Two Ex-Googlers Want To Make Bodegas And Mom-And-Pop Corner Stores Obsolete (fastcompany.com)

Elizabeth Segran, writing for FastCompany: While it sometimes feels like we do all of our shopping on the internet, government data shows that actually less than 10% of all retail transactions happen online. In a world where we get our groceries delivered in just two hours through Instacart or Amazon Fresh, the humble corner store -- or bodega, as they are known in New York and Los Angeles -- still performs a valuable function. No matter how organized you are, you're bound to run out of milk or diapers in the middle of the night and need to make a quick visit to your neighborhood retailer. Paul McDonald, who spent 13 years as a product manager at Google, wants to make this corner store a thing of the past. Today, he is launching a new concept called Bodega with his cofounder Ashwath Rajan, another Google veteran. Bodega sets up five-foot-wide pantry boxes filled with non-perishable items you might pick up at a convenience store. An app will allow you to unlock the box and cameras powered with computer vision will register what you've picked up, automatically charging your credit card. The entire process happens without a person actually manning the "store." Bodega's logo is a cat, a nod to the popular bodega cat meme on social media -- although if the duo gets their way, real felines won't have brick-and-mortar shops to saunter around and take naps in much longer. "The vision here is much bigger than the box itself," McDonald says. "Eventually, centralized shopping locations won't be necessary, because there will be 100,000 Bodegas spread out, with one always 100 feet away from you."

Comments

what about stuff by law can't be self checkout

[Joe_Dragon]

what about stuff by law can't be self checkout like beer and smokes? also WIC and food stamps?

Re:what about stuff by law can't be self checkout

[Kierthos]

Exactly. This is one of those ideas that "looks good on paper" and is certainly designed to attract venture capitalists, but will really fall flat for a number of reasons.

As you mentioned, they won't be able to sell any forms of alcohol or tobacco through these cabinets. They also probably won't be able to sell any types of lottery tickets.

They almost certainly won't have any sort of products that require freezing or refrigeration, as that significantly ups the power requirements and size of the unit.

Forget any fresh produce, or anything with a very limited shelf life. Or freshly made sandwiches.

So, already they're not replacing a lot of things that people go to bodegas for.

Now, and it's possible they've already thought about this, but what's their "return" policy? You see, at an actual bodega (or any store, for that matter), I could be shopping, and put something in my cart, and then decide "Nah, I really don't need this." and put it back on the shelf.

What happens when you do that here? Do you confirm your purchases? What do they have in place for loss prevention (i.e. the five-finger discount)?

What do they have in place for if someone accidentally knocks something off the shelf when reaching in for something else? Are you charged for that?

What do they have in place for requesting products that aren't in the cabinet at all? How easily can that be manipulated to, say, have every cabinet stock up on products that won't sell, because someone decided to troll their request service? (Even assuming that they have something like that set up.)

Re:what about stuff by law can't be self checkout

[Hognoxious]

What if someone takes a dump in the box?

Re:OMFG!

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, so if the closest "bodega" doesn't have what you're looking for, I'm sure the app will tell you the closest one is 15 blocks away. This will flop. People want to go into a store and talk to someone. I love my dirty, shitty little hole in the wall convenience stores (we don't call them bodegas on the West coast). They also keep a lot of people employed across the nation. This will eliminate a ton of jobs, make a couple people very rich and only create a few new jobs for those who are stocking the machines, that is until the automate that too.

Nice idea, but it won't get very far. Look at Japan, they have vending machines for all kinds of shit, but they still have the cramped shitty little bodega type shops too. The stores manned by a person are not going away anytime soon.

not as good

[Comboman]

A vending machine is considerably more complex with a higher level of automation. This is just a hotel minibar.

Re:OMFG!

[Darinbob]

The corner stores I've ever lived near were generally avoided and always overpriced. The 7-Eleven/Quickie Mart model isn't that great. If you run out of milk then normally you wait and buy it later when you go to a real grocery store. The cramped micro stores that you see in a street corner in San Francisco for example, I've always wondered who really goes there, that can't really be the main grocery store for people, it's just junk food and cigarettes and booze.

Now to be fair, I do pick up stuff at a local drug store. I know I'm paying a bit more than the grocery store, but the closed down the closest grocery store, the Mi Pueblo grocery store has that smell of raw meat the moment you go inside, and the closest real grocery stores I go to are crowded.

I wouldn't mind seeing a medium sized food outlet, European style. They opened a few recently but some had difficulty and they aren't expanding. I noticed Target has a grocery section of just the right size i'm thinking of, with veggies and dairy, and it even carries Tim-Tams, so it's clearly filling a need.

Re:What a dumb idea

[denbesten]

... I find it disturbing when I walk into a bank and the teller greets me by name, and I'm disappointed when the Jamba Juice employee remembers me and I don't have to tell them my name ...

That is EXACTLY what I like about living in small-town America.