Trusted Shopper Network

When reading about the impending doom for employment due to automation in the retail sector, it got me thinking about how jobs could really be reduced in the retail sector.  The automation efforts that I have seen so far look like glorified vending machines.  And perhaps we will see more and more specialized vending machines for certain retail goods.  (That said, I have never seen somebody purchasing something at a Best Buy machine in an airport.  Not once.)  But I think that there is a large segment of retail that relies on touch and fit before the individual is willing to make the purchase.  Think clothes and shoes.  To a lesser extent, this would include home goods.  I'm thinking mostly of a clothing or shoe store in my below description of the world.

Employees in a retail establishment perform the following functions:

• Chiefly, performing the mechanics of the purchase transaction.
• Stocking shelves / racks / etc.
• Cleaning / straightening / arranging of goods (sometimes after customers have messed them up)
• Theft prevention, even if only by their presence, they are discouraging otherwise mostly honest people from taking things that they haven't purchased.
• Providing fashion advice: "does this look good on me?"
• Performing inventory (infrequently)
• Handling exchanges / returns.

Could we ever get to a clothing store with no employees?  Here's how.

Retail One Step Beyond

Set up a "Trusted Shopper Network".  Only people in the network would have permission to enter stores with no employees and shop.  The terms and conditions would be strict and monitored.  Any instance of cheating (attempting to remove merchandise from the store without paying - perhaps by removing an RFID tag) results in a seven year ban.  A credit card remains on file with the network and handles payment security for the merchants.  Similar to a 24-Hour Fitness, membership in the network would give you the right to enter the otherwise unoccupied store.  It could be made available 24 hours a day.

I think a network here would be much more compelling than just an individual store setting up it's own system.  First, it makes the downside of customer cheating to be larger.  This wouldn't be a big deal when the network was tiny, but if it encompassed half of your shopping opportunities, you'd think twice about attempting to cheat.  Second, it allows various store owners to share in the development of standards and intellectual property to make this work.  Third, from an awareness/education standpoint, it will take some time for people to understand what this is all about, so sharing in the advertising costs would be beneficial for all vendors in the trusted network.

Then, the store would be optimized to handle all of the activities now done by a person:

• Purchase Transaction: Completed automatically as you exit the store, via a reading of the unique RFID tags on the clothes.  A receipt is emailed to you as soon as you exit.
• Stocking: Robots.  Likely result in a simplified layout at the present moment.
• Clean-up: Roombas and robots.  Post-changing room clothes would be required to be rehung and put in a standardized rack that a robot could restock.
• Theft Prevention: Substantial automated video monitoring for sketchy behavior.  Any removal of RFIDs prior to exit gets you banned from the store.  Perhaps any clothing that you remove from a rack needs to be scanned by you (tapped to your phone) to tie you to that ID right away.
• Fashion Advice: Replaced by facebook or other social media to get input from your friends.  "Expert System" advise could also be made available by the store for body shape / BMI / age.
• Inventory: Constantly monitored via RFID tags.
• Exchanges/Returns: Returns box accessible from outside the store.  All items to be returned are required to still have the RFID tag still attached.  Perhaps humans have to be involved, at least now, at rehanging the returned clothes and ensuring they are in new condition (not worn and returned).

What might be some other advantages to this approach?

• Retail flexibility: Part-time stores.  The same retail space could be repurposed as a Christmas-themed outlet or alternatively costumes near Halloween and then bathing suits in spring.  This could be as much a platform for experimentation and seasonal content as anything else.  Clearing out the old and adding the new should be quick and simple.  Currently, it feels like we have a very inflexible model.  Fashion experimentation could be much cheaper if a brand doesn't have to set up its own retail network, but could rent 20% of like-positioned floor space around the country.
• Improved Shopping Experience: No more hassling by employees.

Why It Won't Happen

• Expense: retail employees are cheap and very flexible at handling the required functions laid out above.
• Limitations in presentation: Clothes and fashion items sell because they look good.  At present, layouts and presentation could be negatively affected to allow for automation.
• System Integration: Lots of specialized and customized software needs to come together to make this happen.
• "Personal Service": a segment of the population still think that they want a human involved in the interaction.  Some clothing purchases are admittedly "high touch".

[Updated 2016-12-05] See Amazon's efforts in this regard.  Perhaps this will happen!