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7-Eleven Tests Cashier-Free Shopping In 14 Stores (techspot.com)
7-Eleven is testing cashier-less shopping systems, similar to Amazon's "Go" stores that use an array of cameras and machine-learning technology to determine what customers are buying. According to TechSpot, "customers can simply pick up select items, scan the barcode, pay through their phone, and leave; there is no need to wait in line or even speak to another human being." From the report: As previously stated, this is just a test right now. There's no guarantee that 7-Eleven will actually ditch its cashiers anytime soon; particularly not while it continues to serve age-restricted beverages and drugs. For now, this scan-and-go system is purely serving as an augmentation to its current way of handling customers. Furthermore, there's a catch: customers who want to use the new shopping method will need to have 7-Eleven's rewards app.
there is no need to wait in line or even speak to another human being.
Having worked at 7-Eleven for four months, I can attest that most customers don't think we're human beings. Or at least that awareness is not terribly high on their priorities.
The job has its perks though, I can casually ignore customers after the 10 seconds it takes to complete the transaction. Third shift has its drama, but it also has a long peaceful period after the midnight drunks are gone and some generally nice people in the A.M. Money-wise it sucks, but you can get a lot of O.T. taking the third shift and covering for other shifts once in a while, nobody wants to cover for third shifters but first and second need to be covered all the time.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Not only does it appear 711's in Japan started doing this about 1.5 years ago but they don't require you to scan anything. They have a camera and it just calculates everything it identifies in the basket.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/04/18/business/tech/japan-introduce-self-checkout-system-convenience-stores-reads-items/