If the store wants to lock things in glass cases, then operate on a skeleton crew, they should install vending machines for the items they find to be "theft-prone"
Posted by dickcheney600@reddit | CrazyIdeas | View on Reddit | 105 comments
As much of a common complaint that it's become to not be able to get an attendant for things in glass cases, why not use a vending machine? Items that would be damaged by dropping them can be served by one of those "robot picker" style machines.
Ironically, most stores that put things in glass cases already have self-checkouts anyway.
Sure, you might still need assistance if the machine gets stuck, but that's also true for self checkouts. From my experience, modern machines usually will auto-refund you if it detects a jam or other fault. (That doesn't mean it's immune to "eating" your money, just that there's some countermeasures that didn't exist 20 years ago)
defyinglogicsl@reddit
I have a major problem with condoms being locked away.
Teens are probably not going to go ask for an employee out of embarrassment and are more likely to just end up having unprotected sex.
Condoms are not expensive. If condoms are being stolen it's not to save money, its because someone is afraid a cashier or someone else in the store will care that they are buying them.
I'm not condoning stealing but I'd rather a teen steal condoms than have unprotected sex. Stolen condoms are in a weird way a net positive for the community.
Yes I know health departments and other organizations give out free condoms but not every teen has a way to get to a health department by themselves.
I'll step down from my soapbox now.
Secret-Ad-7909@reddit
Condoms have definitely gotten expensive. Not as expensive as having a kid but still.
Also I’m 30 and not asking someone to open the damn case (for anything) I’ll just go to a different store.
starm4nn@reddit
This would actually be a good application of vending machines.
ReallyNotWastingTime@reddit
They're like this in Norway, same with lube! You just get a little qr code at self checkout and scan it at a kiosk thing. Then you get whatever you bought. It's very incognito
MoeFuka@reddit
We used to have condom vending machines in the public bathrooms in Ireland. They also had cigarettes I think. They aren't very common anymore though
intet42@reddit
I've seen condom dispensers in US bathrooms.
Initial_Cellist9240@reddit
And shitty cologne
whencaniseeyouagain@reddit
Copying what I commented above, but my university had condoms and plan B available in vending machines. I never used them but thought it was a great idea
ThrowawayAutist615@reddit
They should just make them free and easily available but the Christian Nationalists aren't cool with that, so...
ThalesofMiletus-624@reddit
Years ago, I was driving through Alabama and noticed that the stores kept their KY Jelly in locked cases. This year I noticed that my stores in Texas started doing the same.
I don't believe this is specifically required by law, but it certainly seems to be in response to political and social pressure. Which brings up the question, do people honestly think they're going to prevent fornication by making lube harder to get?
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PermutationMatrix@reddit
You're absolutely free to create a condom charity.
squiddles97@reddit
Oregon has a program that you can get condoms mailed to you for free
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ieatcavemen@reddit
Well if there's no pregnancy how are you gonna discover which of the (female) students have failed your abstinence only education curriculum and need to be further supported by being referred to the next level of teaching: Slut shaming, shunning and enforced lifelong poverty.
RelativeReality7@reddit
But but "omg what about the children????"
RedPandaMediaGroup@reddit
Honestly since they are a small item as well this would be a great way to test OP’s vending machine idea.
I know they exist already but I haven’t seen them in a grocery store aisle.
DoNotEatMySoup@reddit
I agree with you. Condoms should not be locked up.
whencaniseeyouagain@reddit
At my university they were available in vending machines, probably for this reason. So was plan B and I think some other "embarrassing" but important products
allMightyMostHigh@reddit
They steal the whole rack then go to the corner store and sell it all for a fraction of the price . They do the same thing with detergent/deodorant/diapers etc. the corner store then sells it at full price
Electronic_County597@reddit
I didn't read all the comments, but I read several. The issue I see is that with a vending machine inside the store, you've already paid for the item, but now you have to walk out without paying at the register. I don't think this is an insurmountable problem (I can already pay for items at the "electronics" section in WalMart and then carry them past the checkout at the front door), but it needs to be considered and resolved.
schmeckendeugler@reddit
Actually that might be the most sane crazy idea I've heard in a long time. I've thought for many years that vending maches as a concept are not being used to their full potential.
flip314@reddit
If this was Japan, I'd agree.
Clearly, vending machines that WORK reliably exist in the real world, but the success rate I've had with North American vending machines is pitifully low.
Someones_Dream_Guy@reddit
"Have you tried regular maintenance?"-Japan and other civilized countries
nullpotato@reddit
You mean waste profits? - companies
flip314@reddit
On the other hand, if you don't fix it, it will keep bringing in money and you won't even need to restock it!
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Tanto63@reddit
When Little Caesars started using their customer facing warming cases where you punch in your order code, I kept imagining them becoming giant pizza vending machines.
alligatorsmyfriend@reddit
the automat rises again!
smp501@reddit
They need to cut it out with all the age restricting, too. Let me buy my NyQuil without having to find one of the 2 workers in the entire damn store to show that my 35 year old ass is over 18.
1nGirum1musNocte@reddit
Easy, vending machine scans license
ALadFromFarmington@reddit
If they can do it for lotto why can’t they do it for self checkout
Jaceofspades6@reddit
This but for cigarettes.
Ajunadeeper@reddit
Simply apply to the Walmart age verification program, install the Walmart Tracking chip in your neck, download the official Walmart app, upload supporting docs (ID, birth certificate, SSN), confirm email, confirm phone number, update the app, reserve your pickup time and get shopping!
Hotarg@reddit
Also, please drink verification can.
donaggie03@reddit
A photo of the front of your id, a photo of the back of your id, and a video of your face turning left and right.
trophycloset33@reddit
All for the annual fee of $899.99
JoseSpiknSpan@reddit
Don’t forget your location services, Bluetooth, and stool sample for the safe shopper discount
LogstarGo_@reddit
Sign in
Incorrect password. Reset? [password reset section removed for brevity]
Password accepted. Sending verification email to t******@***.com and verification code to (***) ***-****
Put thumb on fingerprint detector
Say "I love Walmart" for Secure Voice System
Scan left eye with iris scanner
Scan right eye with iris scanner
Supply blood for DNA comparison
Location mismatch! Expected location Novgorod Oblast
JoseSpiknSpan@reddit
To nova prospekt with you!
Flameball537@reddit
Being able to buy a game without waiting 20 mins for the one person with the key to wander back over to the electronics section and just get it out of a machine would be great
Fantastic-Hornet2907@reddit
In America
jmnugent@reddit
Same!.. I recently moved from Colorado to Portland, OR.. and I figured with a bit higher asian culture out here, there might be a slightly higher prevalence of vending machines (although to be fair, I haven't gotten out much yet as I have a 100% WFH job).
But man. .if there was some Downtown Mall or something that had some little side street or "mini mall" with like 50 crazy vending machines in it.. especially if there was an active social media presence that had regular notification of "Hey, look at this cool new machine we got".. I think people out here would dig that.
zomgitsduke@reddit
Yup, I could easily see things go this route.
Also, you can buy it ahead of time and they hold it at the front for you.
HunterDHunter@reddit
The time is not far away where you will walk into a "store" and just punch your order in on a punch screen like a taco bell. Employees will then fetch your stuff. Basically Amazon but you are in person and pick it up. You will not have access to the merch at all.
Infamous_Pay_6291@reddit
We have that in Australia you order your groceries online pull up out the front of the store text a phone number your code and what bay your parked in and it’s brought out to your car and loaded in and you drive off.
ganaraska@reddit
Welcome back Consumers Distributing
Ben-Goldberg@reddit
Taco bell has not gotten rid of human order takers entirely - even if their main job is to take cash from the few customers who only pay that way - and to notice that the store needs to be swept.
lecoqmako@reddit
I wouldn’t be mad about a store that gave me a scanner to select items and had a box prepared when I was ready to check out.
oIVLIANo@reddit
You mean like a curbside pickup, which most places already offer?
lecoqmako@reddit
Nah, I picture it more like a store with display items that you can view, handle, pick up, read the label, consider your options, etc. You can scan your selections like a registry.
I think the smart carts are cool too, that allow you to scan your items as you shop and just walk out the door when you’re done, like a portable self checkout. 20 yrs ago I thought RFID was the future, but I also thought we’d have nutritionally complete meals in pill form too.
cwsjr2323@reddit
A vending machine system actually sounds good, not crazy.
If I am shopping in person, items locked are ignored. There are others like me, and the store just screened out a potential sale.
There are other stores and online is omnipresent. My only exception was a burner phone at Walmart. That department at the local Walmart is operated by another company and their workers are quick to unlock. Burner phones on line from Walmart are not always activated before being shipped, the store won’t activate them, and they are not returnable. As in most areas, Walmart sucks. When I bought my backup burner, I opened it and saw it connect with the store WiFi before I left the counter in the electrics department.
dickcheney600@reddit (OP)
So, what if you contact the actual cell phone company? Or the online help bot or whatever?
cwsjr2323@reddit
Per reviews, Walmart and Tracfone just blame each other and refuse to help. After reading the reviews , that was why I turned it on and made sure it connected before leaving Walmart.
dickcheney600@reddit (OP)
Why would you still buy it there, then? Is there no way to order directly from TracFone? Or from another store? Is there no other prepaid phone company in the US?
cwsjr2323@reddit
It was a backup to my iPhone. The units delivered to people’s homes were the ones getting bad reviews. By turning it on and connecting to the the stores WiFi, I knew it would work . I use it now as a WiFi device, mostly as a toy.
dickcheney600@reddit (OP)
Dear TracFone, do you want a class action lawsuit? Cause that's how you get a class action lawsuit.
People sue for dumber things than this. :)
OlyScott@reddit
This seems like the way to go in downtown stores that get mobs of shoplifters. Have security guards around to keep people from breaking the machines.
DoubleDandelion@reddit
People would just break the machines. They break the glass cases all the time.
dickcheney600@reddit (OP)
So long as the guard has a key / password to fix jams or refund people if necessary. You wouldn't need one for every machine, just a row of them. The only way every single machine would stop working would be if the Internet line went down for the store, and that would only disable the actual card readers (assuming the machines also took cash)
PickleManAtl@reddit
Yeah that's a good idea. As a matter of fact I remember a friend of mine going to Japan a while back. And even then, he came back saying it was amazing how they have thousands of vending machines all over the country that literally sell everything. Not just food. Toys, clothing, sex toys lol, you name it, and there's a vending machine for it.
So if things have gotten that bad here, stores should rethink how they sell items. Have a small storefront filled with theft proof vending machines, and just let people go in and go to the machines and get what they need. And today there are YouTube videos showing that in Japan some of these things only take credit cards or payments with your cell phone, so they wouldn't have to worry about cash in the machines to be stolen.
We have a very bad habit in the states of not adapting to things as they change. This is an unfortunate change, but in some areas it may be one they need to make.
spanky_macdoogle@reddit
What about the whole store is a giant vending machine? It would be like walking into a claw game at the arcade. There’s a screen, you type in what you want and pay, then the claw picks your orders and sends them down a chute. Wait I think I just create some sort of online shopping / brick and mortar hybrid
aDildoAteMyBaby@reddit
I've been on this one for years. We should have automats everywhere by now. And the more the cost of labor goes up, the more sense it will make.
thegreatcerebral@reddit
People would just steal the vending machine.
LetsAllEatCakeLOL@reddit
best idea i've seen in this sub
Fun-Dragonfly-4166@reddit
It is either sane, or I have had this same insane idea.
There is a 7-11 near me. During the pandemic I did not go there ever - not a single time. But it seems that if the same junk food could be served by a vending machine then I would not have to go inside.
oIVLIANo@reddit
You would, however, have to touch the same vending machine buttons that everyone else touches.
Fun-Dragonfly-4166@reddit
A touch button vending machine is not going to happen, so I might as well dream.
I have to download an app to my mobile phone. Selection and payment is through the app. I just pick up the item. I do not have to touch the machine at all.
While we are dreaming, someone cleans the machine every hour.
oIVLIANo@reddit
Crazier idea: install vending machines for everything, and reduce staffing costs even more.
jmnugent@reddit
it's weird to me how things like "Amazon Lockers" have really taken off,.. but vending machines have not. I realize vending machines potentially get a lot more abuse,. but I feel like you could probably locate them in areas with cameras or guards or whatever.
If there were open-spaces (say, a small park in the middle of 4 buildings). that had greenery and benches and tables and a little shack of 6 vending machines or etc (2 machines for drinks, 2 machines for food, 2 machines for candy or deserts) .. could be a cool concept.
I mean. you see vending machines in Airports to sell convenience items like power-cords or battery packs or sleeping masks etc.. so it works there. You just gotta put the right kinds of machines in the right places.
FadingHeaven@reddit
I think its cause people hate vending machines. They're prone to failure and I'm afraid to use them.
40hzHERO@reddit
How are you afraid of a vending machine? They’re pretty straightforward and simple.
FadingHeaven@reddit
I'm afraid of vending machine taking my money and not giving me my food. I can use them, doesn't mean they always work.
40hzHERO@reddit
Lol ok. You must have some crazy bad luck or something
Initial_Cellist9240@reddit
Vending machines have gotten a LOT better. When I was a kid in the 90s it really was a crapshoot
Dabrush@reddit
There are a few of those around here, mostly just because those are not beholden to the state prescribed closing time. But in the end they mostly just have absolute junk food at high prices and I don't know anyone that shops there other than people out drinking.
HelloMumther@reddit
in the basement of the library of my college there’s 2 vending machines with plan B for just a few dollars.
Famous-Example-8332@reddit
The inventor of the modern grocery store did this. Well, he tried. iirc, He took grocery stores from “walk in and tell the shop owner what you need, then they’ll get it for you” to something like what we have today, and tried to take it further to just the whole thing being vending machines, but it never took off. Details may be inaccurate, it’s been awhile since I read about him.
Clarence Saunders.
romulusnr@reddit
I've seen snack machines lately that seem to operate based on the principle that the item dispensed should hit the bottom. If it twists the coils but no impact sensed on the bottom, it will twist the coils again. I have to imagine that greatly alleviates "fucking machine didn't give me my thing"
SorryIdonthaveaname@reddit
What about small lockers, each with one product each and automatically pops open when you buy something? Similar to those Amazon lockers
themurhk@reddit
Wonderful idea. Frankly, if a store locks something behind glass, I just no longer buy that item at that store. I’m not waiting 15 minutes for some underpaid worker to open the case, I’m sure there dealing with enough BS already.
Our local Walmart just installed their first glass lock cases for…lotion. You expect me to believe that lotion theft is a big enough problem around here that it needs to be locked up? Walmart is losing so much money on stolen lotion that it’s threatening their bottom line.
Maybe if it was just expensive skin serums, high priced makeup, etc I could understand. But it’s everything from Goldbond to equate brand sunscreen. So dumb.
jaymef@reddit
I think this is more common in other countries
halv-ork@reddit
EDIT: in one other country, Japan.
c3534l@reddit
I was in a liquor store in a bad part of New York Oity that operated this way. All the booze was in little cubby holes, you paid the guy behind the the bullet proof glass, and then he electronically unlocked your cubby hole of booze. I think they also had the ability to limit the number of people in the store at the same time, too.
Zombiebane224@reddit
Personally, I like to be able to look at the items and read the packaging before I make my purchase.
Dangerous_Forever640@reddit
I’m kind of surprised there hasn’t just been an entire unstaffed store just full of vending machines yet…
Ben-Goldberg@reddit
You would need at least one human to keep the place clean, restock, etc.
Emergency_Ad1203@reddit
convert stores to vending machines. fire everyone let ai manage it.
OzbourneVSx@reddit
Staples unironically does it right
Lock the individual items in plastic boxes that the person at checkout can just unlock with a specific magnet.
Gogogrl@reddit
Was in Italy this summer, and came across a pharmacy with commonly needed things in an outdoor vending machine. Brilliant.
General_Ginger531@reddit
That would require spending money, when you could just inconvenience your staff and customers instead though. You know, like most companies would rather do these days.
Peppermint_vanilla@reddit
They do this in Italy! Probably a bunch other countries too but thats where I saw it and I was very impressed. These vending machines were right outside pharmacies I guess so people have access to condoms and lube after the shop closes.
In theft prone areas, they probably don’t want to have them outside the store when there is no one in the store but why not keep them inside the store?!
thoma5nator@reddit
This ain't crazy at all. And it's not like you can vandalize a vending machine in the middle of a store with minimal fanfare... goddamn it Jenkins!
stumppc@reddit
The Japanese are all about vending machines for selling about anything. So yeah, your idea will work and does work.
TrulyRenowned@reddit
The amount of different vending machines for different stuff in Japan is insane, and it has to be super convenient.
Like, I don’t NEED a small bottle of Siracha with my lunch. But if it’s right there in that futuristic looking portal to flavortown, I’ll probably end up buying it anyway.
dm80x86@reddit
We had them, they were called auto-mats.
Crzy710@reddit
Just one step closer to japan at this point
TrueNefariousness358@reddit
A case that only opens after you let it take a nice picture of your face. Then, it has an alarm if you don't shut the case.
jerrythecactus@reddit
As ideal as it sounds, it would be immensely expensive for a grocery store to implement.
You'd need to have hundreds, if not thousands of specifically designed vending machines engineered and produced for it not to mention actually stocking them and maintaining them.
I think at that point a store would be better off just going back to the ways of the shopkeeper and just exclusively fill out orders made by customers themselves rather than operating like a typical grocery store.
likely the reason most haven't done that is the simple fact that allowing people to pick and choose their purchases in the store results in higher profits because people tend to browse other products they didn't originally intend to purchase. The additional revenue offsets the theft from improperly secured high theft items.
Religion_Of_Speed@reddit
I had to wait 45 minutes one day to buy a bluetooth casette tape because the entire car audio section was locked down. Like we can't pick and choose what's important? Lock up the expensive stuff that people want, let me just grab a $5 piece of shitty tech. Who's stealing one of these and why do we care? They probably order 3 per year.
I say we put everything that's locked up in one area and have one person there, like a gas station does with cigarettes. You walk up, tell them what you want, then they give it to you. Vending machines make way more sense but I don't see that flying in America, where I am.
Stooper_Dave@reddit
Why not take it a step further and just turn the box store into an Amazon style warehouse manned by robots. Place your order online then drive through to get loaded.
frappuccinio@reddit
as someone who works at a store with a lot of locked stuff— a plan B / condom vending machine would cut down the amount of times we need to unlock stuff in half
QueenPooper13@reddit
This is actually a really good idea.
Maybe you put in your payment info when you first go in, like opening a tab at a bar. Then, you scan your card and select items out of the vending machines and those things are added to your tab. When you are done shopping, you scan your card at a self-check out aisle and anything you scanned out of a vending machine is charged to your card. If you decide you don't want anything, you can "reserve check it" at the self-checkouts. You scan the item, put it on a belt that takes it back to be restocked, and it is removed from your card.