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As a kid, I always wanted to be on the TV show "Supermarket Sweep."
In the middle of a Lowe's store in 2017, my dream almost came true. The home improvement retailer is rolling out an augmented-reality app that tells you the fastest way to find items on your list.
It's powered by Google's Tango, an indoor-mapping technology using special cameras to sense depth in 3D space. Measure objects, map a room and see virtual objects in the real world with augmented reality.
With a phone in one hand and a shopping cart in the other, I'm rushing around the aisles pulling items off the shelf. On screen I see a yellow line overlaid on the camera image, navigating me to the next item on my list. There's an aisle and shelf number in case I get really confused, as well as an estimate step counter that tells me how far I have to go.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by AthanasiusKircher on Sunday March 19 2017, @10:15PM (2 children)
Isn't it easier to just click a couple times at amazon and not have to drive to the store
For me personally, Lowe's/Home Depot/local hardware store is one of the few places where local retail is superior. Why? Two things: (1) I've frequently bought oversize items there that are harder/more expensive to ship (even on Amazon). For more expensive items, the oversize/overweight overcharges are perhaps bundled into the shipping cost and thus may end up not making it much more expensive (depends on item). But if you're buying a cheap rake or a bag of gravel or just a few pieces of lumber, shipping costs are often a big issue.
And (2) because as anyone who has ever done any sort of home repair likely has experienced, you generally end up driving back-and-forth three times to do a "simple" repair or upgrade or whatever. You thought you could just replace the light fixture portion of that old ceiling fan? Turns out the "standard size fits-all" replacement kits won't fit your ceiling fan. Thought you could just swap out that sink fixture? Turns out you need 3 other pieces of random plumbing hardware to replace too because of some bizarre decision the previous homeowner made or because the fixtures are just a little too old to fit the modern "standard" stuff or whatever.
Once you've done a job a few times, you can predict most of these things, but a lot of times you're changing out something you'll only do once or twice during your ownership of that home. This is the reason why most skilled trades folks (plumbers, electricians, etc.) that come by your house have large vans full of all sorts of junk that they always bring along. You never know when you'll need some odd size of some random piece of something to avoid yet another run to the local store.
So I could either run back-and-forth to Lowe's three times in a weekend and get a project completely finished (the second and third times taking pieces along with me to size things up against stuff in the store and make sure they are likely to fit), or I can play that game over Amazon over a couple months and eventually start being charged for returning too many things, in which case any savings (if there was any in the first place) is eliminated.
Most retail stores are less convenient. But for me there's still a reason at least for grocery (particularly when choosing fresh foods) and hardware stores. Also any store that offers in-store service as part of a purchase (e.g., tailoring clothing, though arguably you could take it to your own tailor instead).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 20 2017, @01:04PM
Once you've done a job a few times, you can predict most of these things, but a lot of times you're changing out something you'll only do once or twice during your ownership of that home. This is the reason why most skilled trades folks (plumbers, electricians, etc.) that come by your house have large vans full of all sorts of junk that they always bring along. You never know when you'll need some odd size of some random piece of something to avoid yet another run to the local store.
After a few of these experiences I've learned to get spares of nearly every part I think that I'll need (when practical, no need for (2) sink faucets as well, etc) knowing that when done I'll just be returning all the parts that I didn't use.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by VLM on Monday March 20 2017, @01:20PM
large vans full of all sorts of junk
Its interesting that no one has moved in on that.. that I know of.
Something like a small shipping crate full of mini-bar style "you open it you bought it" with near zero labor costs would appear to be almost sustainable as a business. Maybe with uber/task rabbit style delivery of special parts via a phone app if you want something not usually stocked.
Note that plumbing supply stores catering to professional licensed plumbers still exist and sometimes are cheaper than home depot, so HD hasn't killed all competition, just most.
An interesting hack on licensed journeyman electrician being $40/hr or whatever it is now, would be hiring a dude who sits in the truck and sells you parts to work on your own home for $10/hr. It would be incredibly illegal for a guy like that to do plumbing work where I live, but there's nothing wrong with a trained manufacturer's sales rep demonstrating how an obscure plumbing tool works and renting it to me.
Essentially rent-a-center has made piles of money renting, like, concrete mixers, and now they're renting a concrete mixer plus a dude with ten toolboxes in his van. I would find this fascinating for car repair work too where I needed a vacuum pump to change break oil and bleed the lines exactly once in my life, and I needed a 4 foot cheater bar to do some brake work exactly once for about ten seconds. A dude with a van would have been pretty convenient.