The funniest thing is when you get an employee to unlock the cabinet and give you an item that is locked up and then you just shoplift it anyway.

i could not figure out what this story was from the headline, or at least my assumption was too confusing to believe.

it's basically how the shift to self-checkout resulted in enough loss/shrinkage/breakage that they started locking shit up to where an employee had to go get the item(s) on request. of course, there is not enough labor assigned to this "go fetch my popular and easily boosted item" task because the whole transition to self-checkout is about cutting labor costs and shifting the burden of effort to the customer.... who has a disincentive to work for free and recoups unpaid wages by "taking shit lol".

consequently, wait times for getting assistance to get the now shelved item (like a tube of toothpaste) are crazy inconvenient, so the supposed solve is to have vending machines for everything instead of shelves. instead of $500 worth of shelving, they will buy $50,000 worth of vending machines eating $50 of electricity/day and $500/month in rental/maintenance fees. this shit is hilarious:

David Ashforth who runs vending machine company Digital Media Vending International said "the lightbulb went off" when he had to wait in a store for an employee to unlock a cabinet. "I thought huh my machine could fit right here and I wouldn't have to find a manager with a key anymore." As a result, he set to work on creating a huge vending machine for retailers to replace their shelving that locks up produce.

In theory, it would be a 26.5-foot wide vending machine for a whole aisle which is team has called the "Automated Retailer." Honest shoppers would pay in advance online or at an in-store kiosk for the desired product. They would then be given a receipt or pick-up code to be entered into the machine which would retrieve the ordered item and deliver it to the shopper.

"It's over," Ashforth told thieves as he noted the huge interest from major retailers with some even being curious about getting smash and bullet-proof glass.

yes, dave, it is over. just not how you think.

attempts to further automate and secure the brick and mortar retail process are hysterical. the biggest threat to brick and mortal retail is online ordering and the whole shipping supply chain logistics. i can literally buy the toothpaste i want and have it delivered using my phone while i am taking a dump on the clock at work. the only reason to go a store is for "time sensitive, can't wait" and "i want to actually see and hold the thing i am spending money on to verify it's not some counterfeit / papier mache bullshit." the first is kind of going away as we can order shit when we see something running out. the second is a real reason to go into a store, and if they put the thing behind another screen... like what is the point of going to the store? just so i can pay for the thing and it turns out it sucks, or its out of stock and they'll ship it to me anyway.

also, super funny that the first thing they imagine upgrading for these theoretical ultra vending machines is to harden them.

replace all cash registers and automatic checkouts with vending machines

grocery shopping takes 3 hours because you have to travel to 10 different vending machines

each machine takes 25 seconds for the item to be spit out

a stick of celery gets stuck horizontally

it takes 30 minutes for an employee to troubleshoot it because all employees have been fired

This dystopia sucks.

every couple decades this meme gets exhumed, millions are invested, and the idea turns out to not be that great of a money maker, and the cycle continues; remember automatic diners? what a hit!

Oh I thought they were big vending machines that would replace Walmart.

What? Shoplifter is evolving!

Congratulations! Your Shoplifter evolved into Armed Robber!

All of my SF brethren cheering this should take a moment to grasp that thieves will switch to jacking up individuals, if they can’t shoplift from corporations.