Jun 19, 2017

Amazon could replace Whole Foods cashiers

Axios

AP

Bloomberg reports that Amazon might bring its automated checkout technology to Whole Foods as a way to replace cashiers and cut costs. The technology, being developed at an AmazonGo store in Seattle, lets people pay without seeing a cashier at checkout. Bloomberg cites an unidentified person familiar with the matter in saying the changes are being considered. An Amazon spokesman said there are "no plans to use no-checkout technology to automate the jobs of cashiers at Whole Foods and no job reductions are planned."

Why this matters: Around 3.5 million Americans are employed as cashiers and labor is a big expense for brick-and-mortar retailers, which is why Amazon has been trying to find a way to eliminate the hassle — and expense — of buying something from a person.

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Coronavirus dashboard

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  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 7 p.m. ET: 932,605 — Total deaths: 46,809 — Total recoveries: 193,177 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 7 p.m. ET: 213,372 — Total deaths: 4,757 — Total recoveries: 8,474 — Map.
  3. Business updates: Very small businesses are bearing the brunt of the coronavirus job crisis.
  4. World update: Spain’s confirmed cases surpassed 100,000, and the nation saw its biggest daily death toll so far. More than 500 people were reported dead within the last 24 hours in the U.K., per Johns Hopkins.
  5. State updates: Florida and Pennsylvania are the latest states to issue stay-at-home orders — Michigan has more than 9,000 confirmed cases, an increase of 1,200 and 78 new deaths in 24 hours.
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Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's Health Ministry. Note: China numbers are for the mainland only and U.S. numbers include repatriated citizens and confirmed plus presumptive cases from the CDC

Two planes with protective equipment arrived to restock Spain’s overloaded public health system on Wednesday as confirmed cases surpassed 100,000 and the nation saw its biggest death toll so far, Reuters reports.

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Driving the news: The spike's timing suggests it may be driven at least in part by the coronavirus.

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