More retail jobs being replaced by machines
January 25th, 2007 | by mbhunter |Our local shopping mall has a couple of high-end vending machines where kiosks used to be. ZoomSystems seems to have gotten “automated retail” right, as it’s overcome a lot of the barriers to get customers to trust plunking hundreds of dollars in a vending machine.
Here’s a video of a ZoomSystems machine selling iPod merchandise. The two at our mall sell other merchandise; one sells Razrs
I have no idea how much these machines cost (my SWAG is $10-$15k each) but for these and other kinds of merchandise they easily and quickly pay for themselves. (How much labor can you buy for that? And how long would that labor last if you kept your store open 24 hours a day?) Now it’s true that the salesmanship is absent, but iPods sell themselves, so there’s really no need for the salesperson. Same with batteries: “Well, sir, these AA batteries will fit any battery-powered device of yours that uses AA batteries, and it will make it work.” It’s just not necessary. All you’re really paying the person to do is take the customer’s money or credit card, put the merchandise in the customer’s hand, and say thank you (or not).
For some kinds of products you still need a human in the loop. (Machine-dipped ice cream? Probably not.) You might want a human to hand you sunglasses to try on, but a camera and some software could show you what a given pair of glasses would look like on you. Or a machine could squirt a small sample of perfume on your wrist. Technology can overcome these obstacles and get rid of the employees. Given the customer service I’ve gotten at a few places, this might even be an improvement!
Other jobs like this are going away. Gas stations like Wawa and Sheetz have self-serve touchpads for ordering food. A number of grocery stores have had cashierless checkout for a few years. Even McDonalds is becoming more and more hands-off. The drive-thru window of some restaurants have automatic soda cup filling machines. It’s not even necessary for anyone to put the cup under the spout!
If we’re becoming a service-oriented workforce, these machines are putting the service-givers out of jobs. Then what’s left?
7 Responses to “More retail jobs being replaced by machines”
By Debt Hater on Jan 25, 2007 | Reply
It makes me worry about people who really aren’t educated, equipped or trained to do anything else by “May I take your order?” And what about teens? What kind of jobs will they be able to do during their summers or after school for a little cash… Well, I believe people are capable of more than they give themselves credit for, so they shouldn’t mope or lament, they should just get moving to something where there will actually be jobs in the future. Intellect-oriented jobs won’t go away — someone has to write content for everything. Someone needs to manage money. Someone needs to fill databases. Somebody needs to build the new iPod.
By Ray on Jan 25, 2007 | Reply
Don’t forget, someone has to fix those machines.:-)
By tolak on Jan 26, 2007 | Reply
I enjoy your posts, they strike the right mood.
Perhaps the service person is not the concern but rather the consumer of such utterly generic goods.
By sam on Jan 26, 2007 | Reply
Some of this (vending machines for consumer items)may be coming from Japan. Their population is shrinking so they are looking at ways to automate, rather than import unskilled labor like we do in the USA. 100 years ago we were automating agriculture with harvesters, etc - now it is retail cashier positions.
By Clever Dude on Jan 30, 2007 | Reply
mmmmm….Sheetz chili cheese dogs.
I miss central PA where there was a Sheetz on every corner and an MTO in every baby’s mouth. Maybe I’ll have to go back to Altoona and have lunch with the Sheetz family.
That was totally random, wasn’t it?
By Retail Franchises on Apr 29, 2008 | Reply
I love reading your posts…I bookmarked you, keep up the good work!