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There's a massive difference between retailers using technology to free up associates to do more hands-on work and using that technology to replace those associates. Freeing up will work but replacement won't. 7-Eleven's plans to rid itself of the need for store associates, by leveraging RFID-tagged merchandise and relying on payment cards and mobile purchases, is one Slushee too far.
We've dealt with this before, with Amazon and with Lawson in Japan. Like Lawson, this 7-Eleven tale involves a convenience store chain in Japan. The reason behind the Japan connection is less technological than demographic: Japan has a serious shortage of workers who are interested in manning the POS in retail. The U.S. suffers a similar problem, but it's far more pronounced in Japan.
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