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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWalmart, Costco and other companies rethink self-checkout
The backlash against self-checkout is growing, and stores are starting to dial back on the technology after it exploded over the past few years.
Booths, a British supermarket chain, said it’s removing self-checkout stations in all but two of its 28 stores. In the United States, Walmart, Costco, Wegmans and other chains have also revised their self-checkout strategies.
“Our customers have told us this over time — that the self-scan machines that we’ve got in our stores … can be slow, they can be unreliable (and) they’re obviously impersonal,” Booths managing director Nigel Murray told the BBC.
-snip-
Self-checkout woes
Self-service machines were first introduced during the 1980s to lower labor expenses. They shifted the work of paid employees to unpaid customers.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/walmart-costco-other-companies-rethink-191333559.html
I only use them when I have one or two items. Otherwise what's the point? Do I get a discount for doing someone else's work?
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MOMFUDSKI
(7,080 posts)to cut payroll and let the shoppers do the work. And the people bowed to their bullshit demands.
Merlot
(9,696 posts)And that's why I refuse to use them. I'm not going to increase the bottom line of a large corporation.
Renew Deal
(85,179 posts)Other than how they rethink about adding more and then add them
LiberalFighter
(53,544 posts)giving her shopping list to the clerk. And the clerk retrieved all of the items.
hatrack
(64,908 posts)
Celerity
(54,444 posts)
Ferrets are Cool
(22,964 posts)I have never been there and not be able to get a regular cashier, IF I so wanted. It is nice to be able to run thru a self check out line THERE if you only have a couple of items.
Walmart, NOT SO MUCH. I LOATHE the self check out at Walmart. 
ForgedCrank
(3,096 posts)been my primary issue.
I like the self-checkout for small amounts of items. But some stores got rid of all but one or two cashier lines, so everyone is piled up in line for self-checkout because there is no other option, and now it takes three times as long to get the hell out of the place.
Couple that with the fact that you have this little tiny platform to work with that forces you to be bent over the entire time doing it, and I'd had enough. I don't shop at those places anymore because of this.
Costco is very efficient with it, they have plenty of people helping the self-checkout section, and large, waist-high work platforms so I don't overstress my blown out back being bent over the entire time.
Tree-Hugger
(3,379 posts)I am at Walmart, Costco, and Wegmans weekly and all three stores have expanded their self checkout within this last year. Wegmans just recently changed their self checkout station computers/scanners so they are swankier and they no longer accept cash, which is fucking stupid. Our Walmarts have also upgraded their self checkout machines. They also removed more regular lanes to make them flexible lanes, where you have either a person or it is self checkout. They always remain in self checkout mode. Whole Foods took out the express lanes and turned them into self checkout. Our Giant has always had self checkout, but has added more convertible lanes like Walmart as has Weis. Weis and Giant have the absolute worst software.
Two other stores just added self checkout - Kohl's and Aldi. Our Kohl's removed 6 or 8 regular cashier stations and they are now self checkout. No cash accepted.
Our Aldi's have been converting over the last 4 months and now all 3 that I shop at are self checkout. This one is hard. On one hand, the fact that their self checkout doesn't take cash pisses me off. On the other hand, Aldi cashier checkout is so speedy it gives me anxiety. Haha.
That was a lot of words to say that, anecdotally, I find the opposite to be true and self checkout is expanding.
japple
(10,459 posts)afraid I'll drop my money on the floor or something else equally clumsy and hold up the line. It's almost like they're in a competition to see how fast they can get you out of the store!
Conjuay
(3,070 posts)They realized more product was leaving the store than was being paid for.
It isn't very tricky to palm an item while bagging another.
Don't ever think they are reaching out in the hope of better customer service. You could probably drop down dead in an aisle and the only reason management would be concerned is that other people couldn't reach items that your lifeless corpse is blocking.
deRien
(329 posts)because I guess I've become a germaphobe and dislike others handling my "stuff"... irrational, probably...
True Dough
(26,691 posts)were all placed there by someone who handled them. Hard to avoid.
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)They have three or four folks at the self-checkout area, either guiding shoppers in or assisting shoppers with the scanners. It occurs to me that if they opened two more lines (the checker and the bagger/putter back in the carter person), they'd clear the checkout area quite quickly and efficiently.
NowISeetheLight
(4,002 posts)My Walmart is just completing a major remodel. It's actually very nice. The only thing I don't like is the number of self check lanes like doubled... but it's still one poor staffer running around helping people.
We have a lot of snowbirds in my area and they can be "technically challenged" at times. It was always bad enough being behind them at the cashier as they counted change out of a coin purse. Give them a computer and scanner? Paralysis ensues.
(Note - This is meant to be humorous).
Anyway. They used to have a human at the old self check area. When I buy liquor they ring the liquor up at their register, then you do the rest at self check. It was OK. Now the human register is completely gone. So you end up going to the one or two human cashiers, which always have giant lines and full carts, it sucks.
I hardly go into the store anymore. The drive up pick up service is great.
radicalleft
(576 posts)I got a chuckle out of that...and you are spot on. I'm genx and recently saw a meme that read something to the effect of: we adapt to new tech like a millennial, but complain about it like a boomer...
NowISeetheLight
(4,002 posts)I consider myself lucky that I've stayed up to date on tech. I remember my Dad bringing a huge box home one day from worked. Walked in from the garage, set it on the floor, said "Hook it up", and went upstairs. I was in Jr High and worked in AV. It was one of those huge old style top load VCRs (our first).
My husband is "technologically challenged". Bless his heart, I sometimes get frustrated by it, when something that to me seems so simple but he struggles with. Anything with the computer, forget it. Then again, I'm sure an auto mechanic would lose it watching me trying to change the oil in my car. We all have things we are good and bad at.
enid602
(9,696 posts)The self checks really get clogged when people are checking out a whole shopping cart (or two) of groceries.
Last edited Tue Nov 14, 2023, 07:05 PM - Edit history (1)
It's about buggies, baskets, and balance.
It used to be that people with baskets hit the self-checkout, and people with buggies hit the normal checkouts. There were enough checkout registers open so there was a balance between the two. Everybody had the two choices and was reasonably happy.
Fast forward to 2020 and now they are closing down most of the checkouts. Now people with buggies are jamming up the self-checkouts. Nobody has a choice, and nobody is happy.
honest.abe
(9,238 posts)The cashier lines tend to be long and slow. The self-checkout I usually wait just a few minutes.
PortTack
(35,820 posts)BComplex
(9,917 posts)
TygrBright
(21,363 posts)Happy Hoosier
(9,535 posts)I don’t need someone to drag my items over a scanner. It doesn’t save time. It doesn’t add value.
TheBlackAdder
(29,981 posts)Bev54
(13,435 posts)all checkout lanes will be open on the weekends and they are. I went with my D-I-L a few months ago and it was really busy in the store but the checkouts did not have any lineups.
3catwoman3
(29,424 posts)The one at the Meijer grocery store near us always “talks back” and has one or another complaints about incorrect technique. I usually end up needing human assistance.
Maybe SOME of those things function as they’re supposed to. Somewhere. Plus, if you’re paying cash, you need to have at least one other person with you to watch out for thieves and panhandlers. It’s difficult to keep an eye on everything. Maybe not in Beverly Hills or similar places, but when I’m in the States, it’s usually not in Beverly Hills or similar places.
getagrip_already
(17,802 posts)If it adds one more employee who needs a job it's worth it.
lastlib
(28,286 posts)If they don't pay me for doing THEIR work, I won't do their work. I never made them do their own portfolio analytics when they came into the bank where I worked........... I'm no more trained to be a cashier than their cashiers are to be portfolio analysts.
BComplex
(9,917 posts)Not going to happen. Just makes the employees' lines longer.
obamanut2012
(29,371 posts)getagrip_already
(17,802 posts)Management will have to balance workloads to workforce levels.
It can have an impact. It's all on management.
kimbutgar
(27,257 posts)So I only use them for 1-3 items. Otherwise I go to a check stand.
Shermann
(9,062 posts)That means pushing that help button which nobody pays any attention to.
Your only realistic option at that point is the good old "chug and run" (the boozy version of the chew and screw).
kimbutgar
(27,257 posts)
Ms. Toad
(38,648 posts)It automatically sends a call for help, then continue to check out everything else. I've never had to wait for anyone.
ARPad95
(1,672 posts)I prefer doing things myself. 
Prairie_Seagull
(4,696 posts)IMO.
We will hear soon that it saves a penny on a rack of Oreos or ...
EarthFirst
(4,156 posts)Often with only two employee check out lanes; and a single employee standing watch over the inevitable self-checkout issues…
This isn’t a local or regional supermarket; this is Wegmans.
japple
(10,459 posts)self-check. The last time I was there, I think there was one cashier checkout and it had a line of waiting, irate customers a mile long. Everyone was grousing. I've almost stopped shopping at Kroger except for a few items that I can't find at Food City. Am really happy that there are now (new) Publix stores fairly close by that I can go to when I happen to be near. Publix has become my happy place. The stores are so clean, well organized, and well-stocked and the employees are friendly and helpful.
Bonx
(2,353 posts)Demobrat
(10,299 posts)Safeway, only works for full price items. If you try to take advantage of a deal, just forget it unless you like spending time at the customer service counter after you check out. Buy one, get one free? Nope. On sale this week? Not for you. Manager’s special? Don’t believe it. You WILL be charged full price.
If I run in and buy one or two full price items I might use self checkout, otherwise no way. I have learned my lesson well.
Ms. Toad
(38,648 posts)I know the prices of the items in my cart, and I can immediately flag the need for someone to fix it **before** I complete checkout. Absolutely no need to checkout and then get it adjusted at the customer service in ANY store where I've used self-checkout (and I use it whenever I can).
On the on the other hand, I can't see the prices on at least half of the staffed scanners - and invariably I end up with a half-dozen items which are mis-priced. Then I have to decide whether it is worth a trip back to have the price adjusted. And if it is, I have to put the receipt (and notes to myself) someplace where I'll find it the next time I go to the store.
You do realize that the self-scanners use the same database as the staffed scanners, don't you? If you're running into problems with the self-scanners, you would have run into the exact same problems with the staffed lanes - but, in at least half of the places I shop, you just wouldn't see it since the staffed lanes often don't have a customer-facing screen (or I'm so busy unpacking the cart that I don't see items go by).
obamanut2012
(29,371 posts)Sale items, BOGO, clearance, etc. The only thing I can't is alcohol, but that is a CA state law.
I like it because I can do it fast, and because I do not get ripped off by a wrong price.
obamanut2012
(29,371 posts)Sale items, BOGO, clearance, everything. Only alcohol can't be rung up.
I'm in CA.
BComplex
(9,917 posts)It takes 1/100th of the time it takes waiting in line for a checker and a slow customer to FINALLY find their money, SLOWLY hand it to the slow checker, and then SLOWLY put everything else back in their pocket/pocketbook.
Self check out saves WAY more time, and less aggravation.
Bev54
(13,435 posts)with people putting full carts through and not knowing how to search for items and taking up the time of the clerk watching the checkouts. I have often wondered if they have teams that take up the time of the clerk while the rest of them are bagging stuff without scanning.
obamanut2012
(29,371 posts)
EllieBC
(3,639 posts)people it’s a worthwhile convenience to give them free labour so you don’t have to actually talk to someone.
Except the scanners are slow, the discounts don’t always work, and the damn scale never seems to grasp you have already added in your cloth bags.
2naSalit
(102,843 posts)If that's all there is, I'll leave without buying anything.
Bev54
(13,435 posts)don't give a shit. It is because they are losing more money to theft.
Oopsie Daisy
(6,670 posts)Most of the time, I'm faster than the cashiers. And there's always a helper to scan the heavy items without removing them from the cart. --- If my cart is full to the brim, then I'll head over to one of the regular checkout lines.
Sympthsical
(10,972 posts)No, no, no, no, no.
Because when I have Winifred buying eight months of groceries in front of me when I'm there for cat litter and milk, no.
They finally - finally - just installed a pizza kitchen in our food court and added lanes to the gas station. Let us have one year of being the Good Costco.
Ms. Toad
(38,648 posts)* It is faster (I'm faster than any checkout person I've encountered, except perhaps at Aldis - not to mention that the lines are shorter)
* It is more accurate (I catch pricing errors and call for assistance to correct them immediately, rather than having to return to the store, if I decide it is worth it to have the error corrected)
* No more squished produce/bread that I spent time choosing because it was not bruised - I am in complete control over whether delicate items get smashed
* Easier unpacking when I get home - I can pack the bags with unpacking in mind. All of the things that go in one place at home get put in one bag.
There are two machines/kinds of machines I won't use:
The one recently installed at Buelher's - it is a disaster. Each produce item must be looked up individually (not by bar code) and you can't enter a quantity - so you have to do multiple lookups if you have multiple of the same item of produce. And the lookup categories are illogical.
Weight-based machines which accuse me of stealing stuff if I rearrange things in the bags on the post-scanning side.
Otherwise I'm thrilled with self-checkout.
obamanut2012
(29,371 posts)
FakeNoose
(41,677 posts)... and the stores can't stop it from happening - THAT's when they'll see the value of employee checkers.
Some stores in some areas will never have to worry about shoplifting. So I'm not talking about those stores. But there are other neighborhoods where shoplifting is common or at least more likely to happen. Merchants will suffer losses for only so long, then they'll either hire more employees or they'll close up shop and move somewhere else.
progree
(12,988 posts)I've read that a number of chains have begun putting limits on the number of items one can use self-checkout for.
I guess it's actually easier to spot shoplifting (e.g. not scanning some items) with relatively small orders, than with like 50 items.
(Lunds and Byerlys is a Twin Cities area chain so most people haven't heard of them).
Edited to add:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/here-s-why-walmart-target-and-kroger-should-drop-self-checkout/ar-AA1brlt4
Various excerpts:
It's a reasonable setup when a customer has a few items. When they have more, it becomes a logic puzzle as there's limited staging space. That means that as you bag your items, it makes sense to put the full bags back into your cart. Doing that puts paid items next to unpaid ones and makes theft, both the intentional and the unintentional kind much more likely. (I never do that -- put scanned items next to yet-to-be scanned items in the same cart. I put scanned items in bags on the floor if i have to).
"Theft accounts for nearly 4% of inventory for retailers with self-checkout, compared to just 1.5% for traditional checkout," according to a report from the U.K.'s University of Leicester.
"Proving intent is difficult where customer non-scanning is identified and deciding whether prosecutions can be made or not is potentially a legal and customer relations minefield," they wrote in their report.
yagotme
(4,135 posts)Couple of months ago, I had 3 or 4 items at Wal-mart. Waited for the person in front of me at self-checkout to finish. They threw an item in a bag, and left. I was in a bit of a hurry, I stepped up to the scanner, scanned first item, glanced at "Total", and did a double take. "$43.20." Whoa. I scanned a $3 item. Looked at list, person before me scanned a $40 phone card, and left. Notified employee, said previous customer put an item in bag and left, and scanned a card, and their answer was basically "Don't care." Well, if I hadn't caught it, and had it cancelled, I would have cared...
marybourg
(13,642 posts)conveyor belts which carry your scanned items away from you and right next to the path of departing patrons. I will never use them!
OAITW r.2.0
(32,164 posts)Everything flows better and it's a lot easier to pack. I always opt for the cahier line, I don't feel like being taught machine language for each system a store adopts, And they are usually different.
I bethcha a bigger problem is theft. Pretty easy to pretend swipe on an expensive item without raising suspicions.
totodeinhere
(13,688 posts)I expect a store employee to check me out, I shouldn't have to pay for the goods I am purchasing and also have to check myself out. That is unacceptable customer service.
Warpy
(114,616 posts)but I'm too blind to use them properly so I hate them.
SeattleVet
(5,903 posts)There were NO actual checkout lines open in the evening, and they had one employee monitoring (who I recognized as one of the regular cashiers) and a security guard watching to make sure that everything got rung through.
I told them as I left (after the person that is normally a cashier had to intervene due to problems with the self-checkout scanners) that I would only use it again if they gave me the employee discount, since I was doing their job for them.
The other problem was that (as the sign right above the scanner station stated), I could not get the usual veteran's discount or other types of discounts at the self-check, but there were NO other options open.
I usually avoid them at Costco, also. I'd much rather support the workers than assist in replacing them with machines.
Jilly_in_VA
(14,385 posts)They don't pay me enough to use it. I might if I only have one or two items, otherwise, nah.
AdamGG
(1,885 posts)that their self-checkout inconvenience fee involves an occasional buy one get one. I'm not saying that I've done that, because I would have really meant to scan everything, but accidents happen...
ellie
(6,975 posts)Because I don't work there.
slightlv
(7,790 posts)and that was at one of the grocery stores here. I DETEST self checkouts... prices have still gone higher and WE'RE doing the work of employees the stores should be hiring... thus supporting our communities. I live in a small town, so this is a very big deal to me. Up until this one time, I refused to use the self checkouts. In fact, whenever my husband approached them I started in on my spiel against them, regardless of who was near to overhear me. If he insisted "it's only a few items" I would completely walk out of the store and go sit in the car, and he got to hear the spiel again as we drove home.
It hasn't broken him of this new "habit" yet... but I'm hearing ideas on this from him that are more in line with my way of thought. So I guess I'm having some impact.
Note... the one time I had to use self-checkout, the damned thing errored on me. After hunting down the person in charge, SHE checkout out the rest of my groceries, so I might as well have been at the checkout line.
I will NEVER use these machines by choice. They're job killers and force our young people... and not so young... out of summer experience jobs and even worse for people who are out of their teens. That deflates the amount of money circulated in our community and instead, gives it to shareholders and owners who couldn't care less about where I live. I say bullcrap. I support our local markets (what there are left of them), and will NOT do unpaid work for greedy oligarchs.
I realize my opinion may be in the minority, but I feel I have definite, righteous reasons for being a luddite in this case. After 30+ years in IT, I refuse to take a job away from a real person. YMMV
JoseBalow
(9,494 posts)
ProudMNDemocrat
(20,906 posts)They do NOT pay taxes or contribute to the well being of a community.
Having worked as a cashier and Customer Service, I prefer humans to check me out. I support working men and women.
fierywoman
(8,595 posts)the number of that article? -- or search for it? And Costco checkout doesn't accept cash, so phooey on them.
dwayneb
(1,107 posts)Please place your item in the checked area (after you have done it).
Please place your item in the checked area (after you have done it).
We are calling an associate to help you.
We are calling an associate to help you.
We are calling an associate to help you.
Half ass programming they release this crap to the public without ever testing it in the real world.
fierywoman
(8,595 posts)you bought a bottle of wine -- but I'm 72...
SCantiGOP
(14,720 posts)They always have someone there to help for anyone who needs it.
My proposed solution is to give a small - 3 to 5% - discount for the self checkout lanes and let people decide.
niyad
(132,493 posts)complete with dozens of new self-checkout registers.
I refuse to use the ones at my supermarket. Right after the last contract, when employees won a slight raise, the chains retaliated by adding more self-checks, expecting customers to unload and bag their own purchases. I also refuse to bag my own purchases without an employee discount, since it is not an Aldi's.
Given the amount of theft they claim, one would have thought sekf-check a really stupid idea.
no_hypocrisy
(54,919 posts)Sure, we have a few self-checkouts, but the vast majority of our customers have a rapport with their favorite cashiers and they wouldn't give that up for anything.
twodogsbarking
(18,807 posts)They are rude and in the way and the cost is spread to those who shop in store.
radicalleft
(576 posts)I know these folks are just doing a job, but damn! Those massive carts and the speed that they run around the store trying to fill those orders...annoying as hell
twodogsbarking
(18,807 posts)
madinmaryland
(65,731 posts)For the little stuff, we might go in once every couple of weeks and use the self checkout. Never really have any problems, except when I buy beer and need to get an ID check (I’m 60)!
AllaN01Bear
(29,519 posts)check out plz
dalton99a
(94,207 posts)often causing long lines. The inflexibility is idiotic.
Liberty Belle
(9,707 posts)I have only ever used self-checkout twice in my lifetime, once when I needed medicine and other stores were closed, the other when the line at the only station with a checker was a mile long and I had dinner guests arriving soon.
Automated checkout takes jobs away, often good-paying union jobs. Also I value the human interaction of having a clerk to talk with. My mother, when she was elderly with no living friends left, really enjoyed visiting with clerks at stores she frequented.
moniss
(9,058 posts)If an unscrupulous person has access to your checking account info, usually by working for a place you paid with a check, they can have one of the on-line check printing places print checks for them and sent to their address. The printer may not even verify with the bank what the address on file is before printing the checks. When they go into a Home Depot or Walmart etc. to the self checkout the scanner is just reading the routing number and account number at the bottom of the check and it is submitted for electronic payment. The "customer" just takes the paper check with them and can dispose of it so even if they would be caught, the stores don't keep security footage for long periods, they can dispute it was them. I had this fraud happen to me years ago. These things are Telechecked etc. and so the store gets it's money and so has no incentive to pursue a crook and the check services aren't going to go after someone over $100 bogus check unless they have all the info about the person right in their lap. At least if you use a check at a till with a person they can at least get ID etc. Now maybe that's phony as well but the presence of a person versus non-presence is a deterrent because the risk is higher.
elocs
(24,486 posts)I go early in the morning when there are fewer people and there are always a couple of employees walking around the self checkout area if you have a problem. I can put my items in my cart exactly as I want them without the need to deal with a checkout person.
So, it's my choice to use self check out and I thought Democrats were supposed to like people to have a choice.
AllaN01Bear
(29,519 posts)
Owl
(3,770 posts)marybourg
(13,642 posts)self checkouts with long conveyor belts to carry your scanned items away from you, and right into the path of the right hands of departing shoppers. ??
Xavier Breath
(6,644 posts)It's bad enough that you have to scan and then bag your own stuff, but then you also have to play security guard and make sure no one waltzes out with your grapes, Ovaltine or T-bones. Occasionally they'll throw a bagger over to one of the three long self-serve lanes to help out, but that's still the majority bagging their own groceries and watching out for sticky fingers.
And, while we're on the subject: who the hell trains these people, anyway? I intentionally place all the cold stuff together on the belt, but then it gets scattered in the bagging process unless I stand vigilant and continuously offer helpful hints to "Mason" about what items should be bagged together. No, the french fries go in the bag with the cold cuts, not in the bag with the fabric softener.
marybourg
(13,642 posts)directly into the speaker of their phones.
rickford66
(6,066 posts)At least it was cash. I don't like using credit. I mentioned that I won't be able to get my military discount and the woman watching the checkout area came over, put in a few codes and I got my discount.
The Revolution
(897 posts)I love them because I'm no longer stuck waiting in line for half my trip. With human checkers I always picked the slow lane. And in the rare cases when they opened a new lane, the person waiting the least amount of time always jumps into the new lane. It was honestly infuriating.
Now the self checkout is so popular that I often see human checkers waiting idle while people wait in line for the self checkout. I go where there's no line.
I see a lot of people saying the store isn't paying them, but your time has value. If the self checkout saves me 20 minutes waiting in line, then that is giving me something of value
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(135,789 posts)I don't think any store I've shopped at is that bad. If that's the case where you are it sounds like a real disrespect for customers and working people by the merchant(s).
MistakenLamb
(791 posts)Its simple and quick
electric_blue68
(26,877 posts)Thinking with say 1-3, maaaybe 4 items self checking might be faster, and especially useful if one was in a rush. I've used them on occasion.
I rather have more people working! 👍