How is that better? It saves you from... pushing a cart?

Not to mention, until robots can handle every variety of produce and package, isn't the real life manifestation basically going to be a sixteen year old dashing about in a mirror-store hidden in the back, tracing your footsteps, picking up the things you scan, and putting them in a cart?

A few reasons:

1. Potential for less waste through 1) people not avoiding ugly produce, 2) not leaving refrigerated stuff on a non-refrigerated shelf, 3) leaving freezer doors open, 4) stealing things.

2. Less congestion in the browsing section.

3. Better stock tracking.

4. Easier stock management. You don't have to have people move stock between a warehouse and a shelf.

5. And yes, you don't have to push a cart.

There are significant drawbacks too. The biggest one I can think of is that the fulfillment mechanism doesn't actually exist.

you forgot "instant checkout"

I doubt you would get that. You still have to wait for fulfillment. I guess at least you probably wouldn't be in a line.

I think this is what culture shock feels like. I truly struggle to imagine a people for whom being relieved of the great burden of pushing a grocery cart is actually a significant pro. Do these people even cook food?

Wrt 3 & 4, when you've practically got two whole stores, one with stocked product and one with QR codes, you're not saving space or stock management. (You're not going to go straight from shipping boxes to customer's hands)

It's certainly a lot easier and faster to walk around a crowded grocery store without a cart than with one.

No idea why you are conflating the desire to push a shopping cars with the ability to cook food..

It seems like someone who finds grocery shopping an insufferable hassle is going to feel the same way about spending an hour or two cooking dinner.

Maybe it's true, and carts are a great burden on many people. I've just not seen it myself, so I'm a bit flabbergasted. Especially since children can ride in carts.

Cooking is enjoyable. Pushing card in a crowded store is not. You either feel annoyed that you're blocked by someone's, or feel awkward that yours is blocking others. From that perspective not having carts is beneficial to the store as well, since customers now can enjoy lingering in the store longer.

It allows a store to open where it might not have been profitable or possible. It saves you money by allowing the retailer to lower prices.

Imagine being able to open a Walmart Supercenter in the middle of, say, San Francisco(like that would ever happen but anyway). They'd never be able to afford the real estate for a traditional supercenter, but they might be able to afford a super-tower.

That's a good plan.

But since the store size is 35000 sq.ft., they'll surely do something beyond that. But what ?

And they're going to build a lot of these stores, fast. They must. Or else, Walmart.

EDIT: Why so much space?

Sometimes you need stuff from the grocery today. Other times you can order online. Sometimes you need both.

This stores will serve both roles.

I'm really struggling to imagine a world in which this is preferable. Produce is the obvious example but it's much easier to consider what all I'm purchasing and what else I need to get when I can just look in my cart at what I already have.

I mean the checkout experience might be a little better but there are so many additional variables that come into play. Like are things going to be bagged well? I walk to the grocery store so it's important to me to get a good weight distribution between bags.

Idk this just seems like a solution to a problem that doesn't really exist.

Until people put things in their bag/cart that they didn't scan the code for, and you're not going to RFID tag an entire grocery store inventory that already has razor thin margins.

Supposedly Amazon's machine-vision store is solving this though.

I don't think the parent comment means people putting things in the bag. They just walk with phone, scan the items they want to buy which get added to bag automatically by robot/someone else and customer just walks to the counter at the end to pick up their bag.

I see, my bad. Still, why even walk around empty aisles full of food pictures then?

It seems like a strange UI for something that could just happen in the app before you even get to the store. Seems like a waste of space too since everything will be itemized and stored in the back on shelves as well.

I understand that user behavior doesn't turn on a dime but Amazon customers are already used to ordering online.

I'm saying have items for display to allow for browsing. You don't need shelf space for 24 boxes of cereal - you keep them upstairs. The aisles can be narrower(no carts, shallower shelves) and you still have the experience of browsing and getting people to make impulse decisions. It's like a hybrid between browsing Amazon and being in a real store.

How is that different from buying groceries online with in-store pickup?