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BigBenis ,

I avoid self checkouts unless the lines at the cashier checkouts are unreasonable.

Half the time I go through one of those I get hit with an error that I’ve then gotta wait on the attendant to fix. The other half I get bogged down by the stupid process like how you’ve got to put the item down on the bagging area before you can scan another one or how you can interact with the card reader to pay but the transaction will not complete until you select a payment type on the main screen. Lately, I’ve noticed some trying to trick me into signing up for rewards or some bullshit.

Much easier to just dump my stuff on the conveyor belt and have the cashier handle everything else.

TORFdot0 ,

Honestly we all carry a barcode scanner in our pockets. If I were running a grocery store, I’d be investing in scan and go instead of self checkout

BorgDrone ,

Where do you live that supermarkets don’t have this?

TORFdot0 ,

The bigger supermarkets such as Walmart have it here, but the regional ones are still putting in the self checkouts.

BorgDrone ,

Here you can choose between scanning at the self checkout (easiest if you just have a basket with a few items and you don’t have a free hand for the scanner), or you get a hand scanner, or you use the app on your phone.

xenspidey ,

Sam’s club has this and it is amazing

Sendbeer ,

You got that right. It’s so great walking right by everyone queued up at the registers.

makingStuffForFun ,
@makingStuffForFun@lemmy.ml avatar

Many German supermarkets do this. You scan as you put items in the trolley.

iknowitwheniseeit ,

Same in the Netherlands.

lemmytellyousomething ,

I don’t see the benefit for me.

They save money and keep it and fire the workers…

BearOfaTime ,

And have us do the work for them.

I said all this at the beginning self checkout. I’m for it, but where’s the discount for using it since I know it’s dropping staff hours tremendously.

I’ve seen stores drop from 6 cashiers to 1. Listen corp, my din your work is saving you gobs in taxes, insurance, HR costs, scheduling, etc, etc. Where’s my cut?

ruplicant ,
@ruplicant@sh.itjust.works avatar

i only check myself out whenever i shoplift

Sagifurius ,

Thinking of those two clowns at the hardware store, clearly following me around, very unsubtly acting like they were sure i was there to shoplift. They kept asking what i was looking (which was actually non specific christmas gifts) so I started throwing out meth ingredients, phosphorous, ammonia, neo citran daytime, sodium hydroxide, caustic soda, lye…I know that went right over their heads because they found me a gallon of pure crystal form dry lye. Anyways, she bagged half the stuff up without ringing it through. I’m sure i started a rumour in town, when they told their husbands bout the big biker looking dude asking for obscure chemicals. Took the lye though, that’s stuffs hard to find these days.

BigTrout75 ,

You mean selecting the non-organic item but you actually have organic one? Would be an “honest” mistake.

Nollij ,

What’s weird is how many refuse to let you just enter the code on the sticker. You have to search through their stupid menu to find it, and it may not be what you actually have

1984 ,
@1984@lemmy.today avatar

All these things are just designed to make the shop do less work, and for you to do their job for them for free.

I’m sure in the future we won’t interact with people at all, because that’s whats cheapest for the company. We will be true “consumers”, like animals being fed by machines.

Well, at least if capitalism continues.

DarkThoughts ,

I'm sure in the future we won't interact with people at all

Oh god I wish.

nbafantest ,

I can scan and bag my stuff better and faster any cashier I’ve met. Fuck standing in lines for someone to do it slower and shittier for me.

plz1 ,

Their intent was to cut jobs/costs. They worked as designed. The user experience being improved was never the real goal of these, both on the employee and customer side. I’m fine using them for a small number of items/one item, but if I’m going to buy a bunch of things or anything that requires special handling (alcohol), I just skip them. I also skip them if there’s no line at a human checkout because I don’t want to drive those folks out of jobs either.

Waldowal ,
@Waldowal@lemmy.world avatar

The article says the expected cost savings haven’t been realized because people steal stuff and generally suck at scanning & bagging their own groceries.

BearOfaTime ,

Hahaha, that’s awesome. I don’t believe it, but it is humorous.

Shoplifting was already an issue. Self checkout has scales to check what you’re bagging, and cameras. I simply don’t believe it’s caused a significant increase in theft, no matter how hard they try to claim it.

Further, any issues that stores have with theft/shoplifting is because they refuse to do anything about it. Thirty years ago we stopped shoplifters and took them to security where cameras recorded everything, and called the police to come pick em up. Hell, we usually had a cop on hand for this stuff, and much of security was staffed by cops/retired cops.

Fine, you’d rather let this be an insurance claim, then any issues you have with theft is no longer a concern to anyone, because clearly it’s not a concern to you (that is, the company).

People know they won’t be stopped/arrested. So there’s almost no risk to just walking out.

Waldowal ,
@Waldowal@lemmy.world avatar

Why would grocery stores lie that shoplifting happens more at self-checkout?

plz1 ,

Ah, the retail theft claim…

otp ,

I love self-checkouts.

But what I love even more is having one single line for all lanes. It’s ridiculous that customers have to guess which lane will move the fastest.

Making a single line is the best thing self-checkouts have introduced around here.

Also, if they won’t bag my stuff for me, then I might as well be at the self-checkout. And since they don’t offer plastic bags at most places around here, most don’t bag your stuff for you.

If there are multiple lines and they won’t bag my stuff, I’ll go somewhere else that has self-checkout.

abhibeckert ,

a queue of people, waiting to use a self-checkout kiosk

That’s not how it works with the stores I frequent. Usually about half the self-checkout kiosks don’t have anyone at them.

I’d shop somewhere else if they took self checkout away. It’s so much faster.

wildginger ,

Half of our self check stands around town are empty too, mainly because they are seemingly perma broken

VonCesaw ,

SCO would be better if you got the same type of scanners as the regular registers

Putting everything from the cart onto a belt, and having access to more than 2-4 sets of bags (or a whole carousel at walmart!) without the dumb “did you scan this?” prompt would make me use SCO every single time. Trying to bag groceries in current SCO is miserable, and the sensors are usually so bad that you CANT EVEN REMOVE FULL BAGS when you need to fill another bag

MrBusiness ,

Lmao how’s Walmart so bad with their self check out but Sam’s club is easy? Hate using it at Walmart if I have more than a few items. At Sam’s I can load up my cart, scan and pay for everything on the app, person at the exit does a quick check, and I’m out.

b1g_bake ,
@b1g_bake@sh.itjust.works avatar

I’ve heard they try new tech at Sam’s before rolling it out to the masses at Walmart

GreatAlbatross ,
@GreatAlbatross@feddit.uk avatar

Some of the supermarkets here have self scanners with a belt, and a packing area big enough for 5-6 bags, it’s pretty awesome.
Aside from the odd age-restricted check, the only real problem is Mrs. Scoggins buying three items on it over the course of 20 minutes

gerowen , (edited )

For most of my shopping, which takes place at our local Walmart (I live in the US), I actually really like using the self-checkout. Now when we make a big grocery run, having a person there makes things easier because they can scan and bag, I can unload things onto the belt and my wife can pull bags off the little turnstile thing and put them back in our cart, but most of the time I’m just running in to grab a handful of items so when I leave I can just walk up to the kiosk, scan my stuff, scan the QR code with the Walmart app on my phone and walk out the door. It’ll auto pay with the privacy card I attached to my Walmart account and give me a digital receipt to show if somebody wants to see it at the door. They even have a thing now where you can pay a monthly subscription for “Walmart+” where you can scan and pay for your items as you shop.

lordkuri ,

monthly subscription for “Walmart+” where you can scan and pay for your items as you shop and never even have to go through the registers or kiosks at all.

This isn’t entirely true. You still have to stop by the self checkout and scan a code on the screen there and confirm a few things, but it is way faster.

gerowen ,

Thanks for clarifying. I hadn’t actually used that particular feature so I must have misunderstood the way it was worded in the app.

gerowen ,

Edited my original comment for accuracy.

MeanEYE ,
@MeanEYE@lemmy.world avatar

I don’t use self-checkout for one reason only: if I am doing the work, why am I paying the same price. It’s just another scheme by the business people to get them more money.

There are far better ways of queuing, and they can always hire more people to deal with the demand. But no, they figured out hiring fewer people makes it inconvenient for many, which is an incentive to use self checkout, which gives them even more money on top of already high margins.

Same thing with gas stations. No thanks. I’ll happily leave a tip to people providing the service, but it’s a matter of principle. You don’t go to a restaurant and rummage through their refrigerator to get the meal, nor should you serve yourself anywhere else.

gerowen ,

If I go to a buffet style restaurant like Golden Corral where there’s a long table full of precooked items, I’m gonna go up to that table and rummage around and fill my own plate, 😜

01011 ,

I like self checkout. Used it largely without issue for over 15 years.

brenno ,

In Brazil I only see more and more places adopting it, does not seem a failure

Drewelite ,

I feel like this is a symptom of the writers saying, “What would make a good headline?” And not “Would this headline be misleading?”

pulpy ,

Same in Europe, it seems a success.

UnderpantsWeevil ,
@UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world avatar

Business owners are told it will save them money, they’re told that everyone in the “first world” is doing it, and they’re told that customers love it.

All lies. But business owners routinely make foolish decisions in hopes of trimming costs by a few percentage points, only to discover they’ve been fucked sideways by slick marketing teams and smooth talking salesmen.

abhibeckert ,

Business owners are told it will save them money

Which translates into the customer paying less, assuming you have proper competition where the customer can choose the store next door (all shopping centres in my city have that - two competing stores that sell exactly the same products - so they have to compete on price).

they’re told that customers love it.

A lot of customers do love it. The ones that don’t can still use regular checkout. Or just ask for help at the self checkout.

It’s really not that hard, scan barcode, put in bag. Occasionally put an item on the scales and select from tomato or red apple on the touch screen. What’s difficult about that?

UnderpantsWeevil ,
@UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world avatar

Which translates into the customer paying less

That’s never how this works. Business profits go up long before customers see any kind of discount.

You get discounts when there’s a surplus of something, and the purpose of these self-check-out kiosks isn’t to create a surplus of grocery stock but to conserve and transform labor costs.

A lot of customers do love it.

I’ve never seen a customer’s eyes light up with joy upon seeing a self-checkout aisle. Customers enjoy shorter lines, but when everything is self-check out you’re still all in the same line. And self-check out is slower, so you’re often stuck in a longer line.

The one upside of self-checkout is that you don’t need staff to operate the machine, so if you’re doing a quick in-and-out handful of items purchase during a slow day, it can be faster than waiting in the one line that has everyone in the store backed up behind it. But, again, that’s because stores want to conserve on labor. Not because there’s some fundamental benefit to self-swipe. If all the aisles were fully staffed all the time, there would be no discernible benefit to self-swipe.

JoMiran ,
@JoMiran@lemmy.ml avatar

Got a dozen cans of soup. Scanned ten cans of soup. Got two pounds of bulk pine nuts ($34.99/lb). Paid for two pounds of bulk barley ($2.49/lb). Etc.

“One thing that we have learned is that piracy is not a pricing issue. It’s a service issue" – Gabe Newell

ooli OP ,

You go mate !

trolske ,

Oh come on, really?
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t care about some big chain losing some money, for me it’s a matter of principle to not fuck with the system unless really needed.
Two cans of soup, I don’t care. But pine nuts? Cheating the system for some “luxury” goods and not some essentials is pretty low.

minibyte ,

Corporate is cheating the system just to save a few bucks in wages. I see it as OP balancing the books.

trolske ,

I would have been more understanding if it was always on the level of two extra cans of soup or comparable.
But 2 lbs of pine nuts is not balancing the scales, that’s abusing the system.

TopRamenBinLaden ,

It depends on the country, but in the US I see nothing wrong with this. Wage disparity is so high here that taking items from a store owned by billionaires doesn’t feel like much of a crime. I wouldnt do it, personally, unless I was less well off financially, but I am most definitely not going to judge someone else for doing it.

trolske ,

I mean I could understand (but not necessarily approve) if it would be a few everyday groceries here and there. But pine nuts? 2 lbs? Sorry, but that’s just ridiculous.
I can completely understand if people have to steal food to make ends meet. It’s a tragedy that they have to do it, but it’s the system’s fault and not theirs.
But OP doesn’t seem to fit into that category.

TopRamenBinLaden ,

To be honest, my uncivilized self doesn’t even know what a pine nut is, so if you say it’s a luxury item, I’ll take your word for it. In that case, I can agree that it’s a bit ridiculous and selfish. Still I wouldn’t call the cops or anything. If it was my friends or family I’d most definitely give them a hard time about it, though.

DarthTron ,
@DarthTron@mander.xyz avatar

I very specifically wait in line to make an actual employee scan my items and bag them. I will go out of my way to make the corporation pay someone to do the job rather than pass the labor on to me the customer. They sure as hell aren’t passing on any savings to me, so they can pay a human to check me out.

ji17br ,

The savings is your time. It’s generally much faster to go self checkout, especially for small purchases.

Nilz ,

Over here stores are increasing their prices because people steal at the self-checkout. So they reduce costs by not having cashiers but then increase prices due to theft. Quite some logic.

You’d assume it’s an easy balance to make: if (saving on cashiers - loss due to theft) > 0 implement self-checkout else don’t implement.

dual_sport_dork , (edited )
@dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world avatar

Yes, but: They can shift the cost of theft onto consumers this way, without having to make their line item budget for payroll any bigger. The retailers don’t give a fuck as long as they’re not the ones paying.

AlwaysNowNeverNotMe ,
@AlwaysNowNeverNotMe@kbin.social avatar

Insurance is more likely to pay for shrink than paychecks.

bane_killgrind ,

Recurring shrink isn't going to be claimable. These customers are walking out with an extra case of Snapple not a TV.

Ottomateeverything ,

Quite some logic.

Yeah, it’s win/win to the company. They save money on workers and charge more for the goods. They’re double dipping. It’s great… For them. But that’s the way the capitalist machine works and is going to continue working until we fix the whole damn thing. As unfortunate as it is, this is basically expected behavior in our current society.

Deceptichum ,
@Deceptichum@kbin.social avatar

Over here they increase their costs because we have no choice but to pay it.

and frankly the amount they lose is nothing to the amount they steal.

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