Self checkout - Good or Bad

Jules said:
A offshoot of this grocery store discussion. Are there still bag boys? The term is probably baggers now, not bag boys. The last time I experienced this was over 20 years ago. No one takes out your cart for you.

In a full service grocery store, the clerk will pack your bags. Many stores have clerks, but you have to pack your own groceries.
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The last time we visited my Wife's family who live in Nassau in The Bahamas we noticed that all the supermarkets had teen aged kids ( both kinds ) in uniforms, who bagged the food AND carried it out to your car. They do not get paid by the store, so they rely on tips, which is one US dollar per cart load. On a busy day, a 16 year old can make $25 in cash. The stores control how many baggers work on any given day, with a rotating schedule for each day of the week. JimB.
 

Between COVID, COPD and my '22 diagnosis of Lung cancer, I avoid even small crowds so I grocery shop on my computer at the local grocery store. Delivery every 8 days at a time I select. It does cost a bit more, but is extremely convenient. Have no real desire to go back to in store shopping. LOL Between Amazon and Walmart, I can get just about anything I want. Target ad several other grocery stores also have delivery.
 
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MarkinPhx said:
At the grocery store I shop at, a few of those "dumb" clerks are retired people who are working there to make some extra money or to keep themselves busy. I know one of those "dumb" clerks is a retired teacher.
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Whoa!!!!!.
I meant that's how designers think of the clerks- as brain dead, just pushing bar codes over a scanner. A machine could do that.
Without clerks, stores are nothing more than shelves. One shelf is just as good anybody else's shelf. Self checkouts are impersonal. The counter personnel make Gucci's Gucci, Macy's Macy etc.
I think it's beginning to dawn on store owners that clerks not only tally up sales, are an essential human element in sales.
 

fuzzybuddy said:
Whoa!!!!!.
I meant that's how designers think of the clerks- as brain dead, just pushing bar codes over a scanner. A machine could do that.
Without clerks, stores are nothing more than shelves. One shelf is just as good anybody else's shelf. Self checkouts are impersonal. The counter personnel make Gucci's Gucci, Macy's Macy etc.
I think it's beginning to dawn on store owners that clerks not only tally up sales, are an essential human element in sales.
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Gotcha ! I read it the wrong way. My bad.
 
Those expecting an end to retail self-checkouts are thinking small. The end result of rising new technologies are not what is first occurring especially since it is strongly economically driven. That is why much of the negative EV discussion is misplaced. Given the rise of thefts, technology is already rapidly being designed to eliminate current issues.

It won't be long until one will place items in a row on an enclosed conveyor belt bar codes up, that then moves items through an optical computer vision reader that identifies items automatically, placing prices, and totaling cost. The output products within a gated screen, will not be open or available to carry off until a bill is paid. AI robotics will help most of those confused as well as CCTV will record isles to catch the baggy pants types that slip items into their pockets.

How Walmart, Kroger, and other major retailers are ramping up self-checkout tech to combat theft

...Srivastava has spent the past decade developing a self-checkout kiosk that uses computer vision to recognize items and ring up prices without needing to scan them individually...
 
jimintoronto said:
Do you use the ATM's to get cash , or do you go INTO the bank and get it from a teller ? If you are going to complain about self check outs, at least be aware about how you get your cash ?? If you are worried about people loosing their jobs, use the human at the bank, not a machine. I bet when you have to make an extra effort to go into the bank to get money, you won't actually do it . JImB.
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Well, you obviously don't know me. I do go to the bank every month, engage with a person or two, and deposit a few checks and get enough cash to last until next time. I have not used an ATM in over 24 years, and in my lifetime no more than 10 times!

In one way I am a bit of an oddball, for I never leave the house with less that $300 (used to be $500) on hand. And yes, I use discretion in my movements, and am aware of my surroundings.

Yes, automated banking has cost a lot of jobs, but I don't feel the use or non use of an ATM equates to the process of using self checkout at a facility.
 
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David777 makes some good points, and his visions may well come true. But at my age, I'm just looking at things the way they are.
 
self serve check outs certainly dont seem on the decline here nor have I seen any store which had them to be now removing them.

They do all have a staff member there to help people - aka also to monitor theft

I use them if I only have a few items, I still go through a manned checkout if I have a full trolley.

The 'you are doing people out of a job' seems a nonsense to me.

jobs change - eg people who were once manning checkouts are now packing online orders or delivering orders.

and anyway, here at least, supermarkets and the like are struggling to fill positions - so nobody is out of a job on account of this.
 
Re bagging - if you go through manned checkout here, the cashier will bag your items - but nobody takes them to your car for you
 
In some shops, unless it is very busy, they shut the tills so you have to use the self-checkouts.

I don't mind the self-checkouts for a couple of items but, not great if you have quite a few things to buy and sometimes the check-out area can be chaotic, with machines bleeping and a lone assistant running around trying to sort out errors while keeping an eye on customers who might be slipping a freebie into their pocket.

As the shopper seems not to benefit from shops replacing people with machines and some shops trying to recoup their theft losses by raising prices, I think we should, at the very least, have an option as to whether we want to use the self-checkouts or not.
 
I hear you. I have only used self checkout when it first began and had all kinds of problems with it and needed to summon the cashier anyway .

More recently a cashier asked me if I wanted to use self checkout and that she'd help me. I agreed and may try it again when I go there and there is a long checkout line. I hope I remember what she taught me!
 
I love self checkouts and have used them as soon as they put them in. I really don't like being rushed by the clerk. Friday, I was lazy and didn't go to the self checkout. As we were leaving the store I told Sonny, "never again!" Self checkout is easier for me and I check out my purchases and Sonny's both. Our local Aldi has just added self checkout to their store. I was happy! I mostly use home delivery now and I like that but sometimes I want to check out something in person.
 
I like self check out. I admit I've snuck into self check out at WINCO Foods with too many items. I usually go earlier in the morning so they are less crowded. If I've got too many cans of Fancy Feast, I'll go through regular.

I don't mind self check out. I prefer to bag my own groceries in my homemade shopping bags.
 
I'm getting used to it. I still resent my having to do what I feel is the stores job, but doing better at it. I avoid it when I can. Yet they still raise prices, the sobs.
Remy said:
If I've got too many cans of Fancy Feast, I'll go through regular.
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Remy, there should be an option for you to enter say, "Fancy Feast, 15 @ whatever price". No?
 
When my late husband and I lived in AZ, we shopped occasionally with his son and daughter and her husband at Sams Club. While hubby and I were still shopping, his daughter and son would be done because they used their phone to scan everything as they put it in their cart. No waiting in line for them. They were done way before us.
 
RadishRose said:
I'm getting used to it. I still resent my having to do what I feel is the stores job, but doing better at it. I avoid it when I can. Yet they still raise prices, the sobs.

Remy, there should be an option for you to enter say, "Fancy Feast, 15 @ whatever price". No?
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I agree there should be but there isn't. At WINCO Foods, the self check out employee can do it for you and sent it to your checkout register but I don't ask them. So if I get a flat of 24, I go through regular check out.
 
Michael Z said:
For Aldi foods, I don’t like self checkout. In the store without it, they are quick to open other lanes if shoppers back up. And the checkout people are a lot faster than me. In the Aldi with self checkout, it is actually slower.

But in other stores, that allow shoppers to back up while we see staff milling around up front seemingly doing nothing (this is frustrating), self checkout is a welcome addition.
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Without a doubt, the Aldi cashiers are the fastest out there, imo. I make sure I have the right cash out so I don't slow down the line, lol.
 

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