They aren’t bringing back cashiers, they’ll have one cashier with a massive line as a deterrent to get you to download the scan as you go app on your phone so you supply the bar code scanner at your expense and they track your phone and change the digital price tags based on your Palantir profile as you walk up.
Or the other option is Walmart has started remodeling their stores into primarily warehouses. The main entrance is badged only for picker workers to hand orders to Doordash or put app orders in people’s cars. The legacy experience entrance will be a temporary secondary option until they get enough robots to make the building fully lights out and automated. Shambling automatons will emerge from the black hell portal in the surface of The Edifice with your tampons and then run facial recognition on you and sniff your car for drug and explosive residue.
I’ll do a big shop, look shocked at the line up and just walk out. Have fun dealing with my cart.
There’s no way I’ll get an app. I get they’ll have methods to entice people but I held off getting Facebook when it was the big thing, I’ll be ready for when corpos want to fuck around.
In fact I welcome it to see how I do.
I’m pretty good at not buying from Safeway when they have an item I want on app-coupon sale.
But since tje new Trump order I’ve gone completely anti-consumerist, only getting stuff I immediately need.
There are actual GOOD ways to implement self checkout though…
BAD: Me scanning individual items at a grocery store, LARP’ing as a cashier… terrible experience for all… i’m literally doing someone else’s job for free…
GOOD: me throwing my entire basket of purchases into some kind of RFID scanning bin (not sure the exact technology behind it), the screen instantly shows me the list of items and total, and i tap and pay and leave. Actual time saver, and i dont feel like i’m doing a cashier job.
In both cases, it results in a loss of jobs, which sucks… but at least #2 isnt infuriating from a customer POV
You missed a third option that already exists. At the supermarket I go to, I pick up a scanning gun with a screen on it when I walk in. As I shop, I scan things and place them in my bags. At the end, I press a checkout button on the scan gun, and it makes a little bar code on the screen. I head to tge self checkout, scan my barcode, pay, and walkout. It’s fucking seamless and amazing and should be the standard in every supermarket.
The only thing that sometimes ruins it is when there is a line of idiots at the self checkouts with full carts of groceries and I have to wait for them. There needs to be a dedicated lane for scan gun only people. Self checkout is for people with like 10 or less items, not a week’s worth of groceries.
self checkouts facilitate logging your purchase data, imcluding your biometrics and facial data.
The shop is not paying me enough to do their job. Plus I never agreed to do any of it.
I use cash, go to cashier or kiosk every time or leave shopping items behind if closed as matter of principle…
Vote everyday with:
. your choice
. your feet
. your wallet
I like it because I don’t have to talk to people. It is otherwise an inferior experience.
Retailers within the same chain seem to have different policies on how many check outs are staffed.
I’m in Australia and buy our groceries from woolworths.
There’s one I go past on my way home and there’s very rarely any proper checkouts manned. There’s usually one “express” at which you can only buy 12 items or something, but there’s usually several people queued there.
The other one where we go to do our weekly shop always has several proper checkouts manned. Usually when there’s more than 1 person being scanned and 1 waiting they will call over the PA to get another staff member to open another lane.
IDK who’s decision it is or what strategy they follow to decide which stores will do check outs what way.
Grocieres…from Woolworth? Funny. Here (Germany) it’s just a horribly shitty dollar-store without any food.
We have two chains which form an oligopoly in the grocery market here. Coles and Woolworths (Colesworth). Like tesco or something. Better presented than Aldi.
It’s always a clumsy experience for me. In some stores I just walk in, get a drink, scan, pay, and be out in less than a minute. But for my actual shopping? Way too much stuff on that little terminal thing.
I like the Inflation Compensation Checkout, because I don’t have to talk to people.
I don’t get why people think they will be more efficient and faster than someone who’s used to pass products all day. Cashiers already know where to look for the barcodes and remember the codes for vegetables without having to look anywhere. Self-checkout is only faster in the beginning because few people use it. When it becomes the only option, prepare for even longer queues with people passing the products in such calmness as if they’re doing it in purpose
The idea of the self-checkout was that you literally just pass by some scanner with a full cart and it instantly displays the list of items with prices and sum. You just need to tap your card or phone on the reader and are done with it.
The implemented reality was very far away from that idea though. That’s why it failed.
Customers are pissed because they have to do the cashier’s job. And they do compensate themselves with some extra price reduction as a system requiring cooperation obviously can’t reliably detect theft. And if you had a detective watching the cams, you could as well just go back to cashiers - which they seem to now do.In the end this is yet another failed “fake it till you make it” bet on future tech which just didn’t materialize in time. Shops can tank some customer dissatisfaction for a time and then profit a lot from being the first to do the new thing when it becomes actually possible a few months later. But pissing off the shoppers isn’t a good long-term strategy.
It wasn’t about speed, it was about reducing spending on wages
That’s right. 4-6 registers with one employee.
For most people that is definitely true. I however was a cashier for six years before graduating college and am at the very least just as fast. My problem is usually the scanner won’t keep up with me since there always seems to be a delay for the system to verify I have put the item in the bag before it lets me scan another.
You aren’t faster at checking it out per item. The supermarkets are just keeping it understaffed all the time so the human checkout has a long wait while self checkout does not, so it’s faster to not wait. I try to not use self checkout, but if I have a few items it just makes me feel guilty about making other people wait behind me.
As they keep having understaffed situations, sometimes there’s no other option except self checkout. Which honestly should be illegal.
In many cases, I am faster than the available cashiers at my local grocery store, because they’re old. Also depending on what I’m buying, idc how my stuff is bagged so I can just throw it in a single bag and go vs them taking 3 bags to do the same thing.
But to me, the main reason to use self checkout is that I don’t have to interact with anyone. No conversation, no upsells, just me and a machine. The only reason I’ll go to a cashier is if I have a lot of stuff or if I’m buying alcohol.
You don’t think machines can up sell you? Ok.
When has a self check out given you purchase suggestions? I mean I can see them doing it, but I haven’t seen it
McDonald’s kiosk? Wouldn’t you like hash browns with your order?
Would you like to round up for the Boys and Girls club?
What upsell is the grocery store cashier doing? Stamps and ice?
To suggest a machine is incapable of up selling even more obtrusively than a cashier is dishonest.
It has literally never happened to me over the past decade short of rounding up for charity. Can they? Yes, it could be programmed in, but I’ve never experienced it.
But I am more effecient than the cashier. Dunno how it is like where you’re from, but a cashier job is either for people who are nearly retired, or a teenager’s first job.
So, in the same footprint of three cashiers that will have 3 queues waiting around, there can be 12 self checkouts with no queues at all.
It’s only more efficient when I use it, which sounds like a joke about “it’s only wrong when someone else does it.” But if I am only buying a quart of ice cream and some toilet paper, I actually can scan those faster because I don’t have to pass them to a person to scan them for me. My typical use case is roughly the same speed as a cashier. I also know how to use the machines fairly well.
However, your last sentence is exactly right. Once one idiot gets to self-checkout, the whole thing goes to shit for everyone. Or if something doesn’t scan, or it is a bottle of Nyquil that some stores require ID to buy, then it is so much longer to get a person over to help you.
I only use self checkout if I can carry what I’m buying in my hands. Anymore than that and I’ll go through a lane. Seems like half the time I get flagged for the dude to come check anyway though so WTF is the point?
I refuse to use them because of liability. Too many cases of people being falsely accused of stealing.
When the employees try to shoo me to the self checkout I just stare at them awkwardly.
Some of the pros around here are not very good and take longer than I do, but the Aldi ones are usually fast with those giant barcodes! The last one, however, charged me for two melons but I didn’t have any, removed one, but not the 2nd so I had to go back over. My data points and the workmanship around here show sometimes quicker than me, but not if a line for them and none for diy.
I scan my items as they go into the bag. As I get to the checkout all I have to do is pay. That is waaaaay more efficient than going to a traditional cashier.
Self checkout was great for me because I’d have like 3 items and breeze on out. Now people come to them with overloaded carts because they don’t have any actual checkouts.
Same here - I bring one bag from home and when it gets full I stop shopping. Even waiting behind one half full shopping cart in a cashier line is slower than waiting for an available self-checkout.
I swear every time I pull into a manned checkout lane at one specific store I get the nastiest look from the cashiers. There are 3 functional self checkout kiosks and the scale on all of them is slightly under a single square foot. I’m not buying a thanksgiving feast, but forgive me if my regular shopping trip is more than a single cup of yoghurt and a TV dinner, and consequently cannot all fit on the self checkout scale. It’s not like I’m asking them to open a lane just for me, they’re just upset I’ve interrupted their scrolling session.
I try not to go there often, but sometimes my goto location is closed or doesn’t have something I know I’m going to need. I know it’s not all stores or employees because my normal one is pretty good and I can generally use the kiosk without issue, but it’s so frustrating that the culture has shifted to expect all people to use the self checkout regardless of their situation. And I say this as someone who uses them regularly.
I’ve been doing my part, you’re welcome everyone.
Thank you for your service!
I like it because I can get organic vegetables for cheaper.
Just a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, on account of how sticky my fingers get in corporate mega stores.
Ohhhh noooo, I only scanned 7 of these 8 tape rolls.
Exactly
Interesting to hear all these opinions. These have been around for so many years - there has been plenty of data. Surprising this is just now being turned back. For small orders I’ve always loved the self checkout and found it way more efficient. Part of that is likely because I want out of the store much more than any clerk wants me out of the store.
Same.
That’s a legitimate use case. I’d like them more if they capped the number of items one could scan in one transaction, maybe at ten. I’ve always hated out someone with three carts of stuff could tie up fast checkout line or a self checkout.
“things have gotten so bad that it has made many people need to steal, so we can’t keep self checkouts open”
I’m here with your regular reminder that is you see someone stealing food, no you didn’t.
There’s a Walmart near me that I just never bother going to because like 80% of the non-grocery items are locked behind plexiglass. There are 4 self-checkouts and 2 employees assigned to just stand there watching people to make sure they don’t shoplift. They’ve made shopping so hostile that it barely makes sense for it to be a department store at all. Might as well just go back to the old model of telling the employee what you want and then they go get it for you.
Which is basically what they are doing with grocery pickup.
They’d rather change their operations than lobby for the poorest to have enough money to not have to steal.
Although I fully agree with you, there is no gotcha here. They are greedy and want the most for themselves, that’s it.
They’d rather change their operations than lobby for the poorest to have enough money to not have to steal.
They’d rather change their operations than
lobby for the poorest topay their employees enough money to not have to steal.I thought surely an organization of GROCERS would lobby vociferously for SNAP benefits (food stamps), at a time when onerous work requirements throw people off SNAP and overwhelm local food pantries.
Instead we get a bit of the pearlescent extraction of the meat cylinder via suction:
Pretty sure the self checkout isn’t where most people steal, why not just walk out the door with whatever you want?
You don’t steal all of it, you just miss the barcode on a couple items for the camera, so it looks innocent if somebody stops you.
Good news, new jobs opening to fill the cashier roles. But watch they will just implement a ticket system and checkout will take 3 hours.
Yeah but tickets cost money so they will make you sign in virtually on their app
How do I do that on my Linux phone?
Shhhhh don’t give them any ideas
Ticketmaster execs just perked up
You have to do 2 shots of crude oil to enter a lottery for a ticket to be able to pay for a ticket so you can checkout for groceries.
Hopefully everyone in the place at any given time will start stealing then. Not one person is going to wait 3 hours to pay for their groceries while cold shit thaws or only for a few items because they want to keep raising prices and enshittifying every damn thing.
That sucks, I DIY if the store has baggers since they don’t do it well 8/10 times and I check the prices as I scan to see if the discounts applied. I’m pretty fast, and now if they remove them, I could do the job really well and bagger, I gained skills from the experience for possible future use.
As someone who finds interacting with register attendants painful, and doesn’t steal, this is unfortunate news.
As someone who also doesn’t enjoy interacting with register attendants, but does steal, I too find this to be unfortunate news.
I’m a introvert and hate dealing with people, but for some reason I don’t like using the self-checkout. I don’t know why. But anyway, I recommend moving to Finland. My interactions are as follows:
A very quick eye contact with a nod as a hello.
I pay, receive the change, say thank you.
I go away.
There is no small talk or push for registering for their bonus card systems, etc, here. You go in, do your thing, say thank you, go away. And saying anything is optional. I do it because I feel like that’s the least I can do for the poor person who has to deal with humans all day. But often I see people not even look at the checkout person, just stare at the register until it gives out a number, pay and bugger off.
I’m sure you know the old joke:
How do you spot an extrovert Finn?
When he talks to you, he looks at your shoes instead of his own.
Indeed I do :)
Cool :)
A Swede is visiting his Finnish cousin. They are sitting in a boat, drinking beers and fishing. After the 8th beer, the Swede asks “so, hows the family?” And the Finn replies “did we come here to drink or to talk?”
Haha, thanks, I didn’t know that one. I would honestly love to visit Finland someday.
I can recommend it :P
Just skip Helsinki, 'tis a pointless place to spend any more time than necessary.
That’s pretty much the interaction I expect in New England.
And, it’s better than waiting around for the self-checkout attendant to fix the error when the self-checkout kiosk doesn’t detect the reusable bag I brought correctly.
I know I’m lucky that I live in a country that has 17 people living in it, I don’t remember the last time I was in the checkout line for more than 5 minutes. Also, we have shops that are open until late at night and most of the hyper-markets are 24h. So I just go shopping at around 23:00 or later, when there is 2 people in the shop.
We introverts pay the price 😭
Pulling back doesn’t necessarily mean cancelling all existing self check-out systems. It probably means they will have both, which is how it’s supposed to be, to be honest. Sometimes I just want to scan three items and leave and other times I want someone else to deal with it.
Or those who shop while stoned…
Agreed. I am sad.
Agreed. Devastating.
They don’t interact bro
That’s sometimes part of the awkwardness. My additional gripes are completely pedantic, but hear me out:
None of the grocery chains in my area offer bagging services, so I have to wait for the attendant to scan my items, bag them myself, and then shuffle back to the register to pay. None of this is a problem, except that the human attendant rarely ever scans the items in the order that makes sense to bag them. So there’s the weird dance of waiting, pushing items aside, etc.
If I’m doing self-check, I can scan and bag using my own patented autistic process ™ that is quick, makes sense, and doesn’t crush things, and I can do it in one shot.
You can pay after they scan the first item. It won’t go through until they finish the transaction. So put stuff on conveyor. Wait for them to scan first item. Tap your card. Go pack up your bags while they’re scanning. When they’re done you’re done.
This is why I unload them onto the belt in the order they must be bagged
I suppose that’s a solution, but you’re also doubling your responsibilities, and the price of the groceries still stays too damn high.
Today I learnt doing what most of the world has been doing is “doubling my responsibilities”
It doesn’t really feel like work, I just sort by weight+size in descending order
I use this method, mostly works, cashier sometimes reaches past items when scanning. 🤷 I have observed others just reloading the cart and bagging once at their vehicle in the parking lot. Only downside i see is when having weather.
Such a weird hatred against a fundamentally useful tool that means fewer people need to do an objectively shitty, monotonous job (=cashiers).
Here in Europe, we have enough people manning the registers that you can always opt to go to a human if you have a huge cart (and potentially wait a few minutes, or more during rush hour), or if you have less than ten items (quite often really, I buy dinner bread practically daily), you go to a self-checkout, and you’re out in less than a minute.
It helps queue times when you need speed and are buying a few things only, and is literally irrelevant when you have a full cart, as you’re better off going through a proper cash register anyway.
Note that the fact that hypercapitalist american supermarkets take this as an invitation to permanently understaff manned registers is not a fault of the machines themselves
I liked my teenage job as a cashier back in the day, it was relatively easy, got to talk to customers, literally no stress to take home, and you could quietly judge people based on what they bought
I went to the store today and felt bad for the girl standing at attention overlooking the self checkout. Probably counting down the seconds until some sort of interaction. And people wonder why society went down hill with socializing. I’d probably go Postal if I had to stand there for hours. It’s one thing if you enlist, but this is a grocery store.
quietly judge people based on what they bought
This is the reason it’s worth it. No other industry, except delivery, allows nosy people to judge so many others, safety, and without comment
I mean, you also acknowledge that cashiers are human beings and let them do wild things like have a stool or chair to sit on, or drink water as needed. As a country, the US has already shown itself to lack the necessary consideration and decency to let us leave these companies to their own devices with something like self-checkout. They will unfailingly select to most inhumane, awful way of implementing something that maximizes their profits at the cost of dehumanizing their employees and customers, while degrading the service they offer.
