Re:I had to build a web scraper to buy groceries
by xzel on Saturday March 28, 2020 @10:24PM
(#22715855)
But unfortunately there are a limited number of per day delivery slots, so bots will own anything FIFO. They will monitor the page and be the first ones in. There also aren’t really fully standardized addresses per se, it’s actually kinda weird, but what’s stopping anyone using the apartment number next to them and receiving the delivery when notified?
Re:I had to build a web scraper to buy groceries
by gruez on Saturday March 28, 2020 @10:32PM
(#22715889)
>But unfortunately there are a limited number of per day delivery slots
I guess the idea is to put everyone in one queue, rather than having separate queues per day/slot. Presumably this isn't an issue since everyone's on lockdown anyways, so they're always available to accept a delivery.
Re:I had to build a web scraper to buy groceries
by reaperducer on Sunday March 29, 2020 @12:17AM
(#22716369)
I guess the idea is to put everyone in one queue, rather than having separate queues per day/slot.
And now you've just excluded all the doctors, nurses, police officers, firefighters, and their families from using the service.
Re:I had to build a web scraper to buy groceries
by squeaky-clean on Saturday March 28, 2020 @10:58PM
(#22715991)
But there are only so many delivery people. 1,000 delivery people simply cannot give 2,000 people their groceries within a 1 hour window. The timeslots manage when the deliveries occur. People also sleep at different times, and some essential employees are still working, so you can't simply deliver the groceries to everyone without a known time.
If I were setting this up for a grocery delivery platform, I would require the delivery address be provided upfront to enter the queue. Validate and standardize the address using the official Postal Service API (in the US). Prohibit changing the delivery address once in the queue, and prohibit the same address from appearing in the queue multiple times. Those requirements eliminate the mechanical possibility and incentive to partake in any sort of hoarding or profiteering using bots.