All the way back in 2016 when we were still attending events without masks and North Korea was testing nuclear weapons (yes really), Amazon launched its first “Just Walk Out” Amazon Go store.
The idea is that customers can simply walk into the store, grab what they need and walk out. While the idea is simple it’s implementation requires a lot of work and we never expected that level of technology to make it’s way to South Africa, at least not in the near future.
That was until Wednesday this week when Shoprite Holdings announced ShopriteX and Checkers Rush.
ShopriteX is described as a “digital business hub” which has already borne Xtra Savings (Checkers’ own rewards programme) as well as the hugely successful Checkers Sixty60 grocery delivery service.
According to the group, ShopriteX is comprised of a 250 member team that includes data scientists, ecommerce and personalisation experts, all working with the Shoprite IT team to “create and implement new innovations”.
One of those new innovations is Checkers Rush which has brought with it a few rather important questions.
For now, Checkers Rush is a concept store where employees can take products and walk out.
“Using advanced AI camera technology to identify the products being taken off the shelves, Checkers Rush bills users’ bank cards upon exit,” Shoprite explains.
It sounds very cool from a technology stand-point but at the same time, this announcement gave us pause.
As we are all well aware South Africa’s unemployment rate rose to a record high of 32.6 percent during the first quarter of this year. Is removing cashiers and packers really the best idea?
According to the Labour Research Service, Shoprite already saw a number of layoffs in 2020. According to the organisation, the number of employees at Shoprite declined by 5 816 workers in 2020 despite the opening of an additional 33 stores. This is despite Shoprite group reporting that it has created 2 870 new jobs through Checkers Sixty60
We’re not blind to the impact that COVID-19 and lockdowns have had on businesses, but the idea of culling more jobs in pursuit of technological innovation feels very flawed, especially here in South Africa.
Granted, one could argue that Shoprite would need to employ folks to maintain its infrastructure and help customers whether remotely or in-store, but we’re concerned about the unskilled labourers who aren’t given a second thought when solutions like this come into play.
Again, we understand that progress needs to happen, but when you are potentially going to adversely affect the lives of millions of people, perhaps more time should be spent thinking about whether it should be done.
