[who_would_fardels_bear]

If they want to keep track of exactly what the product is, don't they need to search for a serial number or the exact wording on the package?

Some products have packaging that is identical except for an S, M, or L for size or an added 'X' to suggest a premium version of a product.

[discostu]

Sure. But that’s OK. Any data on the packaging that’s usable by humans is also usable by robots. And what Amazon is figuring out is that once you’ve taught the robot to use the human data it doesn’t necessarily need the not human data (barcodes).