CASHLESS SOCIETY update -- J.C. Penney's Latest Leap: Retailer to Ditch Cash Registers, Cashiers

hope they enjoy their bankruptcy

they just lost my business

This will bite them in the ass.

I am sure I'm not the only Luddite who shuns 'smartphones' and debit/credit cards.

If I cannot purchase in person with cash or barter, I do not purchase.

how will the illegal drug trade work in a cashless world?

Don't know about anywhere else, but here, only middle-aged to older shop at JCP.
I like some of their stuff, but I always shop online.

Anyway, I don't think the typical JCP customer here is ready for/capable of/going to accept this.
Maybe somewhere else.

Unless they're considering a revamp to appeal to younger shoppers, I just don't see how it's gonna fly.

But... but... but... the money they save will be put to use on customer service!

(that was sarcasm btw)

This is from the Time article:

Some shoppers, though, can’t see how they’re getting a good deal if there are no coupons or dramatic markdowns. Likewise, it may be hard to convince shoppers that they’ll be better off without a checkout area. Many customers are likely to view the concept of a store without a checkout area with skepticism, if not annoyance, perhaps even hostility.

Then again, perhaps even more customers — younger ones who embrace technology, who hate checkout lines, and who could be loyal shoppers for decades to come — will love the idea.

[link to moneyland.time.com]


Here's my guess. Because of the "convenience" factor, combined with the naivette of youth, they will jump all over this (if Penney starts selling better quality merchandise).

It's do-able.

Last Edited by cRoSS FiRe on 07/27/2012 10:10 AM

I'm just wondering when even their most loyal customers are driven away, and they are on the verge of having to close half or more of their stores will Johnson go the Obama way and say his plans worked?

I'm split on whether or not this will shoot the company in the proverbial foot.

I like your new avatar. :)

Only if Penney gets a slice of stimulus.

With this current administration, everything is opposite.

Bye Penney. Nice knowing ya!

Like that stuff is secure. :)
Shoplifting JUST GOT A WHOLE LOT EASIER at J.C. Penney's.

Remember the self checkouts at WALMART?
LOFL the Self-Checkout lanes in WalMarts are ALL SHUT DOWN
in the stores near where I live.

It's a Joke.

How will the wetbacks eat?

Well, I guess there is an up side to this after all...

I don't shop there but if I did I would still shop there after this.


It would be like the apple stores. The sales associates carry a modified iPhone where you can check out. No waiting in line to check out. If you want to use cash there is a Register in the back for cash transactions.


So you can still use cash. And in my opinion the shopping in an apple store is much more convenient and less stressful than shopping anywhere else.


I do however think that this is a last ditch effort by JCP to not go under.



One problem I see with this is most people when shopping for clothes will pick 2-3 pairs of jeans for example. Then decide on one. That is not he case with apple stores.


So it might almost force people to buy something they didn't want and then return it because they would buy it before thinking about it. This might bite them in the ass.

How does this make shoplifting easier?

The self-checkouts at WalMart utilize the same scanning tech that the cashiers use, but without the hiccups.

Many, many retail stores and malls on the international scene have already implemented this technology.

It's not as fail as you think.

In bold. My jury is still out on that. I want to know more about the likely connection between Johnson & JCP. I want to know... why JCP.

I refuse to use the self-checkout lines at the grocery store.

Cashiers need jobs, computers do not.

yep, they've lost my business also....

^^that^^ is why I won't conform.

I agree with most of the other posters. JCP's recent strategies will result in the death of what WAS a good store. I just want to know which will bite the dust first: Sears or JCP? Any opinions?

The traditional retail shopping experience is just getting worse and worse. I am an early retiree, part of the group who used to make up a good part of the mall's business (too much leisure time); and I rarely go to the mall any more.

In fact, here in the Denver metro area, there is only one major mall that seems to be doing fine (Park Meadows in the affluent south metro area). Most of the other malls in metro Denver seem to be almost deserted much of the time.

More stores going out of business will just add to unemployment. All in all, the state of "traditional" retail is a REAL shame.

It is easy to see how this works in a high tech slow traffic invironment. JC Penney's is a department store in a mall for crying out loud. There is no way they will be able to make that work. Way too many completely non-tech items and non tech customers for that to work.

Sears might be safe for awhile, because of the automotive side of things?

I hope, anyway. I like their warranties. Just got a new battery a couple days ago.

Do you own a car or still get around town on horseback?

Well I am certainly glad Penny's has nothing to offer that I need or desire. Unfortunately it will be the wave of the future.

Penneyless at Penney's

The tech is already in place. I'm just not getting why JCP is the retailer of choice. It seems like a poor choice to highlight wireless purchases. But yeah, it is the wave, and I think it's going to be a quick mover.

I agree. More to the point, I don't save any money by doing the work myself, so the cashiers can do it. That's partly what I pay for.

I Do agree with you, but BUT BY ACCIDENT, after using a self-checkout, and I will state I was in a hurry, when I got to my car, there were items in my cart that were not bagged. They were covered by the bagged items.

NOW, If a less-than-honest person were going to attempt this this on purpose I'm sure they would succeed more than not.

WI-FI is not as secure as you may think and you can easily
use google to find discussions on this topic.

RFID can be defeated and confused. Again you can use google to find discussions on this topic.

I don't claim to be an expert, but I do read forums like slashdot.net where people who do know about security discuss these sort of issues. That's the beauty of the internet, you can go to where people really discuss things and eavesdrop.

Imagine how fun would it be to clone the RFID tags that Walmart uses to keep track of merchandise and stick them on other merchandise?

Or for that matter, the sticky alarm tags, you know the ones
that have to be demagnetized at the register? Stick them on shopping carts in a inconspicuous place. The alarm would go off all day.

I'd RATHER pay higher prices to keep checkout people employed. I like to have human contact and communication
when I'm out and about doing things. WalMart et al does not care about anything except maximized shareholder profit.

And when they make all this digital techno mumbo crap mandatory, I'll be spending as little as possible.

Last year, Louisiana passed a law making it illegal to use cash a garage sails.

The CEO of VISA said we would b a cashless society in 5 years.