Idea for a physical shop

[obit]

I think people will use the internet when they don't want human interaction, and will use physical shops when they do, more and more in the future. So, perhaps physical shops will exist in the future mostly because they have humans working there. Just a thought.

[birr]

It is an interesting idea. With some tweaking and analysis you might be able to overcome the set up cost with labor savings.

They used to have restaurants in the northeastern US that were similar. My father in law ate at a lot of automats growing up in Brooklyn NY.

When I came to New York in 1981 there was still a Horn & Hardart automat at 42nd and Third Avenue, or maybe it was Lexington.  anyway, it was the last one and closed a few years later.  They used to be all over town, a cheap place to eat during the Depression.  Automats were featured in a lot of old movies and musicals.

[turvarya]

I think you can achive that way easier, than with a box for every item. You could Show an example item, and when you pay for it, it could be prepared for you with all the other items at the Exit.
But I don't think, this is really a good use of BTC. Do you really want to pay for every item individually? Sounds like a lot of work even if it just scanning and pressing "send".

When I think, about it, there could be this box at the Exit, which can be unlocked by paying for it.

This wouldn't be a good idea either. If you're just picking up one of those "example items", then at the end someone else has to go around the store or the backroom storage to hunt down all your items. This is a lot of service required. Imagine the cost of hiring an army of employees to run around to gather items for the customer.

I was more thinking about some Kind of full-automatic System, not about People running around in the storeroom collecting your things.
And you are not picking up example items, you just scan them, so they get prepared.

Fully automated? Do you have any idea the cost and infrastructure required to implement this idea? If this was easy and cheap, then we'd be seeing all these automated machines replace all the employees in groceries and other B&M stores by now.

I never said, it is easy and cheap, but it would be profitable over time.
The question is not, if somebody could implement it, I am sure, we are technology capable of doing that.
The question is, if people would go there shopping.

[countryfree]

If you're familiar with BTC, you know it's better to have a single large transaction than a dozen small ones. And I wouldn't like having to wait for each transaction to appear in the blockchain before I could get each item. Even, if you'd pay the transaction fees for me.

[gogxmagog]

too many "moving parts" = too many points of failure. Automats all went out of business for a reason. Also; try and find a laundromat these days, they are becoming scarce for a reason= upkeep and repairs eat all profits.

[edd]

It would be easier to create a pre-funded account before you begin shopping that gets debited as you choose each item (Bitcoin benefit = no identifying info required). Once you're done, you decide whether you want the balance refunded to your wallet or stored until your next visit.