Self Checkout

Checkout has become increasingly controversial as more retailers have moved from clerks scanning your items to self-checkout. Many chains have made the move — and reported increases in intentional and unintentional shoplifting.

A number of factors underlie the controversy.

For one, customers don't like stores handing them the burden of scanning their items and then checking their receipts to ensure they did it correctly. Honest people bristle at the idea of a store making them do added work and then showing clear distrust.

Second, self-checkout has led many chains to post workers in that area to monitor customers.

Walmart workers can shut off self-checkout lanes to check on customers who may not be scanning some items. That puts front-line staff directly in the line of fire, working as security personnel even though that's not how they'd been trained.

It's a situation that has led Target (TGT) - Get Free Report to limit self-checkout to a certain amount of items in some stores.

Kroger (KR) - Get Free Report has also struggled with self-checkout and has tested different solutions including aggressive security personnel.

Walmart has largely gone in a different direction. It has bet big on self-checkout and has now added a controversial new payment method to its self-checkout kiosks.

Walmart has become the first major retailer to enable customers to use a buy now, pay later service at checkout.

Amazon offers the payment method online, letting customers take credit-card-like loans where they pay for their purchases over time rather than all at once.

In Walmart's case, it has partnered with Affirm to offer buy now, pay later services at its self-checkout lanes.

"Eligible shoppers can easily pay over time for their favorite electronics, apparel, toys, and more in simple monthly payments when checking themselves out in-store," Affirm said in a news release.

Not every customer will qualify for a buy now, pay later loan, but those who do will be given options as to how long they want to spread out payments. Walmart, like Amazon, (AMZN) - Get Free Report does not limit BNPL to certain items.

That means people can pay over time for groceries or buy luxury items they can't afford..........

https://www.thestreet.com/retailers/walmart-makes-a-controversial-self-checkout-change