If you shop at a Macy’s in Bethesda, Md., Woodbridge, N.J., Portland, Ore; or Miami, Fla., you are in for a big surprise. These Macy’s locations will be giving out digital assistant gadgets to all customers so they can roam around on their own, without having to stop to ask questions from real live employees about “where certain departments are located” or “if a specific garment is in stock.” The gadgets will provide all the answers.
All this might mean the end to live retail sales assistants (if you can find one), forever. If this pilot program works, Macy’s will be rolling it out across the country. The digital assistants are being powered by IBM Watson.


I bet in a year or two, many more retailers will offer the digital tools as well. No more searching for someone to help you. You can now help yourself.
Very clever.
The downside, apart from no longer receiving the “personal touch”, is loss of employment for young people—something we cannot afford to lose.
Just wait until the new digital bar codetechnology is rolled out in major retailers , where the bar code will be digitally watermarked on the entire package, speeding up the checkout process 4-5x faster. A joy for consumers with shorter times new line, but it will mean fewer cashiers and more of the express check yourself out. If you’re a low skilled worker in this country, the future is dim for those minimum wage jobs. I guess they will all have to get jobs building that wall with Mexico, when Trump makes everything great again .