does something like this with Whole Foods, I might start shopping at Whole Foods...