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With retail theft killing the profit margins in retail, could not the average store be repurposed into a giant vending machine for the easy to steal products and this could include supermarkets. This could even bring a level of efficiency that could even lower costs for the consumer by taking less labor, land and resources of all types. This would present a whole range of opportunities for the tech sector for years to come. Any thoughts, extensions or comments appreciated. The land, utilities and labor costs on both the back and front end could be reduced dramatically and allow shopping from home with pick up or delivery.
I certainly hope not. Most of our purchases are via Amazon anyway. We still grocery shop live (self checkouts) since I have not seen the theft problem retail has but the parking lots are treacherous. Let's face it, the cost of living/surviving is just too high in the US. Some people need to steal to eat. Others live on the streets to eat. Others just give up. Birth rates are down and suicide rates are up. I was sailing under the bridge and saw someone jump 100 yards from by boat. It was horrific. Thankfully they finally put a steel mesh net under the Golden Gate Bridge due to the high jumping traffic. Now if you jump you break some bones but people still do it then crawl out of the mesh into the water. Crazy.
I do think security/safety in all regards will boom with electronics leading the way. Cameras are everywhere. License plate and face readers, sound as well. Big (AI) brother is getting bigger by the day. But what other choice do we have? Thankfully we have semiconductors in our lives! Makes me proud of my hard work over the last 40 years, absolutely.
I certainly hope not. Most of our purchases are via Amazon anyway. We still grocery shop live (self checkouts) since I have not seen the theft problem retail has but the parking lots are treacherous. Let's face it, the cost of living/surviving is just too high in the US. Some people need to steal to eat. Others live on the streets to eat. Others just give up. Birth rates are down and suicide rates are up. I was sailing under the bridge and saw someone jump 100 yards from by boat. It was horrific. Thankfully they finally put a steel mesh net under the Golden Gate Bridge due to the high jumping traffic. Now if you jump you break some bones but people still do it then crawl out of the mesh into the water. Crazy.
I do think security/safety in all regards will boom with electronics leading the way. Cameras are everywhere. License plate and face readers, sound as well. Big (AI) brother is getting bigger by the day. But what other choice do we have? Thankfully we have semiconductors in our lives! Makes me proud of my hard work over the last 40 years, absolutely.
Dan, a more efficient economy creates more opportunities than it destroys and allocates resources to their most efficient uses. Inefficiency hurts everyone, just look at the inefficient economies abroad, the more inefficient and ineffective an economy the lower the living standards. Good, effective byte size educational structures are needed at the bottom to help people become independent and at the top to keep up. This type of education/training is critical to helping everyone and tech is the best, most cost effective way of getting there. Compared to most countries on earth, the US is far ahead of the game, but no system is perfect. Waste, inefficiency and crime help no one.
With retail theft killing the profit margins in retail, could not the average store be repurposed into a giant vending machine for the easy to steal products and this could include supermarkets. This could even bring a level of efficiency that could even lower costs for the consumer by taking less labor, land and resources of all types. This would present a whole range of opportunities for the tech sector for years to come. Any thoughts, extensions or comments appreciated. The land, utilities and labor costs on both the back and front end could be reduced dramatically and allow shopping from home with pick up or delivery.
That is warehouse automation, not something I can see replacing a conventional local Walmart or Target store. If everyone orders everything from Amazon, of course there will be no local stores.
Not correct, IMO. In the US, shoplifting, or external theft as it's technically referred to in the retail industry, is calculated to be 36% of total inventory "shrinkage". Total retail shrinkage in 2022 was $122.1B, so shoplifting cost the retail industry about $44B in that year alone. That seems like a real problem to me.
That is warehouse automation, not something I can see replacing a conventional local Walmart or Target store. If everyone orders everything from Amazon, of course there will be no local stores.
This is not typical warehouse automation, these systems are deployed in stores, not at distribution centres. You order off the app and your stuff comes out from a hole in the side of the building. Just like a vending machine. The goal is to turn the store into a vending machine for fungible goods but you’d still buy non fungibles in store.
Yeah, totally different thing. Walmart aquired the company that is developing this technology just last year and is rolling it out to several hundred stores over the next several years. This technology is actually the replacement for these pickup towers, since it changes how stuff will be picked up from the store.
The main driver isn't so much theft as it is ecommerce. When you order something online for delivery you have human pickers running around stores picking up items and it's wildly inefficient. It costs around $15 to fullfill, not including delivery. So instead, walmart is taking it's inventory and putting it in this system, that operates a lot like a giant vending machine, and can bring down the fullfillment cost drastically. Theft reduction and better inventory management are also major benefits but not the primary benefit.
It's different from warehouse automation because these systems are deployed at the store level, but over time they are expected to replace stores entirely.
