Free market innovation is allowing businesses to fend off the ferocious and obnoxious Fight for $15 crowd as technology continues to automate the low-skilled, low-paid worker.
The latest case is over at Amazon. The online retail giant is testing out a new grocery store called Amazon Go that will be available to the Seattle public early next year.
Using a new technology system called Just Walk Out, shoppers walk into a grocery store and scan their smartphone. Using sensors, computer vision and deep learning, the technology tracks what is being picked up and what is being returned to the shelf. These products are then added to a virtual shopping cart in real time. When the shoppers exit the store, their Amazon account is charged automatically.
The technology effectively eliminates checkout lines and human cashiers.
Amazon is running a pilot project to test its success. It is quite likely that it will be successful, and will almost certainly be adopted by other grocery stores around the world.
“Four years ago we asked ourselves: what if we could create a shopping experience with no lines and no checkout,” Amazon said in a video announcement. “Could we push the boundaries of computer vision and machine learning to create a store where customers could simply take what they want and go? Our answer to those questions is Amazon Go and Just Walk Out Shopping.”
The automated process is being amplified because of the movement across the United States and Canada to raise the minimum wage to $15. The unintended consequence of forcefully setting the minimum wage at an arbitrary number is these workers being replaced and phased out by the machines. Whether it’s at a fast-food restaurant, a grocery store or a hardware store, minimum wage workers demanding $15 are going to need to raise their human capital.
Here is the video:
Give free market innovation another point! Give minimum wage proponents zero.
If the store does not pass on the savings to the customer in much lower prices, I will not be using AMZ for groceries. How do I use manufacturer’s coupons??? You might get the younger generation to use this, but I know plenty of people over 60 that do not even own a smart phone.
I would rather pay a little more at ALDI, where my daughter in law works @ $18 per hour. Just like I do not use self checkout or Kiosk either, I am not going to kill jobs.
I won’t be using these kinds of automated stores either, as you can bet that the labor saving expenses will not be passed on to the consumer in the form of lower prices. Seriously, mechanization will needlessly put a lot of people out of work and only increase profits for the businesses that use this technology. It may be considered “efficient”, but at what cost? Thanks, but no thanks.