Self Checkout (1 Viewer)

[Nisey55]

this is funny, but true:

Think they ripped down that ceiling tile behind it took craft the sign from?
I prefer self check but what I don't prefer is the fact that they are saving money by having us do the work but the prices are ever skyrocketing.

 

[Nisey55]

Aldi is the same. You look at the lines and think "Damn, Ima have to wait" Nope, those cashiers don't play, they fill the cart, then you move to the bagging area and bag it yourself. Quick and efficient.

Some years ago after yet another natural disaster I was in the Rouses in Gonzales, people were buying WAY too much stuff and had lines forever.
I finally thought, why not help? I asked the poor cashier if she wanted me to bag for her since her customers were just standing there doing nothing. (It was set up in a way that another person could bag) Everyone appreciated it.
It went much quicker and the guy behind my cart unloaded my items, and I believe started a chain reaction.
But one of the women I bagged for still just stood there, wouldn't even put the bags in her cart, I wanted to break her eggs and smash her damn bunny bread.

 

[bigdaddysaints]

i have Walmart Plus. i mostly use it to save money on gas it pays for itself. one feature it has that i have yet to use is Scan and Go. basically, i Scan the items as i shop. when i am done, i still have to go to a self checkout to pay, but i just scan a QR Code and it charges my card and i walk out .
but i never remember to bring my own bags..

 

[Nisey55]

i have Walmart Plus. i mostly use it to save money on gas it pays for itself. one feature it has that i have yet to use is Scan and Go. basically, i Scan the items as i shop. when i am done, i still have to go to a self checkout to pay, but i just scan a QR Code and it charges my card and i walk out .
but i never remember to bring my own bags..

If you forget the bags, just grab some on the way into the store.

 

[Optimus Prime]

NEW YORK (AP) — The promise of self-checkout was alluring: Customers could avoid long lines by scanning and bagging their own items, workers could be freed of doing those monotonous tasks themselves and retailers could save on labor costs.

All that has happened since the rollout of self-checkout but so has this: Customers griping about clunky technology that spits out mysterious error codes, workers having to stand around and monitor both humans and machines, and retailers contending with theft.

“Going to the grocery store used to be simple, and now it’s frustrating,” said Cindy Whittington, 66, of Fairfax, Virginia. “You’re paying more. You’re working harder to pay for merchandise at their store. And it’s become an ordeal to check out. I should get a 5% discount.”

In 2021, self-checkout usage represented 30% of transactions, almost double from 2018, according to a survey of retailers by FMI, an industry group. And 96% of retailers surveyed offer self-checkout.



But the technology is also facing a reckoning amid the critical holiday shopping season. Some retailers are adding restrictions, while others are pulling out completely.

This past fall, Walmart removed self-checkout kiosks in three stores in Albuquerque, New Mexico as part of a location by location approach, but on the whole it is adding more than it is taking away. To reduce wait times, Target is now limiting the number of items to 10 that shoppers can scan in a handful of stores nationwide.

British supermarket chain Booths has been getting rid of its self-checkout at the majority of its stores for the past 18 months in reaction to customer backlash. A year ago, grocery chain Wegmans, citing “losses,” discontinued its self-checkout app that lets shoppers scan and bag items while they shop. However, it continues to offer self-checkout registers at its stores.……

Love it or hate it, self-checkout is here to stay. But it's going through a reckoning

The promise of self-checkout has meant that customers can avoid long lines by scanning and bagging their own items. But it has also meant shoppers griping about clunky technology.

apnews.com

 

[Zack Lee]

NEW YORK (AP) — The promise of self-checkout was alluring: Customers could avoid long lines by scanning and bagging their own items, workers could be freed of doing those monotonous tasks themselves and retailers could save on labor costs.

All that has happened since the rollout of self-checkout but so has this: Customers griping about clunky technology that spits out mysterious error codes, workers having to stand around and monitor both humans and machines, and retailers contending with theft.

“Going to the grocery store used to be simple, and now it’s frustrating,” said Cindy Whittington, 66, of Fairfax, Virginia. “You’re paying more. You’re working harder to pay for merchandise at their store. And it’s become an ordeal to check out. I should get a 5% discount.”

In 2021, self-checkout usage represented 30% of transactions, almost double from 2018, according to a survey of retailers by FMI, an industry group. And 96% of retailers surveyed offer self-checkout.



But the technology is also facing a reckoning amid the critical holiday shopping season. Some retailers are adding restrictions, while others are pulling out completely.

This past fall, Walmart removed self-checkout kiosks in three stores in Albuquerque, New Mexico as part of a location by location approach, but on the whole it is adding more than it is taking away. To reduce wait times, Target is now limiting the number of items to 10 that shoppers can scan in a handful of stores nationwide.

British supermarket chain Booths has been getting rid of its self-checkout at the majority of its stores for the past 18 months in reaction to customer backlash. A year ago, grocery chain Wegmans, citing “losses,” discontinued its self-checkout app that lets shoppers scan and bag items while they shop. However, it continues to offer self-checkout registers at its stores.……

Love it or hate it, self-checkout is here to stay. But it's going through a reckoning

The promise of self-checkout has meant that customers can avoid long lines by scanning and bagging their own items. But it has also meant shoppers griping about clunky technology.

apnews.com

I like at least part of this trend. My biggest gripe with self checkout is all the people who get up there with at least a full cart and sometimes two. I might be telling my age but in all these stores that have self checkout, those side areas of checkout used to be for 10-15 items or less and they held them to it for the most part so as not to discourage a particular type of shopper (one like me). I don’t mind running in for a handful of items if I know that I won’t end up trapped in the store. Leave self checkout and make it 10 items or less again.


I cant believe I missed this thread. My late pops was not an adventurous man. His first attempt at self checkout went horribly awry and he would often tell the story and always end it with “so anyway, that was that one time I went through self checkout”

 

[Optimus Prime]

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

 

[DaveXA]

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

I like self-checkout and as long as the workers are friendly and generally helpful. I really don't mind them checking receipts at the door, although the Safeway where I shop doesn't check receipts.

 

[Rysilk]

Might be showing my age, but I only use self checkout if I have 15 items or less, give or take a few. If I have a full cart I'm too lazy and will use a cashier.

 

[bigdaddysaints]

I bet Affirm is paying Walmart a pretty penny to put that on their self checkouts. I have used Affirm in the past to buy a new Cell Phone thorugh Motorola instead of paying all up front. the fee was way less than if i would have bought it on a CC. But i see many people getting caught up messing up their credit worse. but my biggest qualm about this would be stuck behind someone signing up for Affirm and having to wait for verifican codes, etc.. If you already have an account, i see, but when someone decides to sign up on the spot, ehh...

 

[Merl]

I have yet to have anyone check my receipt when I use self checkout. Walmart used to check them long before they added self check out but I haven't seen that in a few years.

I like self checkout for the most part. The part I don't like is when an item is too large to put on the scale or too heavy to easily lift. (case of bottled water for instance) for those items I use the hand held scanner but then it takes a few seconds for it to ask if I want to leave the item in the cart. It should know that automatically if the hand held is used.

 

[bigdaddysaints]

I have yet to have anyone check my receipt when I use self checkout. Walmart used to check them long before they added self check out but I haven't seen that in a few years.

I like self checkout for the most part. The part I don't like is when an item is too large to put on the scale or too heavy to easily lift. (case of bottled water for instance) for those items I use the hand held scanner but then it takes a few seconds for it to ask if I want to leave the item in the cart. It should know that automatically if the hand held is used.

usually only check when its large items not bagged. thats the onky time anyone cares about a receipt..

 

[mjcouvi]

Might be showing my age, but I only use self checkout if I have 15 items or less, give or take a few. If I have a full cart I'm too lazy and will use a cashier.

If you've got 15 items you're approaching the limit of self-checkout time savings, depending on lines of course, and depending on the quality of the self-checkout technology. Walmart has great self-checkout hardware/software, usually pretty quick, Kroger's is awful, usually lots of errors. Kroger I'm probably going to a human cashier with 15 items if the lines are comparable, Walmart 15 items is no problem.

 

[saintmdterps]

I have yet to have anyone check my receipt when I use self checkout. Walmart used to check them long before they added self check out but I haven't seen that in a few years.

I like self checkout for the most part. The part I don't like is when an item is too large to put on the scale or too heavy to easily lift. (case of bottled water for instance) for those items I use the hand held scanner but then it takes a few seconds for it to ask if I want to leave the item in the cart. It should know that automatically if the hand held is used.

I’ve seen you. You look sketchy. If I worked at the store I’d check your receipt like 5 times.

 

[DaveXA]

If you've got 15 items you're approaching the limit of self-checkout time savings, depending on lines of course, and depending on the quality of the self-checkout technology. Walmart has great self-checkout hardware/software, usually pretty quick, Kroger's is awful, usually lots of errors. Kroger I'm probably going to a human cashier with 15 items if the lines are comparable, Walmart 15 items is no problem.

Good point. The Safeway I shop at, the self-checkout was a pita to use and would get errors frequently and was finicky. Like when you scan an item and bag it, you'd have to wait a few seconds before moving bag to basket. Now, with the newly installed ones, it lets you bag as quick as you want and don't have to wait. It's much smoother and the lines go quicker.