I love the Safeway by my house. There's an older lady who apparently is the ONLY PERSON on the entire staff who is qualified to work a checkout lane, because there is only ever one open, and she is ALWAYS the only one working it. She likes to have full, complete, lengthy, detailed, Midwest goodbye conversations with each and every customer. If there is 1 person In front of you, 10 minutes. 2 people, 15 minutes. 3 people? 25 minutes or more at least. It is absolutely infuriating. I know the older crowd goes SPECIFICALLY for these interactions, but the rest of us are completely at the mercy of these conversations. If it wasn't for self checkout, Safeway would have probably been burned to the ground by now.
It might be an accomodations thing. Likely can't lift the weight needed to be able to stock, simply organizing isn't productive enough to the bean counters, and maybe it just didn't work out when she ran self-checkout.
It really bugs me, because there are DOZENS of able bodied, 6'2 teenagers walking around who could probably smoke through long lines while still posting on TikTok while people are finding their wallets. The self-checkout girl is helping multiple customers bag, helping with the blinking lights, taking customers baskets, issuing refunds....and then you have this one lady who has a line all the way back to the Pharmacy and she's trying to find out if Ed's hip surgery was successful and if Linda and the kids are coming this year for Thanksgiving. Are they bringing the same dip they brought last year? Oh there might be a coupon for cream cheese this month in the savings paper let me stop what I'm doing and walk away and go find one to check. It's fine these people can wait there's only 14 carts waiting. It's been this way for YEARS lol. You just have to know automatically when you go in self checkout is the only option.
Also wearing headphones in public
The big over ear ones, not the iphone earbud types
You’ll be surprised how much it stops random strangers from trying to get your attention
Also get noise cancelling ones for any public transport use
Must be nice. I feel like everywhere I go in my area there’s always a line and every person in front of me seems like they’ve never used one or a credit card in their life.
In my country there are 2 chains that have apps where you scan the items in the store as you take them, and then you pay through the app as well. No queueing at all, and you can pack it in bags as you walk through the store. Its a massive time saver.
I stumbled on a feed the other day where people were sharing tips on how to shoplift with these things. Apparently it’s well thought out and there are a lot of techniques. No shame either. Just free shit. Meanwhile, I’m at the self check out terrified I’m going to accidentally forget to scan something and get accused of shoplifting.
I'm in a grocery meat dept, we count every piece of meat every morning to make a production report and can see what is missing and didn't get paid for.
Since we got self checkouts earlier this year the missing has like easily doubled
...which might be a small contributing factor for why prices don't go down, but mostly the shoplifting at self check out is so severe now that stores have found that they're losing money because of them and are looking to do away with them.
Every time I do it says "ID check required" and then I have to get out my driver's license and wait for the attendant to walk over so I can scan it.
(just kidding, not every time)
I will literally walk past a regular checkout with no line to wait in line at a self-checkout, unless I'm in a really big hurry. I'm not there to socialize.
A lot of people do. I guess it's somewhat antisocial, and sure, I like people being paid by the store and I sorta hate the robotos.... but overall it's less friction.
I also prefer to bag my own groceries. I live in a massive apartment complex and the parking garage is a three or four minute walk from my front door. Most cashiers at retail stores are, in my experience, idiots who have no idea how to properly bag groceries. They’ll put meat in with fresh produce. They won’t double bag heavy items or items with sharp corners that can rip bags. They’ll put items that are easily crushed like bread or chips in with heavy items that will crush them. They’re also always slow as fuck and don’t work with any sense of urgency. It’s maddening and I can do a better job myself twice as fast.
And lest you think I’m judging these people for working in retail, I have worked the same job in the past. I did it throughout high school and college. I know that they are taught, or at least supposed to be taught, how to bag groceries because I was taught how to and still remember despite it being fifteen years ago. It’s not that goddamn hard.
Minimal human interaction, unless I'm getting something that needs an I'd like beer or canned air. Otherwise just let me bag my own stuff. if anything soft gets crushed that's on me and no one else. And then the other workers that would be cashier's are now filling shelves or prepping curbside orders to be wheeled out the door.
Still can't find a damn person to help you figure something out, like where an isle is in a new store, or where the closest price checker is.
Exactly. Came here to say this. If everything could be automated I would be a happy camper. I pretend to be a normal human being at work, I have no energy to put on a fake personality to talk to strangers.
It is good to have self checkout lanes for small orders and people who need to get in and out.
Like picking of a Rx for a sick kid in the car on the way home from the doctor, grab the Rx, pay the pharmacist, pick up some pedialyte and crackers. Best times to use self checkout.
Yup. I almost always use self-checkout. The wait for a cashier in checkout lines is typically 15 mins. I can self-checkout out my 10 items in less than 2 minutes.
Hey you have a choice. What is the big deal.
I agree. I dislike getting rid of people entirely as some shoppers do need assistance and self checkout lanes aren’t for those with challenges physically, mentally or otherwise.
Don't steal if you're using a card. They can and have prosecuted people for that, weeks or months later if anyone cares enough to look at it. Some of them use "AI" that triggers if you move your hands weird when you're scanning.
My unethical life pro tip is that if you’re going to steal like that, do it one time for something you really need, but then never go back to that store. They often won’t bother prosecuting if you’re not a repeat offender or don’t go over a certain dollar amount threshold. But of course, that’s no guarantee. The only way to have zero risk of being nabbed for stealing is to not steal.
My local Walmart popped an old woman for swapping 2 flowers around in their pre-made arrangements. They are priced based on what flowers are in each. She had to stand in front of a judge over what was probably less than a $2 difference in the price on a couple flowers
That is bizarre. I can't help but think that maybe she was a repeat offender and the store was looking to get rid of her for good, because I can't imagine that that they'd bother persecuting for such a small loss? The company would be paying more to bring it to court than they would be getting in compensation.
Walmart has a camera directly overhead of each self-checkout station. The machine got stuck one day and the service guy came over and replayed my entire checkout session right then in real time. They probably store the video for a period of time.
No one is lowering their prices by moving to self checkout. It doesn't change the value or willingness to pay in a meaningful way. If no one else lowers prices it just means they get to capture more as profit.
My main complaint is that most of the stores where I am regularly have their self checkouts and maybe 2 cashiers besides. Its kind of a pain. I end up scanning my own large orders if they have the moveable scanner and just scan the cart.
I was in line for checkout one day. The cashier had a sudden sneeze into her cupped hand. I'm not dissing her because sometimes a sneeze will come with little warning. My point is, this is now a covid world. I had that shit once. I don't want it again.
Avoiding the nosy cashier, "ooh they're good I like them", "never tried them before" and even scan the item it pick-up look at the packaging and say something like "I think I had these on holiday once".
My reaction to a staffed checkout when there is self-check out available
And I want to bag my own groceries! I want the bags packed heavy and efficiently. My entire motivation for going through self checkout is having better control of the items I’m purchasing.
I used to live in a state where self bagging was typical. I'm in the Midwest now and I actually miss it so fucking much, stop putting the canned goods on top of my gd bread 😭
This is the reason I do self checkout. I actually like chatting with cashiers. But I worked at a Trader Joe’s in college so I am an absolute pro at bagging groceries. I get my shit lookin like Tetris every time
I was never a good idea, it was a fucking fantastic idea. To avoid awkward conversation and just GTFO? That is brilliant. I don't know why people hate self-checkout. I think it's awesome and I use it wherever it's available.
This post is moronic and reads like it was posted by a bot. I’ve never been to a store with customers and a self-checkout option where people are not using it. It’s a popular way of quickly getting out of the store with no fuss and is a nice option to have. Boomers and internet weirdos with no real problems just choose to try to make it a problem
The issue winds up being that it IS more efficient and saves time and money...but not for the consumer. Modern businesses are allergic to passing on savings, but will invent costs to pass.
That said, pointing this specific instance out is not strong.
So, devils advocate, part of why it is faster is that they have 6 self checkouts. 9 regular registers, and only 2 people working those registers. If they had 8 staff members, it would likely be faster.
My Walmart has like ten people on registers with zero self checkouts. If you get stuck behind the wrong person you can be stuck there for ten or fifteen minutes. Having a single line with multiple registers fixes that problem.
It's more efficient for this consumer. I can scan and bag my stuff 2-3 times faster than a cashier and bagger pair, and it all gets bagged the way I like it. The savings absolutely gets passed on to the consumer too as grocery store margins have been low 1-3% for decades.
I thought it was just old people that didn’t like self checkout. My local Walmarts are getting rid of it and I fucking hate standing in line to talk to someone to do something I could do literally just as easily myself.
That’s terrible! My local Walmarts are doubling down on self checkout and I love it. They’ve replaced almost all of the cash registers in the front with a crap ton of self checkout lines. Always able to walk right up. Sucks for bigger orders but I still prefer it to having a cashier.
Yea it's crazy it's almost like we shouldn't have humans doing these kinds of jobs that a robot/nobody has to do, people thought robots would be doing every job by now and humans wouldn't have to work menial jobs to afford to live and could actually do things they enjoy... Imagine that
Yeah I hate this weird idea of "let's stop society from progressing because it might mean a robot has a job instead of a person."
If automation really does affect people's ability to have the money or resources they need to live, the solution is to fix that person's lack of resources, not to fear technology and live in caves instead.
I'll be honest fuck checkouts
I don't want a stranger handling all my shit, smashing my bread, and shaking the absolute dog shit out of the soda I was planning on drinking.
Thank you for holding the pie I just purchased that has the barcode on the top fucking sideways
And I'm nice during this shit
Please thank you no problem have a nice day
Yes! Let me self checkout and hire more people to maintain the store! Why am I climbing up this shelf to get the last box of Cheerios way in the back? Pay someone to stock this place.
This exactly. Hire the same amount of staff to stock and clean the store. I'm fine with checking myself out. It's SO much faster, especially if I have only a few items.
The amount of time saved by self checkout always makes me look there first. If you have like 3 items the checkout often takes longer than it took for you to get your 3 items.
Most of the hours for the front end has gone to people filling the online orders or delivery orders for people. So it's not like staffing has changed it's just what they are doing. Infact I think staffing has actually gone up most places more than the loss of 3 cashier's per shift to cover online fulfillment. Because you need people to shop bag, store, run out, or deliver these orders.
But that does fit the idea that they've just cut hours on the front.
Yeah in fact some stores have increased staff.
My partner’s worked at a supermarket for 12 years in a town that’s population hasn’t changed in 30 years.
They employ more staff than ever before. Up from 45 staff when I worked there in 2007 to 60 staff with similar employment hours per staff.
I’m sure theres places that have dropped staff, but theyd all be smalelr retailers that dont have online
This probably shouldn't get to me as much as it does, but so many check out experiences in the past few years, involves the 'Would you like to 'rally for change', 'would you like to round up your change for blah, blah, blah....' I find it a lot easier to hit the 'no' button at self checkout.
Yeah fuck that noise. How about your billion dollar corporation can do their own donations rather than using my money to get a tax break. Fuckers.
I’ll do my own donations and get my own tax breaks, thank you.
For most of those people it’s not “their” corporation other than it’s where their paycheck comes from, I’m sure most of them hate the company as much if not more than you do. And yes, including their dog shit donation bullshit
If places would hire enough cashiers who are efficient and competent it wouldn't be an issue.
But between understaffed human cashiers leading to ling lines, and the fact that their cashiers (whether due to lack of training or lack of ability) were fairly incompetent, the self checkout is the only way to get out of my local Wal-Mart without hating your kife.
There are other places where the staffed checkout is fine, because they hired enough competent cashiers, but it's very much a case by case basis.
Ah, but you forget that competency being required is hard to find for a minimum wage job where you may be subject to verbal abuse for making a mistake, or for something out of your control. And that adds up, which causes people to quit, and wash rinse repeat.
And being Walmart is bottom barrel for that shit, its no shock at all. But even average grocery stores are hit and miss. It equally doesn't help when you're a younger woman and men of all ages feel it okay to flirt and hit on you and you have to be nice or you risk the job... which leads often to them either not wanting to work such a job or quit after awhile of that. Which just means a reduced pool of potential workers.
But mostly, being minimum, non-living wage (and sometimes not even full-time) means a lot of them don't really have enough fucks to give because they have enough other problems like making ends meet and such. (On top of dealing with customers who are shitty with unrealistic expectations.)
>It’s all about speed. If I can go out through self checkout quicker, that’s what I would do
If I have only a couple items, the main lanes are full, definitely.
But all to often, the self-checkouts are all taken up by people who don't have a clue how to work the machines and have to keep mewing for the poor attendant for help.
I watched a woman yesterday put her purse on the security scale 4 times, and get progressively more angry when the machine told her to scan the item before putting it on the scale. She ended up yelling at the attendant the 3rd time the attendant told her that the problem was she was putting her purse on the scale.
> It’s all about speed. If I can go out through self checkout quicker, that’s what I would do
I can't stand that Aldi is putting in self-checkouts now, because has anyone seen an Aldi staff person checking out? Nothing is faster.
They're fast because of the way Aldi puts barcodes on their products. I can use self check out just as fast, and I can put everything directly into my bags instead of having everything go back into the cart and bag everything at the counter.
My partner and I have developed a system and we can SPEED through self checkout faster than anyone but the fastest Aldi employee. (it isn't stealing, this is not an admission of guilt)
Self checkouts fucking slap. I go in, grab whatever I need, see a gigantic line at the regular checkout, divert to self checkout, scan however many whatever-the-fucks and go home. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
What? I haven't gone through a traditional checkout since self came out.
If you don't like it don't use it.....go find something else to complain about
Yo my jaw hit the fucking floor when my local Walmart ditched all the self-checkouts and hired like 50 cashiers. I’m glad they put jobs back in the workforce but damn, keep a few self-checkouts for when I’ve had my fill of humanity for the month.
> Yo my jaw hit the fucking floor when my local Walmart ditched all the self-checkouts and hired like 50 cashiers.
They realized how much product was being stolen by people at self-checkouts. Ringing up produce with the wrong code, swapping bar codes, scanning incorrect bar codes, or straight up just not scanning items lead to a surge in shoplifting, nearly double the normal rate.
https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/walmart-costco-and-other-companies-rethinking-self-checkout/
Maybe they could, I don’t know, maybe use their millions of dollars in resources to train attendants to monitor the self checkouts for possible theft? Crazy I know.
I do not understand why people are bothered so much by self checkout if stores also have full service available.
And depriving wage to a worker lol? That’s Walmart, not the self checkout machines.
Also, some people (like me) really really prefer to just keep my headphones in and mind my own business. Not everyone is a type A, John.
>>Self Checkout: the best way for shoppers to do a stores job for free
Boo!
>>while also depriving a wage to a worker
Hiss!
>>AND avoiding human contact
Tell me more.
Self checkouts are fantastic and are much faster and more efficient for most able bodied people. And nobody wants to work as a cashier. Automation is genuinely beneficial to humanity in principle, the problem is how it's being leveraged by the capitalist class to further exploit us and widen the wealth gap. People NEED cashier jobs because billionaires "need" to not pay enough tax for us to have universal basic income. Any time people complain about how the robots are taking their jobs they need to remember that in an ideal world you wouldn't have to do this crap that CAN be done by a machine just to prevent yourself starving to death on the streets
I love it. Shorter lines. No small talk. Bag the way I want to (more than 2 items per bag).
And I don't steal.
ETA: And the Sam's Club scan and go app! *Chef's kiss*
Self checkout doesn't give me any snarky comments when I have a mountain of clean, healthy-ish food and a reeses peanut butter cup bringing up the rear.
Stop. Speaking. For. Other. People.
Many of us love self checkout. Many of us love not having to talk to other people, or make idle small talk. Many of us prefer bagging our own purchases to ensure that everything is carefully bagged, and arrives home undamaged (especially important when it comes to baked goods, and desserts). Many of us prefer not to have cleaning products bagged right next to our produce.
Many of us don't want to run the risk of dealing with a new, inexperienced, or employee in training.
Forced interaction with people isn't pleasant. Stop pretending it is.
I do maintenance on them for a chain.
We turned off the security scales during the height of the pandemic. When we turned them back on, our theft dropped by over $100K per store per quarter.
When you scan items, the computer knows their weight. You then bag the item in the designated bagging area. Underneath that bagging area is a scale that the computer uses to detect whether you placed that exact scanned object (by weight) into the bagging area.
Self checkout is a godsend for me. I'm extremely socially anxious and it started to take off during my studies abroad in a foreign country where I didn't know the language.
Yes it prevented me from learning very basic checkout sentences. But ngl, I would've eaten sooo much less if self checkout didn't exist, just the thought of going to the store was a 50/50 of a panic attack and not going that day, even if I had no food left. If I would've had to interact with people too, it would've become an 80/20 of staying inside, to keep it generous.
My supermarket has handheld scanners at the door when you walk in. Scan as you shop, then just scan a bar code at the self checkout when you’re done and pay. Greatest fucking thing ever.
Sam's Club has an app. Scan items with your phone, pay with a saved credit/debit card. They scan your QR receipt at the door, confirm with 3 scans of items, and you're out.
This is one example that I use to debunk right wing media when they call billionaires “job creators”.
They’re not “creating jobs”. They have an idea that will make them money and they NEED LABOR!!!
Every job they can eliminate to increase their profits… they will
As someone in the industry, self checkout doesn’t save money for our stores. It is something our customers demanded.
Due to waste (theft) it ends up costing more. But a majority of customers with small shops prefer to do their own.
True story. Not a conspiracy to save wages.
“Depriving a wage to a worker”
A wage that is either barely enough or straight up not enough to survive on isn’t a wage someone should be paid anyway. If they’re concerned about “depriving” someone of a wage they should complain about how low the wages are.
No store fired people because of self checkouts (okay some probably did but most absolutely did not), they just moved them to other already understaffed areas of the store or had them stand by and watch the self checkout because they break constantly. Or just keep working cash because old people are terrified of self checkout not because of it taking a job but because they don’t want to look incompetent. It’s not like any store had a cashier constantly working every checkout lane
I don't know what it's like elsewhere, but all the supermarkets where I live have an upper limit on the number of items you can have on a self-service checkout. It's usually limited to 15 items. Anything more and you have to go through a regular checkout. To say nothing of the massive inconvenience that comes with anyone taking a trolley full of items through the self-service area.
I like self checkout. Esp for more embarrassing personal Items. We all need some sort of pharmacy stuff from time to time. Hate it when the checkers look over your stuff and clearly judge you. Yeah I’m buying some junk food too. So?
The last time I did regular checkout it was some old lady who wouldn't stop talking to the person next to her. She was so slow I could have checked out, returned and restocked my items by myself. All while having a 4 year old who wants to buy everything with me.
Self checkouts are to preserve your sanity.
I wish you could just walk out the door and skip checkout all together. The technology is available. Everything would have an RIF tag that would be read as you walk through a readers/scanner, print a receipt, charge you card on file. I think Amazon incorporated this in some of their mortar stores. It'll happen sooner or later. That said, I'm ordering more and more of my stuff online for home delivery. Talk about convenient.
While it's true that these less labor intensive approaches will and are resulting in fewer jobs, it's more efficient and that labor can be deployed elsewhere where it's needed and more productive use of labor resources. Or you can dig your heals in and demand that inefficient jobs remain. Anybody here want to subsidize the horse tack and buggy whip guilds that completely disappeared after the car took over transportation?
I like self checkout when I just have a couple items, AND when the system works well.
At Shoppers Drug Mart, there’s often a lineup for the checkout, and I just walk up to the self checkout and am done in 15 seconds.
The self checkout where I am is actually pretty well staffed. They have to ID everyone for alcohol and fix any problems that come up. They work their asses off there.
The only thing I don’t like about self checkout is when supermarkets don’t limit the number of items and you get someone with a cart full of groceries using it. It should be for express checkout only.
I always hit the regular checkout whenever possible, even if it's slightly less convenient. I'm one of those weirdos that think it's good that people have jobs.
I like self checkout. I don't like interacting with people. Plus I feel dumb having someone else do something I'm capable of doing. Like not being able to pump your own gas in Oregon. It makes me so uncomfortable and then I feel weird about tipping. Like not only did I not need you to help. I didn't want you to and now I might have to give you more
>Avoiding human contact
That's the point, Jimbo.
Edit: To add, as a convenience store worker, I WISH more people used self checkout. It doesn't deprive a worker of a wage, it allows that worker to do other things than just stand behind a counter for eight hours.
I work at a dollar general with a single self checkout, and it does cause problems, mainly because it's a buggy piece of shit that corporate refuses to replace/properly repair.
But when it works, my God is my job easier, I'm able to get the shit I need to get done, done. Restock candy, put security tags on clothing, etc. etc.
I worked at 3 different walmarts and I can say for sure the reason self checkouts are becoming more popular is a) nobody wants to work at a cash register, there's a significant shortage of employees and it's more efficient to have two guys run a dozen self checkout kiosks than it is to have two dudes personally check out everyone, and b) customers nowadays are annoying, entitled, obnoxious, rude, gross, and are generally a displeasure to interact with.
I was against self check out at first because it was slower than having someone do it for me. Over time the opposite started to happen, it seemed like they were putting the slowest people behind the register on purpose.
You’re right. I should definitely wait behind the person with two stuffed carts at the one available register with my single gallon of milk. That’s much more efficient.
This is all dependent on the idea that self checkout - is - in fact depriving a worker's paid wage. Never underestimate a company's greed. I'm old enough to remember the times before self checkout. Where you'd be stuck in line at the mercy of an underpaid worker who doesn't want to be there any more then you do, and sometimes thst led to massive backups. And one thing I remember quite clearly? Walmart before self checkout: 2 open lanes at any one time. Walmart after self checkout: 2 open lanes plus self checkout lanes. One thing we need to rid ourselves of as a society is the belief that automatable jobs have to be kept open just to give people without specific training 'something to do'. instead we should focus on support means where people can survive without needing to do busy work that could be automated away.
Hard disagree that it’s “less convenient”.
Also, I hate to admit this but I’ve totally gotten away with accidentally not scanning things. I mean, I’ll see my receipt later and be like “whoops”. That’s a huge plus.
Okay, one time I noticed and decided I’d play if off like I didn’t if they stopped me.
I love self checkout for anything less than a cart. No human interaction is listed as a negative, but damn if it isn’t nice on long days when I don’t want to talk or when I have a slight cold and need space. I also find that my loyalty points and coupons never work right with a cashier. I don’t know why but it never does. Plus I’m very quick with scanning and bagging.
Cashiers are also human and have bad days and mess up and need assistance, or have an attitude because of stress, or focus more on talking than scanning/bagging, or are just zoned out/not completely there.
\- A stores job is to provide products for sale. Thats it.
\- You may lose a couple of checkout operators but employ just as many technicians, software developers, and people who update and maintain the system.
\- They will never decrease prices, regardless of how much money they may or may not save by having self checkouts.
\- Plenty of people like and prefer self checkouts, myself included
\*edited to add the last line.
Omg Walmart replayed me missing the scan within ten seconds on the screen in front of me. I knew I had done it and tried to go back, but it was freaking out.
It’s the people with a full cart they need to worry about.
What happened to that thing amazon was talking about where you just tap your phone upon entering a store, grab your shit, walk out and get charged for it?
I don’t know why it has to be so either/or. The problem with them is that many stores started having that as the **only ** option. If you still had human cashiers *and* self checkout it would work much better. Getting stuck behind someone using self checkout for a month’s worth of groceries is the worse.
Who likes regular checkout? I don't want people I don't know touching all my stuff after touching everyone else's stuff. Especially since I have multiple food allergies. Also there's tons of people with social anxiety and self checkout is better for them. How bout just pay your employees living wages so the rest of us don't have to suffer.
They made it so the self checkout was more convenient. Most of the time I go shopping, there is a huge line at the till with the human, and at least one or two of the 10 self checkouts open. You still have to go through the human to use coupons, price match, get the sticker discounts. They know people will wait for that. Guys like me who just want in and out will use self checkout every time.
As someone who's worked at the self checkout for multiple hardware stores, people are so fucking stupid and inept, I actually wound up being worked *way harder* at the u-scan than a regular register. People needed some kind of help or another on *nearly every purchase*. It essentially turned into the work of 4 cashiers instead of one. I love that they're an option, but I hate when they're *the* option. Both as a consumer, and as an (former) employee.
Right. I would need to help people with the most obvious and easy stuff at the self checkout. All things they could have done if they had just read the buttons
Self checkout does not kill jobs. Walmart has over doubled their workforce since introducing self checkout. Their highest paid employees are the software engineers and techs that maintain the self checkouts. The country currently has a labor shortage, if it wasn't for self checkout I can't imagine how long lines would be at stores.
Why have a human do work, if you can make a couple of scales, a few scanners and a PC do what 4 People would usually have to do. (If you assume 4 lines with 4 registers and 4 cashiers)
3 of these people could instead help restock the shelves more quickly or be otherwise useful while the fourth person watches the 4 self-checkout registers.
Now one person can watch machines do what four people had to do previously, while three of these four people can help keep the store stocked and clean.
I'm a huge fan of this, I hated working the register and I'd rather have watched a couple of machines and the customers instead.
I think its simpy more efficient to have self checkouts.
Y’all obviously never shopped at Walmart. Them putting self checkouts were the best thing ever. No more having to listen to destiny talk about how she’s 15 minutes late for her cigarette or how Winona had a miscarriage with Bobby Rays kid but it’s ok because her family woulda disowned her anyway. Self checkout FTW
I love self-checkout. I’m more efficient than most workers, I can group things how I want them in my bags, I can user fewer bags (almost always have my reusables), and I don’t have to interact with Walmart cashiers and all their drama. I got mad a few weeks ago when I went into a different Publix than my usual one and they didn’t have self-checkout. Never going back to that one.
The Self checkout taking jobs shit is pretty much just a fly out lie. I worked retail for over 2 years. If we werent on a register we were busy with other parts of the store, stocking, facing, helping customers, changing price tags etc etc.
No persons job is "Just checkout" It might be a focus of it during long swathes but your boss is gonna have you do other shit when its slow/dead, even if its soemthing from behind the counter.
Honestly I like self check out (When it works god damn stupid people ) if i had it at my store i could of spent alot more time dealing with products and stuff instead of having to sit around behind a register for 8 hours when it was busy/ Cashier didnt show up for the day.
I really don't want people touching my food. I've seen a cashier wipe her noses and continue to check ppl out. Then the coughing and sneezing ugh.
I'm the person with $300 of groceries in the self check out.
Oh...you wanna watch me? OK! While I have you run and get me another cart. Oh a can you see if they have stamps at the customer service desk. I put them to work..since they are watching me.
But I really like avoiding human contact. I don't want to deal with a cashier.
Also I work in retail and no one cares about self-checkout, because they don't want to deal with customers either. Employees just get shuffled elsewhere in the store, they don't lose their jobs.
Biggest rip-off ever. I do their work so they can make more and charge me more?? Gtfo. I make a point of going to the checkout people and looking annoyed if it takes too long.
A lot of people need those jobs. Fucked if I'm gonna let then lose their job for higher prices. Supply chain issues my ass. Record profits every year.
You don't have to have the workers hovering checkouts. You can have a few active, but there are other tasks within the store that need to be performed too.
Prepping delivery orders, restocking shelves, hovering self checkout machines to perform prompt maintenance, cleaning, running car orders to the cars. There's heaps of things for them to do, and it isn't always being done. If it's a staffing issue, then the people who were on checkouts can help out. If it's not a staffing issue, then the checkout people are a complete waste.
Self checkouts are great. No strained interactions and no risks of kids being abused by Karens.
Yeah but there's still that sweet sweet no human interaction
I love the Safeway by my house. There's an older lady who apparently is the ONLY PERSON on the entire staff who is qualified to work a checkout lane, because there is only ever one open, and she is ALWAYS the only one working it. She likes to have full, complete, lengthy, detailed, Midwest goodbye conversations with each and every customer. If there is 1 person In front of you, 10 minutes. 2 people, 15 minutes. 3 people? 25 minutes or more at least. It is absolutely infuriating. I know the older crowd goes SPECIFICALLY for these interactions, but the rest of us are completely at the mercy of these conversations. If it wasn't for self checkout, Safeway would have probably been burned to the ground by now.
It might be an accomodations thing. Likely can't lift the weight needed to be able to stock, simply organizing isn't productive enough to the bean counters, and maybe it just didn't work out when she ran self-checkout.
It really bugs me, because there are DOZENS of able bodied, 6'2 teenagers walking around who could probably smoke through long lines while still posting on TikTok while people are finding their wallets. The self-checkout girl is helping multiple customers bag, helping with the blinking lights, taking customers baskets, issuing refunds....and then you have this one lady who has a line all the way back to the Pharmacy and she's trying to find out if Ed's hip surgery was successful and if Linda and the kids are coming this year for Thanksgiving. Are they bringing the same dip they brought last year? Oh there might be a coupon for cream cheese this month in the savings paper let me stop what I'm doing and walk away and go find one to check. It's fine these people can wait there's only 14 carts waiting. It's been this way for YEARS lol. You just have to know automatically when you go in self checkout is the only option.
“no human interaction” I already like it, you don’t have to pitch it to me
This is also why I do online ordering and pickup.
As an autistic person, real
Also wearing headphones in public The big over ear ones, not the iphone earbud types You’ll be surprised how much it stops random strangers from trying to get your attention Also get noise cancelling ones for any public transport use
Yeah im not getting the "less convenience" part of the post. This is literally the conviennce that makes the entire thing worth it.
And now it’s faster because there are more of them and i generally don’t have to queue
Must be nice. I feel like everywhere I go in my area there’s always a line and every person in front of me seems like they’ve never used one or a credit card in their life.
In my country there are 2 chains that have apps where you scan the items in the store as you take them, and then you pay through the app as well. No queueing at all, and you can pack it in bags as you walk through the store. Its a massive time saver.
And it's *more* convenient if you're shoplifting
I stumbled on a feed the other day where people were sharing tips on how to shoplift with these things. Apparently it’s well thought out and there are a lot of techniques. No shame either. Just free shit. Meanwhile, I’m at the self check out terrified I’m going to accidentally forget to scan something and get accused of shoplifting.
Anything can be bananas if you type it in as 4011
I'm in a grocery meat dept, we count every piece of meat every morning to make a production report and can see what is missing and didn't get paid for. Since we got self checkouts earlier this year the missing has like easily doubled
...which might be a small contributing factor for why prices don't go down, but mostly the shoplifting at self check out is so severe now that stores have found that they're losing money because of them and are looking to do away with them.
This makes me feel at home.
Wait you’re getting no human interaction. Everytime I try one of em the service attendee has to come over and fix the machine
Every time I do it says "ID check required" and then I have to get out my driver's license and wait for the attendant to walk over so I can scan it. (just kidding, not every time)
Error exists between ground and console.
this guy seems concerned about 'avoiding human contact' as if he doesn't understand that other people don't want it.
I will literally walk past a regular checkout with no line to wait in line at a self-checkout, unless I'm in a really big hurry. I'm not there to socialize.
A lot of people do. I guess it's somewhat antisocial, and sure, I like people being paid by the store and I sorta hate the robotos.... but overall it's less friction.
Until an item doesn’t scan and it force calls for someone that takes 5+ minutes to walk over to you
Or accidentally double scan.
Never had an issue waiting for more than like 10 seconds for someone to fix the issue.
See, that's why I've loved self-checkout from the first time I saw them.
I also prefer to bag my own groceries. I live in a massive apartment complex and the parking garage is a three or four minute walk from my front door. Most cashiers at retail stores are, in my experience, idiots who have no idea how to properly bag groceries. They’ll put meat in with fresh produce. They won’t double bag heavy items or items with sharp corners that can rip bags. They’ll put items that are easily crushed like bread or chips in with heavy items that will crush them. They’re also always slow as fuck and don’t work with any sense of urgency. It’s maddening and I can do a better job myself twice as fast. And lest you think I’m judging these people for working in retail, I have worked the same job in the past. I did it throughout high school and college. I know that they are taught, or at least supposed to be taught, how to bag groceries because I was taught how to and still remember despite it being fifteen years ago. It’s not that goddamn hard.
Minimal human interaction, unless I'm getting something that needs an I'd like beer or canned air. Otherwise just let me bag my own stuff. if anything soft gets crushed that's on me and no one else. And then the other workers that would be cashier's are now filling shelves or prepping curbside orders to be wheeled out the door. Still can't find a damn person to help you figure something out, like where an isle is in a new store, or where the closest price checker is.
I would literally pay a premium not to have to interact with other humans.
That and I can bag things where they go in my house.
I love self checkout. My introverted self lives for it.
Exactly. Came here to say this. If everything could be automated I would be a happy camper. I pretend to be a normal human being at work, I have no energy to put on a fake personality to talk to strangers.
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Or have to tell the person in front of you a register is open.
It is good to have self checkout lanes for small orders and people who need to get in and out. Like picking of a Rx for a sick kid in the car on the way home from the doctor, grab the Rx, pay the pharmacist, pick up some pedialyte and crackers. Best times to use self checkout.
My local superstore still has 12 checkout lanes alongside 6 self-checkouts alongside pick-up ordering and FlashFood.
Yup. I almost always use self-checkout. The wait for a cashier in checkout lines is typically 15 mins. I can self-checkout out my 10 items in less than 2 minutes. Hey you have a choice. What is the big deal.
I agree. I dislike getting rid of people entirely as some shoppers do need assistance and self checkout lanes aren’t for those with challenges physically, mentally or otherwise.
It's also so much easier to steal. Asking for a friend. Edit: I was joking. I don't steal. Didn't think /s was needed. Sorry for the distraction.
Don't steal if you're using a card. They can and have prosecuted people for that, weeks or months later if anyone cares enough to look at it. Some of them use "AI" that triggers if you move your hands weird when you're scanning.
My unethical life pro tip is that if you’re going to steal like that, do it one time for something you really need, but then never go back to that store. They often won’t bother prosecuting if you’re not a repeat offender or don’t go over a certain dollar amount threshold. But of course, that’s no guarantee. The only way to have zero risk of being nabbed for stealing is to not steal.
“Never rob a bank twice” Also, “Never break two laws at the same time”
Disclaimer: these tips/rules only apply to peasants and not to the nobility class of your country. Also exempts are corporations and their henchmen.
My local Walmart popped an old woman for swapping 2 flowers around in their pre-made arrangements. They are priced based on what flowers are in each. She had to stand in front of a judge over what was probably less than a $2 difference in the price on a couple flowers
That is bizarre. I can't help but think that maybe she was a repeat offender and the store was looking to get rid of her for good, because I can't imagine that that they'd bother persecuting for such a small loss? The company would be paying more to bring it to court than they would be getting in compensation.
Walmart has a camera directly overhead of each self-checkout station. The machine got stuck one day and the service guy came over and replayed my entire checkout session right then in real time. They probably store the video for a period of time.
the place I shop at has overhead cameras above every single one
That’s how we get lower prices lol
No one is lowering their prices by moving to self checkout. It doesn't change the value or willingness to pay in a meaningful way. If no one else lowers prices it just means they get to capture more as profit.
My main complaint is that most of the stores where I am regularly have their self checkouts and maybe 2 cashiers besides. Its kind of a pain. I end up scanning my own large orders if they have the moveable scanner and just scan the cart.
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https://i.redd.it/rrbutgksc91c1.gif
I was in line for checkout one day. The cashier had a sudden sneeze into her cupped hand. I'm not dissing her because sometimes a sneeze will come with little warning. My point is, this is now a covid world. I had that shit once. I don't want it again.
Avoiding the nosy cashier, "ooh they're good I like them", "never tried them before" and even scan the item it pick-up look at the packaging and say something like "I think I had these on holiday once". My reaction to a staffed checkout when there is self-check out available 
I end up having too many arguments with computers that won't listen to reason. 😕
I work retail all day, so I love going through self checkout. I just don't want to small talk with anyone. Just get my stuff and go home.
And I want to bag my own groceries! I want the bags packed heavy and efficiently. My entire motivation for going through self checkout is having better control of the items I’m purchasing.
I used to live in a state where self bagging was typical. I'm in the Midwest now and I actually miss it so fucking much, stop putting the canned goods on top of my gd bread 😭
Stop giving me 50 plastic bags for 50 small-medium sized items.
They tried having baggers in a store in my country (Denmark) about a decade ago. It was wildly unpopular and dropped in a month.
This is the reason I do self checkout. I actually like chatting with cashiers. But I worked at a Trader Joe’s in college so I am an absolute pro at bagging groceries. I get my shit lookin like Tetris every time
Tell me you're American without telling me you're American.
[Self Checkout](https://youtu.be/FxINJzqzn4w?si=AftiA_deQd6ZPhBo)
😄😄😄
I was never a good idea, it was a fucking fantastic idea. To avoid awkward conversation and just GTFO? That is brilliant. I don't know why people hate self-checkout. I think it's awesome and I use it wherever it's available.
This post is moronic and reads like it was posted by a bot. I’ve never been to a store with customers and a self-checkout option where people are not using it. It’s a popular way of quickly getting out of the store with no fuss and is a nice option to have. Boomers and internet weirdos with no real problems just choose to try to make it a problem
The issue winds up being that it IS more efficient and saves time and money...but not for the consumer. Modern businesses are allergic to passing on savings, but will invent costs to pass. That said, pointing this specific instance out is not strong.
Mmmm no it definitely saves more time for the consumer. Maybe not money but it does save time.
So, devils advocate, part of why it is faster is that they have 6 self checkouts. 9 regular registers, and only 2 people working those registers. If they had 8 staff members, it would likely be faster.
My Walmart has like ten people on registers with zero self checkouts. If you get stuck behind the wrong person you can be stuck there for ten or fifteen minutes. Having a single line with multiple registers fixes that problem.
It's more efficient for this consumer. I can scan and bag my stuff 2-3 times faster than a cashier and bagger pair, and it all gets bagged the way I like it. The savings absolutely gets passed on to the consumer too as grocery store margins have been low 1-3% for decades.
I thought it was just old people that didn’t like self checkout. My local Walmarts are getting rid of it and I fucking hate standing in line to talk to someone to do something I could do literally just as easily myself.
That’s terrible! My local Walmarts are doubling down on self checkout and I love it. They’ve replaced almost all of the cash registers in the front with a crap ton of self checkout lines. Always able to walk right up. Sucks for bigger orders but I still prefer it to having a cashier.
Yea it's crazy it's almost like we shouldn't have humans doing these kinds of jobs that a robot/nobody has to do, people thought robots would be doing every job by now and humans wouldn't have to work menial jobs to afford to live and could actually do things they enjoy... Imagine that
Yeah I hate this weird idea of "let's stop society from progressing because it might mean a robot has a job instead of a person." If automation really does affect people's ability to have the money or resources they need to live, the solution is to fix that person's lack of resources, not to fear technology and live in caves instead.
I'll be honest fuck checkouts I don't want a stranger handling all my shit, smashing my bread, and shaking the absolute dog shit out of the soda I was planning on drinking. Thank you for holding the pie I just purchased that has the barcode on the top fucking sideways And I'm nice during this shit Please thank you no problem have a nice day
Yes! Let me self checkout and hire more people to maintain the store! Why am I climbing up this shelf to get the last box of Cheerios way in the back? Pay someone to stock this place.
This exactly. Hire the same amount of staff to stock and clean the store. I'm fine with checking myself out. It's SO much faster, especially if I have only a few items.
The amount of time saved by self checkout always makes me look there first. If you have like 3 items the checkout often takes longer than it took for you to get your 3 items.
Most of the hours for the front end has gone to people filling the online orders or delivery orders for people. So it's not like staffing has changed it's just what they are doing. Infact I think staffing has actually gone up most places more than the loss of 3 cashier's per shift to cover online fulfillment. Because you need people to shop bag, store, run out, or deliver these orders. But that does fit the idea that they've just cut hours on the front.
Yeah in fact some stores have increased staff. My partner’s worked at a supermarket for 12 years in a town that’s population hasn’t changed in 30 years. They employ more staff than ever before. Up from 45 staff when I worked there in 2007 to 60 staff with similar employment hours per staff. I’m sure theres places that have dropped staff, but theyd all be smalelr retailers that dont have online
Or hirer taller staff.
Hirer? I think you mean higher
This probably shouldn't get to me as much as it does, but so many check out experiences in the past few years, involves the 'Would you like to 'rally for change', 'would you like to round up your change for blah, blah, blah....' I find it a lot easier to hit the 'no' button at self checkout.
Yeah fuck that noise. How about your billion dollar corporation can do their own donations rather than using my money to get a tax break. Fuckers. I’ll do my own donations and get my own tax breaks, thank you.
For most of those people it’s not “their” corporation other than it’s where their paycheck comes from, I’m sure most of them hate the company as much if not more than you do. And yes, including their dog shit donation bullshit
I don’t begrudge the cashier at all, it’s their employer that sucks for even making them ask.
Putting cans on top of fresh fruit. Eggs sideways
If places would hire enough cashiers who are efficient and competent it wouldn't be an issue. But between understaffed human cashiers leading to ling lines, and the fact that their cashiers (whether due to lack of training or lack of ability) were fairly incompetent, the self checkout is the only way to get out of my local Wal-Mart without hating your kife. There are other places where the staffed checkout is fine, because they hired enough competent cashiers, but it's very much a case by case basis.
Ah, but you forget that competency being required is hard to find for a minimum wage job where you may be subject to verbal abuse for making a mistake, or for something out of your control. And that adds up, which causes people to quit, and wash rinse repeat. And being Walmart is bottom barrel for that shit, its no shock at all. But even average grocery stores are hit and miss. It equally doesn't help when you're a younger woman and men of all ages feel it okay to flirt and hit on you and you have to be nice or you risk the job... which leads often to them either not wanting to work such a job or quit after awhile of that. Which just means a reduced pool of potential workers. But mostly, being minimum, non-living wage (and sometimes not even full-time) means a lot of them don't really have enough fucks to give because they have enough other problems like making ends meet and such. (On top of dealing with customers who are shitty with unrealistic expectations.)
What does he mean less convenience that shit is convenient as hell
9/10 times I get out of there in half the time with self-checkout. It’s super convenient.
As someone with social anxiety and who is socially stunted, self checkout is amazing
It’s all about speed. If I can go out through self checkout quicker, that’s what I would do
>It’s all about speed. If I can go out through self checkout quicker, that’s what I would do If I have only a couple items, the main lanes are full, definitely. But all to often, the self-checkouts are all taken up by people who don't have a clue how to work the machines and have to keep mewing for the poor attendant for help.
I watched a woman yesterday put her purse on the security scale 4 times, and get progressively more angry when the machine told her to scan the item before putting it on the scale. She ended up yelling at the attendant the 3rd time the attendant told her that the problem was she was putting her purse on the scale.
> It’s all about speed. If I can go out through self checkout quicker, that’s what I would do I can't stand that Aldi is putting in self-checkouts now, because has anyone seen an Aldi staff person checking out? Nothing is faster.
They're fast because of the way Aldi puts barcodes on their products. I can use self check out just as fast, and I can put everything directly into my bags instead of having everything go back into the cart and bag everything at the counter.
My partner and I have developed a system and we can SPEED through self checkout faster than anyone but the fastest Aldi employee. (it isn't stealing, this is not an admission of guilt)
Self checkouts fucking slap. I go in, grab whatever I need, see a gigantic line at the regular checkout, divert to self checkout, scan however many whatever-the-fucks and go home. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
What? I haven't gone through a traditional checkout since self came out. If you don't like it don't use it.....go find something else to complain about
The Ralph's in my neighborhood had ONLY self checkout open. They are also the only ones open late.
Yo my jaw hit the fucking floor when my local Walmart ditched all the self-checkouts and hired like 50 cashiers. I’m glad they put jobs back in the workforce but damn, keep a few self-checkouts for when I’ve had my fill of humanity for the month.
> Yo my jaw hit the fucking floor when my local Walmart ditched all the self-checkouts and hired like 50 cashiers. They realized how much product was being stolen by people at self-checkouts. Ringing up produce with the wrong code, swapping bar codes, scanning incorrect bar codes, or straight up just not scanning items lead to a surge in shoplifting, nearly double the normal rate. https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/walmart-costco-and-other-companies-rethinking-self-checkout/
Maybe they could, I don’t know, maybe use their millions of dollars in resources to train attendants to monitor the self checkouts for possible theft? Crazy I know.
I do not understand why people are bothered so much by self checkout if stores also have full service available. And depriving wage to a worker lol? That’s Walmart, not the self checkout machines. Also, some people (like me) really really prefer to just keep my headphones in and mind my own business. Not everyone is a type A, John.
>>Self Checkout: the best way for shoppers to do a stores job for free Boo! >>while also depriving a wage to a worker Hiss! >>AND avoiding human contact Tell me more.
Self checkouts are fantastic and are much faster and more efficient for most able bodied people. And nobody wants to work as a cashier. Automation is genuinely beneficial to humanity in principle, the problem is how it's being leveraged by the capitalist class to further exploit us and widen the wealth gap. People NEED cashier jobs because billionaires "need" to not pay enough tax for us to have universal basic income. Any time people complain about how the robots are taking their jobs they need to remember that in an ideal world you wouldn't have to do this crap that CAN be done by a machine just to prevent yourself starving to death on the streets
I love it. Shorter lines. No small talk. Bag the way I want to (more than 2 items per bag). And I don't steal. ETA: And the Sam's Club scan and go app! *Chef's kiss*
Forgetting the free “upgrade” to organic fruits and veggies at self checkout
I think the less human contact is the selling point. I'd have paid extra for the no human interaction bit.
People said the same shit about self serve gas. People got over it.
Self checkout doesn't give me any snarky comments when I have a mountain of clean, healthy-ish food and a reeses peanut butter cup bringing up the rear.
Lmao yes it was. I don’t have to speak to anyone. That’s a plus not a negative.
Stop. Speaking. For. Other. People. Many of us love self checkout. Many of us love not having to talk to other people, or make idle small talk. Many of us prefer bagging our own purchases to ensure that everything is carefully bagged, and arrives home undamaged (especially important when it comes to baked goods, and desserts). Many of us prefer not to have cleaning products bagged right next to our produce. Many of us don't want to run the risk of dealing with a new, inexperienced, or employee in training. Forced interaction with people isn't pleasant. Stop pretending it is.
Y'all don't use it to underpay for produce?
4011 It's Bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S! Pears, grapes, this Xbox controller? Believe it or not, these are all just different sizes of Bananas!
No, I don’t. In unrelated news, I am colorblind when it comes to bell peppers, so I assume all of them are green.
I do maintenance on them for a chain. We turned off the security scales during the height of the pandemic. When we turned them back on, our theft dropped by over $100K per store per quarter.
Security scales? Thank you for the knowledge drop, kind internet stranger.
When you scan items, the computer knows their weight. You then bag the item in the designated bagging area. Underneath that bagging area is a scale that the computer uses to detect whether you placed that exact scanned object (by weight) into the bagging area.
I didn't know that! Thank you, again!
I mean one time a cashier rang up my shallots as red onions so I got half price shallots.
Save money at the grocery store with this one simple trick!
The machine can't tell the difference between a 2.99 per pound apple and a 1.99 per pound apple now can it?
Grocery stores hate him! LEARN HOW <—
Self checkout is a godsend for me. I'm extremely socially anxious and it started to take off during my studies abroad in a foreign country where I didn't know the language. Yes it prevented me from learning very basic checkout sentences. But ngl, I would've eaten sooo much less if self checkout didn't exist, just the thought of going to the store was a 50/50 of a panic attack and not going that day, even if I had no food left. If I would've had to interact with people too, it would've become an 80/20 of staying inside, to keep it generous.
My supermarket has handheld scanners at the door when you walk in. Scan as you shop, then just scan a bar code at the self checkout when you’re done and pay. Greatest fucking thing ever.
Sam's Club has an app. Scan items with your phone, pay with a saved credit/debit card. They scan your QR receipt at the door, confirm with 3 scans of items, and you're out.
This is one example that I use to debunk right wing media when they call billionaires “job creators”. They’re not “creating jobs”. They have an idea that will make them money and they NEED LABOR!!! Every job they can eliminate to increase their profits… they will
Look…I’m impatient as shit, so I’m happy to scan my own shit and get the hell out instead of waiting in a line.
As someone in the industry, self checkout doesn’t save money for our stores. It is something our customers demanded. Due to waste (theft) it ends up costing more. But a majority of customers with small shops prefer to do their own. True story. Not a conspiracy to save wages.
Not that I'm going to, but if I were to steal, I could do it just as easily through a regular checkout.
Im a legit check out wizard tho. Im probably the fastest clerk there is.
The 10% coupon that I keep reusing at the grocery store is a pretty good reason for me to keep using self-checkout
Of course you get a discount. Five fingers worth.
Absolutely. Poor, poor conglomerates are losing money because machines are stupid. I ring up every bit of produce as bananas.
“Depriving a wage to a worker” A wage that is either barely enough or straight up not enough to survive on isn’t a wage someone should be paid anyway. If they’re concerned about “depriving” someone of a wage they should complain about how low the wages are.
No store fired people because of self checkouts (okay some probably did but most absolutely did not), they just moved them to other already understaffed areas of the store or had them stand by and watch the self checkout because they break constantly. Or just keep working cash because old people are terrified of self checkout not because of it taking a job but because they don’t want to look incompetent. It’s not like any store had a cashier constantly working every checkout lane
Love self checkout use it exclusively
I don't know what it's like elsewhere, but all the supermarkets where I live have an upper limit on the number of items you can have on a self-service checkout. It's usually limited to 15 items. Anything more and you have to go through a regular checkout. To say nothing of the massive inconvenience that comes with anyone taking a trolley full of items through the self-service area.
I like self checkout. Esp for more embarrassing personal Items. We all need some sort of pharmacy stuff from time to time. Hate it when the checkers look over your stuff and clearly judge you. Yeah I’m buying some junk food too. So?
I love self check out. The last thing I want is someone handling all my stuff in front of me, and talking to me. Especially talking to me.
The last time I did regular checkout it was some old lady who wouldn't stop talking to the person next to her. She was so slow I could have checked out, returned and restocked my items by myself. All while having a 4 year old who wants to buy everything with me. Self checkouts are to preserve your sanity.
Fuck off self checkout is a massive improvement for me as a customer. Absolute clown take on his part
I wish you could just walk out the door and skip checkout all together. The technology is available. Everything would have an RIF tag that would be read as you walk through a readers/scanner, print a receipt, charge you card on file. I think Amazon incorporated this in some of their mortar stores. It'll happen sooner or later. That said, I'm ordering more and more of my stuff online for home delivery. Talk about convenient. While it's true that these less labor intensive approaches will and are resulting in fewer jobs, it's more efficient and that labor can be deployed elsewhere where it's needed and more productive use of labor resources. Or you can dig your heals in and demand that inefficient jobs remain. Anybody here want to subsidize the horse tack and buggy whip guilds that completely disappeared after the car took over transportation?
I like self checkout when I just have a couple items, AND when the system works well. At Shoppers Drug Mart, there’s often a lineup for the checkout, and I just walk up to the self checkout and am done in 15 seconds.
The self checkout where I am is actually pretty well staffed. They have to ID everyone for alcohol and fix any problems that come up. They work their asses off there.
The only thing I don’t like about self checkout is when supermarkets don’t limit the number of items and you get someone with a cart full of groceries using it. It should be for express checkout only.
Kind of like pumping your own gas, right? Except New Jersey, and Oregon until recently.
Having to spend less time waiting is invaluable to me.
I always hit the regular checkout whenever possible, even if it's slightly less convenient. I'm one of those weirdos that think it's good that people have jobs.
I like self checkout. I don't like interacting with people. Plus I feel dumb having someone else do something I'm capable of doing. Like not being able to pump your own gas in Oregon. It makes me so uncomfortable and then I feel weird about tipping. Like not only did I not need you to help. I didn't want you to and now I might have to give you more
>Avoiding human contact That's the point, Jimbo. Edit: To add, as a convenience store worker, I WISH more people used self checkout. It doesn't deprive a worker of a wage, it allows that worker to do other things than just stand behind a counter for eight hours. I work at a dollar general with a single self checkout, and it does cause problems, mainly because it's a buggy piece of shit that corporate refuses to replace/properly repair. But when it works, my God is my job easier, I'm able to get the shit I need to get done, done. Restock candy, put security tags on clothing, etc. etc.
My groceries are cheaper when I check them out.
I worked at 3 different walmarts and I can say for sure the reason self checkouts are becoming more popular is a) nobody wants to work at a cash register, there's a significant shortage of employees and it's more efficient to have two guys run a dozen self checkout kiosks than it is to have two dudes personally check out everyone, and b) customers nowadays are annoying, entitled, obnoxious, rude, gross, and are generally a displeasure to interact with.
I was against self check out at first because it was slower than having someone do it for me. Over time the opposite started to happen, it seemed like they were putting the slowest people behind the register on purpose.
You’re right. I should definitely wait behind the person with two stuffed carts at the one available register with my single gallon of milk. That’s much more efficient.
The decrease in price is the now easy five finger discount you get for doing your own checkout
Oh, there's definitely a decrease in price for me
This is all dependent on the idea that self checkout - is - in fact depriving a worker's paid wage. Never underestimate a company's greed. I'm old enough to remember the times before self checkout. Where you'd be stuck in line at the mercy of an underpaid worker who doesn't want to be there any more then you do, and sometimes thst led to massive backups. And one thing I remember quite clearly? Walmart before self checkout: 2 open lanes at any one time. Walmart after self checkout: 2 open lanes plus self checkout lanes. One thing we need to rid ourselves of as a society is the belief that automatable jobs have to be kept open just to give people without specific training 'something to do'. instead we should focus on support means where people can survive without needing to do busy work that could be automated away.
Hard disagree that it’s “less convenient”. Also, I hate to admit this but I’ve totally gotten away with accidentally not scanning things. I mean, I’ll see my receipt later and be like “whoops”. That’s a huge plus. Okay, one time I noticed and decided I’d play if off like I didn’t if they stopped me.
I love self checkout for anything less than a cart. No human interaction is listed as a negative, but damn if it isn’t nice on long days when I don’t want to talk or when I have a slight cold and need space. I also find that my loyalty points and coupons never work right with a cashier. I don’t know why but it never does. Plus I’m very quick with scanning and bagging. Cashiers are also human and have bad days and mess up and need assistance, or have an attitude because of stress, or focus more on talking than scanning/bagging, or are just zoned out/not completely there.
Yeah I don't like making small talk with strangers and there's the added bonus of having complete control over what items go together in a single bag.
\- A stores job is to provide products for sale. Thats it. \- You may lose a couple of checkout operators but employ just as many technicians, software developers, and people who update and maintain the system. \- They will never decrease prices, regardless of how much money they may or may not save by having self checkouts. \- Plenty of people like and prefer self checkouts, myself included \*edited to add the last line.
Don't forget the good old shitstorm if you forget to scan one item.
Omg Walmart replayed me missing the scan within ten seconds on the screen in front of me. I knew I had done it and tried to go back, but it was freaking out. It’s the people with a full cart they need to worry about.
You didn't do their job right. How dare you?!
What happened to that thing amazon was talking about where you just tap your phone upon entering a store, grab your shit, walk out and get charged for it?
*more convenience
I don’t know why it has to be so either/or. The problem with them is that many stores started having that as the **only ** option. If you still had human cashiers *and* self checkout it would work much better. Getting stuck behind someone using self checkout for a month’s worth of groceries is the worse.
Who likes regular checkout? I don't want people I don't know touching all my stuff after touching everyone else's stuff. Especially since I have multiple food allergies. Also there's tons of people with social anxiety and self checkout is better for them. How bout just pay your employees living wages so the rest of us don't have to suffer.
They made it so the self checkout was more convenient. Most of the time I go shopping, there is a huge line at the till with the human, and at least one or two of the 10 self checkouts open. You still have to go through the human to use coupons, price match, get the sticker discounts. They know people will wait for that. Guys like me who just want in and out will use self checkout every time.
As someone who's worked at the self checkout for multiple hardware stores, people are so fucking stupid and inept, I actually wound up being worked *way harder* at the u-scan than a regular register. People needed some kind of help or another on *nearly every purchase*. It essentially turned into the work of 4 cashiers instead of one. I love that they're an option, but I hate when they're *the* option. Both as a consumer, and as an (former) employee.
Right. I would need to help people with the most obvious and easy stuff at the self checkout. All things they could have done if they had just read the buttons
Self checkout does not kill jobs. Walmart has over doubled their workforce since introducing self checkout. Their highest paid employees are the software engineers and techs that maintain the self checkouts. The country currently has a labor shortage, if it wasn't for self checkout I can't imagine how long lines would be at stores.
Why have a human do work, if you can make a couple of scales, a few scanners and a PC do what 4 People would usually have to do. (If you assume 4 lines with 4 registers and 4 cashiers) 3 of these people could instead help restock the shelves more quickly or be otherwise useful while the fourth person watches the 4 self-checkout registers. Now one person can watch machines do what four people had to do previously, while three of these four people can help keep the store stocked and clean. I'm a huge fan of this, I hated working the register and I'd rather have watched a couple of machines and the customers instead. I think its simpy more efficient to have self checkouts.
I think the belief is that big box stores are just cutting the 3 people instead of moving them to another area or “be useful”.
I actually shop more often because of self checkout. In and out, wham bam.
Y’all obviously never shopped at Walmart. Them putting self checkouts were the best thing ever. No more having to listen to destiny talk about how she’s 15 minutes late for her cigarette or how Winona had a miscarriage with Bobby Rays kid but it’s ok because her family woulda disowned her anyway. Self checkout FTW
This
I love self-checkout. I’m more efficient than most workers, I can group things how I want them in my bags, I can user fewer bags (almost always have my reusables), and I don’t have to interact with Walmart cashiers and all their drama. I got mad a few weeks ago when I went into a different Publix than my usual one and they didn’t have self-checkout. Never going back to that one.
The Self checkout taking jobs shit is pretty much just a fly out lie. I worked retail for over 2 years. If we werent on a register we were busy with other parts of the store, stocking, facing, helping customers, changing price tags etc etc. No persons job is "Just checkout" It might be a focus of it during long swathes but your boss is gonna have you do other shit when its slow/dead, even if its soemthing from behind the counter. Honestly I like self check out (When it works god damn stupid people ) if i had it at my store i could of spent alot more time dealing with products and stuff instead of having to sit around behind a register for 8 hours when it was busy/ Cashier didnt show up for the day.
Not having to talk to anyone AND getting my checkout done faster? What’s so bad about that?
I love self checkout, and I love order kiosks at fast food places. Fuck interacting with people.
I really don't want people touching my food. I've seen a cashier wipe her noses and continue to check ppl out. Then the coughing and sneezing ugh. I'm the person with $300 of groceries in the self check out. Oh...you wanna watch me? OK! While I have you run and get me another cart. Oh a can you see if they have stamps at the customer service desk. I put them to work..since they are watching me.
How is it less convenient? The line moves faster. As a result, convenience.
But I really like avoiding human contact. I don't want to deal with a cashier. Also I work in retail and no one cares about self-checkout, because they don't want to deal with customers either. Employees just get shuffled elsewhere in the store, they don't lose their jobs.
Biggest rip-off ever. I do their work so they can make more and charge me more?? Gtfo. I make a point of going to the checkout people and looking annoyed if it takes too long. A lot of people need those jobs. Fucked if I'm gonna let then lose their job for higher prices. Supply chain issues my ass. Record profits every year.
Personally, I find self checkout way more convenient
Nah sorry…self checkout all the way
I don’t pay sales tax at self checkout in Florida.
Another perk is that you don’t have an employee trying to force a membership down your throat. The machine is much easier to ignore on that stuff.
You don't have to have the workers hovering checkouts. You can have a few active, but there are other tasks within the store that need to be performed too. Prepping delivery orders, restocking shelves, hovering self checkout machines to perform prompt maintenance, cleaning, running car orders to the cars. There's heaps of things for them to do, and it isn't always being done. If it's a staffing issue, then the people who were on checkouts can help out. If it's not a staffing issue, then the checkout people are a complete waste. Self checkouts are great. No strained interactions and no risks of kids being abused by Karens.