in the future will there be stores where you dont have to pay?

Question

i herd that in the future there will be stores where you can stuff your pockets with stuff, or what ever you have with you then walk out the store without paying and you get billed with what you have with you its like they moniter what you take, then bill you once you walk out the store, that way you dont have to wait in line... i was woudering if it will happen if i can get more inforamation somewhere

Answer 1

Wal-Mart was working on something like that. I was at a conference and there was a speaker from Wal-Mart there. The idea was that each product would have a small radio sensitive tag on it. The doors would have sensors that detected when these tags went thru. That would work in conjunction with a card you carried in your pocket. The store would charge the items to your credit card or bank account.

When they were talking about this (April 2003), the cost of the tags for the products was too much. Like 25 cents apiece. Imagine if every product in Wal-Mart were to become 25 cents more expensive. They were predicting that the cost would come down in time and that this concept would be tested.

I am not sure if they are still planning on doing it. Many privacy groups have complained that these tags are still active after they leave the store. They claimed that it is possible for them to be used to "snoop" on people and see what kind of items they have in their houses. I am not sure if that is true, but it was enough to concern some people.

I would not be suprised if this is used one day. It would save the company money and simplify a lot of shopping.

Answer 2

Don't worry about leaving your wallet home anytime soon.

First they will have to put computer chips into each of us.

Around the time that becomes a possibility you wont have to get a pay check, or a social programs check, or a retirement check everything will be tied to our identification (Whether it is computer chips under our skin, finger prints and retinal scans or some other method). That is the day in which Big Brother, will start to remove individuality from life.

Answer 3

This is where retailing is heading. Product and customer with no interference from expensive employees. Think robotics first, as robot technology develops it will lead to stores that are monitored from remote sites.

If you would like more infomation. Look at anything having to do with CRM Customer Relationship Management. This is the sector that will move retailers in that direction. First they have to have a much better understand of customer behavior. Know what customers want and how to shape their businesses to theri customers wants, needs and desires.

Answer 4

I think what you are talking about is where they have face recognition and tracking devices in the stores. I read about this somewhere as well but I don't remember where :(

Answer 5

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Hey - I thought that in the USA most people stuffed their pockets full of goods and walked out without paying!!!
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Answer 6

Then where would all the Wal-Mart workers work?