We’ve talked about the fact that retailers are removing self checkout machines because of product loss and customer frustration. Added measures to control shoplifting often make the machines throw errors, requiring more employee oversight and making self checkouts cost more in overhead. They’re not cost effective for retailers at this point, which is good news for those of us who hate them. It turns out that self checkout machines also make people less loyal to a store. A study in the Journal of Business Research found that people have a poorer impression of stores when they have to use self checkout for larger numbers of items. No wonder Target is limiting self checkout to 10 items or less, although I doubt that will solve this problem. Here’s more on that study:
A recent study published in the Journal of Business Research found that self-checkout systems can lead to less customer loyalty when compared to a regular checkout staffed by an employee, especially for large purchases.
“Retailers are actually facing some dilemma regarding whether it’s really a good decision to install self-checkout systems,” said the study’s coauthor, Yanliu Huang, associate professor of marketing at the Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business.
Huang set out to understand how customers’ loyalty to a store is affected by whether shoppers choose to scan items themselves at a self-checkout kiosk or have an employee ring them up at a regular counter.
“More than one-third of U.S. customers use self-checkout systems, so it’s very relevant to both retailers and customers,” said Huang, who coauthored the research with Farhana Nusrat, her former student.
Huang and Nusrat ran five separate studies, some of which included asking hired participants to imagine themselves in different shopping scenarios at a grocery store or having them recall their recent grocery shopping trip.
Participants in some of the studies were asked to respond to questions or prompts about their sense of loyalty to the store based on their shopping scenario or experience. Questions focused on how likely the shopper was to return to the store, how valued as a customer they felt, and how the savings during their purchase made them feel rewarded.
Huang and Nusrat discovered that the amount of groceries being purchased matters.
When participants were put in scenarios where they only had six items, the sense of loyalty a customer felt was pretty similar if they used self-checkout or an employee rang up their order. When the purchase was 18 items though, that sense of loyalty was significantly higher for the customer that used regular checkout compared to the self-checkout.
“When you only have a very small basket size, it’s easy to use [the] self-checkout system,” said Huang.
Self-checkout kiosks represent about 38% of checkout lanes in grocery chains in the country, and the global market size of the machines is expected to continue to grow in the coming years, the study notes.
The findings of this study are definitely true for me. I very rarely go into grocery stores at this point and use delivery and pickup services for the most part. I typically only shop in person at Food Lion, which has no self checkouts and very friendly employees. I’ve never had a bad experience at a Food Lion! That may be due to corporate culture and the fact that their stores have predictable layouts. In comparison the competing grocery stores in my area, Kroger and Walmart, are awful. You often have to wait a long time to get service, at Kroger the aisles are often too small, and every location has a different layout. A few years ago they mixed up the aisles at most Walmarts to force you to make more impulse purchases too. When you’re ready to pay, you have to wait a long time for a cashier or you have to check out yourself and wait for someone to clear your error messages. It’s very tricky to figure out and anticipate why the machines require approval for purchases, which is surely by design.
As for Target, I recently placed a pickup order to include some Clevr Blends. I’m sure that I spent over $100 less than if I was browsing the store for items myself. I’ve learned through some very annoying experiences that it’s no longer pleasant to shop there in person.
Also I agree with this mom blogger that self checkouts ruin the social experience of shopping too.
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Well I love self checkouts. It’s easy and quick. I especially like Sam’s club because you use your phone to scan items as you get them and when done just click checkout and pay and you are done.
Yes, 100% love self check out. I go quickly, bag the groceries how I like it, don’t have to chit chat with anyone and it is so much faster!
Sames. I enjoy scanning and packing my own things way more than being waited on.
I love it for grocery shopping. I think it honestly depends on the store and how it’s set up. But I like scanning my stuff, bagging my items (bagging groceries is a lost art form – the baggers nowadays don’t know what they’re doing), and leaving.
Count me in too. I prefer the self-checkout stalls because it means that, after I choose the item I want, I’m the last person touching my food until I get it home. It irks me when cashiers scratch themselves (hair, ears, anywhere) then reach for my food like nothing happened.
Yeah, as an introvert, I love self-checkout because it’s one less part of my day where I have to smile and make pointless small talk. Also, I have more control over how my items get bagged. I’ve reduced the amount of smashed produce and bakery items to zero. lol.
Oh, and when I travel overseas, they are a godsend. The machines can switch to English so I don’t have to awkwardly try to communicate in another language while holding up the line.
I love self- check out!!
Count me in on the love for self checkouts too. I’ve become an old hand at this. Maybe as a formal librarian, I’m used to scanners and screens. ?I’m out of there quicker and I keep a close eye on the scanning to make sure that I get all my discounts and that my digital coupons go through. And if there are discrepancies, that’s when I flag down someone to help me. And I can count that as my social interaction as well when chatting with that person.
Former librarian, sheesh!
I also love self checkout because I like to bag certain items together and separate others. Also, self-checkouts tend to have one communal wait line; as a unit opens you can walk up and start scanning. Whereas manned checkout lines you have to pick a lane and inevitably I end up behind the item without a price, a person writing a check or someone who takes the cashier up on their offer to apply for a credit card right there and then. Self-checkout INCREASES my loyalty to a store.
Same. I like being able to move at my own pace, and bag my items the way I want them bagged.
I agree. I love Self checkouts. Fast and easy.
Love self-checkout! The one time recently I had to go through checker when self checkout was closed. The checker asked if I needed help bagging and I said no, but an eager checker headed over anyhow. I started bagging so frantically that my bra came undone and started crawling up through the neckline of my shirt.
Hilarious, I’m dying! 😭
Me too! I’m way too much of a control freak about packing the shopping bags. Loved when self checkout became a thing in Safeway and CVS – so much faster than whatever pace than the cashier too. You just have to remember to catch the employees eye for alcohol and meds.
Target isn’t as great bc of larger items etc. but it still works for me.
I love self check, too. I don’t like standing in line, and I don’t like other people packing my items because they invariably do it wrong. Maybe I am picky, but give me self check any day.
Same! Used to be a cashier and it’s so much easier and faster for me just to do self-checkout.
Plus, I can bag raw meat separate from other stuff. Not sure why most of the cashiers just lump it with other stuff, especially when I put the meat stuff at the end of the belt…
I too love self-checkouts and also avoid stores that don’t have them. I couldn’t care less about the social experience. I spend more money when shopping online using the Target and Wal-mart apps than I ever spend in store. To each their own.
Like the study says i think it depends on how much stuff i have. If i only havw a few things and it’s at a place like CVS that has a system that hardly ever asks for staff approval it’s fine. But there’s nothing more annoying than thinking you’re making it through quicker only to get stopped at a big store like walmart to get staff approval and then having to wait after youve alreasy done unpaid labor to scan your own items. It’s frustrating as hell so i usually try to use a regular line at grocery stores but unfortunately many times those lines are worse than they used ro be because theyre staffing less people because of these damn machines.
In the UK, I don’t see any stores without them anymore!
I’m good with them, quick & easy & out the door. I also never shop at walmart, maybe that’s a reason. They’d have to pay me $100. to do so.
Wal-Mart is the only store I hate to go to because of self-checkouts. I hate the wait amongst the unmasked coughers while people with huge orders self check-out and I have to stand around for 30 minutes with 10 items or less. I think the stores with loyalty issues are the stores that completely took advantage of the system, like Wal-Mart. Self-check out was meant for smaller scale orders or single people, not “I come down from the hills and am buying a months worth of groceries and supplies for 4 weeks for my family of 6.”
At least where I live, Walmart has caused that problem by only ever having one cashier. You either wait in a massive line for the one cashier, or you take your chances at the self check out.
My local grocery store has 4 staffed by humans, 8 self check out.
I make an effort to go to the humans. Jobs, humans need jobs.
Exactly and this is why so many stores have them now–so they don’t have to pay employees. The Walton family loves the idea of consumers paying over-inflated prices on goods AND doing the work that a paid employee should be doing–two birds, one stone baby!
It’s pretty f*cking genius actually.
This is me, as well
While there are days that introvert me is not looking for more people interaction:
– I want people to have jobs, and me using a staffed check out line is a way to support and signal that. Even on my most hide under a blanket day, if I made it out to a store, I can manage to say “hello” and “ thank you” to a person providing me a service
– the self checkouts always require some juggling for me , especially with plastic/resusable bags that don’t sit nicely on the tiny platform … which is annoying
– I have a job, already. Walmart or whoever is not paying me or giving me a discount to do the labor of checking out and bagging for the corporate overlords
– I’m a bright, tech savvy person… yet at least 30-50% of the time, the self checkout machine chokes, throws an error or otherwise requires an employee to come over and clear the error, which isn’t always quick because all the other self checkouts are throwing errors that they also have to attend to. So it winds up taking more time, getting stressful (for me and the overworked self-checkout fixer) and I wind up having MORE interaction with people instead of just being able to say “hi” and then just being in my own calm thoughts until the order is nearly done.
So staffed regular checkout works better, and aligns with my values RE wanting people to have jobs (I’ll pay a bit more, even, in support of that)
Exactly this. Unless I have just one item I’ll always go through the human cashier. I also think it’s important to interact with people. I am not for a world where we replace humans with machine but that seems the way we’re heading.
I always choose self check-out. I bag my items how I want them so things don’t get squished, etc. and I don’t have to talk with anyone if I’m not in the mood.
This! ⬆️
I prefer self serve in many ways but I’m aware they’re just a cheaper option than people. It’s a conundrum. But I probably use ss 80% of the time..
The other week I was in Target with 7 items and I went into self checkout and definitely made a flip comment to the asshole with his cart piled high with groceries next to me. “I guess some people are too important to read” 🤣 but what do they expect? You have three lanes open and nobody who works there is going to risk an altercation with a disgruntled customer. In order for the signs to be effective you have to enforce it.
Anyway I don’t care for self checkout myself because of this but also I use coupons and it’s easier to just go to a cashier because a person still has to come scan them for you at self check.
That’s always been an issue with express lanes. When I was a cashier people would routinely try to go through the 10 or less lane with 20 or more items. Sometimes they’d tell me, “I have 15 cans of cat food” as if one kind of item equaled one item.
I’d use them if they worked. A drugstore chain I use has great self-checkout machines which scan well and don’t malfunction, and I do use them. But other stores, you scan the thing, nothing happens, scan again, nothing happens, takes 10 tries before it will recognize the item, rinse and repeat for each thing, then it’s “unexpected item in bagging area” or some other thing and you have to wait for a staff member. Sometimes I’ve abandoned the process in the middle because it’s just not worth it, piled everything up and taken it to the staffed checkout.
Same!!!
I think the intention for self-anything was to ease and simplify the process but it ended up creating more issues. I really gave them a try, got fed-up, and realized I was wasting more time eventually. I feel relieved seeing a cashier and its just quick and easy for me.
The intention had nothing to do with making anything easier for customers. It was 100% about not paying people. I occasionally use self-checkout, but I’m pissed about it every time I do. The last time I was at Target I had picked up a few impulse items, but they didn’t have the things I had specifically gone there to get. I can’t explain why, and it sounds dumb even to me, but when I saw that there were no humans running registers I just put my stuff down on a shelf and left the store. I definitely sometimes look at people in the self checkout lines and think, “Scabs.”
I mean, you’re doing a job that you’re not actually getting paid for so yes, I might forget to scan an item once in a while…I consider that payment for a job well done.
Now Kitten that is stealing and stealing is not a good thing and you have admitted to stealing. Not a good look.
Stealing??? I forgot to scan an item, that’s all…
If stores are really worried about customers making mistakes at self-checkout they could actually, ya know, pay someone to do that job. That’s their choice in a sad attempt to make more money and this is the downside of that. Consequences ya know?
Yes Kitten it is stealing. I walked out of the store with a squash that I forgot to scan and I walked back into the store and paid for it. Stealing is leaving the store without paying for it period. You can try to make it right in your mind by say I forgot but it’s stealing.
Oh you forgot to scan something? So that actually DOES happen from time time?
You know, your story would have impressed me if you gave that squash to someone who needs it but I’m glad that you gave that root vegetable back to that corporation..
I stand with the kitten. I already have a job. If they are going to force me to do another one, untrained and unpaid, then they have to expect errors.
There are places here where self-check is the *only* option, so they can’t fall back on the “why did you choose that lane”? argument.
Exactly. Tursitops gets it.
Tursitops. That made me smile – I stand with THE kitten! I’m not commenting on the stealing aspect. I have a different view. I am commenting on the way it’s become a job saved for the company: I’m not in your shop to check out your products. Do it for me. I am crap at scanning. I create hassle for other shoppers. This is your responsibility and your shoddy employment policy. And, also, on a tangent but related, I read years ago that richer customers are the ones who bring products back the most expecting full refunds. People with more money than you can shake a stick at apparently come back more often than any other demographic with stuff that’s clearly been opened, worn or used to demand refunds. That is sickening. Sparrow btw not anonymous
On the few occasions I’ve been forced to use self check, I just press “0” when it asks me how many bags I used. If I have to do what should be an employee’s job of scanning & bagging my groceries, then I refuse to pay the bag fee. That’s my employee discount lol. Not my fault if the machine can’t keep track of how many bags are filled!
Kitten! I’d never stolen anything in my life except for a pack of hubba bubba bubble gum from the Houchens when I was 4 and got in BIG BIG trouble. I’m also a good self-regular. I always return carts to the cart bays, clean up after myself at camp sites, etc. but I have definitely not scanned a few things when I’m forced to use self checkout as an act of rebellion against the capitalists and their robots.
Yup. People here are making it seem like we’re walking out with a full cart and it’s got me cackling. Oh, and I too always return my cart to the store, too.
Kitten, are you homeless with kids to feed? Seems like you don’t steal because you need it you steal because you want to. I find it disgusting and wrong.
SouthernFried. It amazes me that people who forget to “scan” try to spin it that it’s the stores fault for having self checkout and that these are their consequences.
You need to place all that anger with the corporations. They are the ones eliminating jobs for greed.
When you “forget” to scan items (AKA stealing) you aren’t hurting “The Man” you are hurting your fellow man. Corporations are not going to take the hit for thieving, they just raise prices and the rest of us have to pay extra because of you. This sounds like the musings of MAGA, like something ignorant they would say and or do to justify stealing. (Same goes for the organic produce thief—you are STEALING). SMDH. It’s gross to see people so proud of themselves and this behavior .
Lol I’m not bold enough to “forget” to scan items, but I do enjoy all the organic produce I get at non-organic prices 😉
My FAVORITE post this holiday season was this Facebook event:
“Walmart Self Checkout Employee Christmas Party”
Celebrating another successful year of picking, paying, and bagging your own groceries while actual employees just stand around and check receipts.
So many people signed up the guy turned it into a holiday fundraiser!
That’s brilliant!
Yeah I don’t agree, at my grocery store I scan items as I go, see what I’m spending in real time, bag items as I go, and breeze through self check out. It’s so efficient. I don’t usually need an employee’s help but there’s one stationed there for all the self checkouts.
I loathe self checkout. I am not a paid employee, so I should not be doing an employee’s job ringing up and bagging my groceries. Plus those machines always give an error message and you end up waiting ten minutes for the lone employee in charge of the self check to come over and help. I prefer delivery and not have to deal with it.
Same same same @Lucky Charm. I loathe it too. First of all, I want humans to have those jobs. I’m resistant to the over-automation of every damn thing, and I don’t want to contribute to it more than I need to. Second, I guess I wouldn’t mind self-checkout once in a while for tiny purchases if it worked reliably. But I get some sort of error almost every time I use it, and that causes my anxiety and annoyance to spike. So I try to avoid putting myself in those situations. I know I might sound like an old curmudgeon, but it’s aimed squarely at greedy corporations.
I find it a stress. It’s made for super quick checking out so someone who can’t use them without buggering it all up, that’s me!, is infuriating for those who are speedy with their shopping.
I don’t see them as ‘i have to do unpaid work of an employee’, because in the end it’s my choice to use the self checkout. If you go to pick up something from the shop instead of getting it delivered are you doing the unpaid work of a delivery driver? No, because it’s your choice.
Also, it feels simultaneously like a luxury to have someone packing your bag (because that’s not a thing in the UK), and at the same time totally horrendous because I want to pack my items for easy transport/minimal damage/easy unpacking at home :’)
I don’t mind self-checkout if it’s a couple of items at the CVS, but not at the grocery store. There’s never enough room to put the groceries on one side and the bags on the other and there’s always some problem with the bar codes on the deli items or weighing produce and some such. I don’t see what’s wrong with putting my stuff on a conveyer belt, having the cashier ring it up and picking up the bags on the other end – plus, somebody has a paying job. And, in general, I like getting out of my house and having some human interaction when doing errands.
Self checkout is so much faster than the regular lines at my stores. And cheaper than delivery where I have to trust that the shopper actually looks at the product before dumping anything in the cart (seriously kale and leeks are NOT the same thing)
Plus someone doing your shopping isn’t going to be as concerned with freshness, dates and quality as doing it yourself. The people doing the shopping for others wheel around big carts with boxes and will get in your way and run over you when you’re trying to shop. They’re annoying.
I’m the opposite. I avoid stores that don’t have self-checkouts.
haha. introvert? i love self checkout too!
Yup I have social anxiety which means I prefer self checkout if I don’t have a ton of stuff. We shop at Aldi a lot which has a good self checkout system.
I can completely relate to this. I avoid self checkouts like a plague. Certain things require human interaction.
I was travelling for a vacation 2 weeks back and faced so many issues with the self-check in kiosk and even luggage was sent without anyone monitoring it. The system had so many issues and eventually there was a long queue of people who were unable to send in their luggage. And don’t even get me started on seeing old people struggling with self check-in. It was a sad plight. My friend and I helped 2 couples check in.
When I say human interaction, I am not saying I want to make a small talk. I just know that things are quick and easy with a human at the other end of the counter. I know certain people prefer self check in/outs. To each his own. But it’s not a complete surprise that people aren’t responding well to self check in/outs.
Exactly, I’m not looking to make a new friend, but humans aren’t programmed to act only one way. They can answer questions, they can see if someone needs help. At my local Market Basket, you can ask any employee in any department where to find something and they know the answer. If you have large order, they’ll find someone to help you take everything to your car. And they do this while having lower prices than most other stores and providing good benefits for their workers.
I hate self checking out. I stand around waiting for a proper cashier, bumping my basket against my knees and reading the headlines on papers near the till until someone gets to me. I don’t mind waiting! But waiting is a luxury I get other people don’t have. Swings and roundabouts.
All Targets must not be limiting the number of items for the self checkouts since the one I regularly patronize does not. As a matter of fact I discovered they don’t even have a checkout with a cashier open before noon so if you are an early shopper you are forced to use the self checkout. At Aldi I would rather wait in line to be checked out by a cashier unless I am only grabbing a couple items. The same for Walmart. The only place I prefer self checkout is BJs wholesale club since I only shop there once a month and never buy more than at most ten things at a time.
Gladly this isnt yet a thing where I live. I would have no clue how to do this, U gave me freaking zero training! Dont know the numbers for produce and prolly commiting theft while trying to self checkout. Nahhh folks you better have cashiers.
I’m glad to see I’m not alone in the comments.
I love self checkout.
I have to interact with people all day at work. But I’m not a people person, I’m an introvert who exerts her entire fake extrovert shell at work for money. When I stop at the store to get something, I like to be in and out. I don’t want to feel like I have to interact with people or else be rude (that’s probably all in my head but that’s how I feel). For me, it’s actually stressful. Not to mention I can be embarrassed by the silliest thing. I’m in my 40s and I still hate having some teenage boy bag my tampons or lube!
I like bagging the way I want, and I tend to do it quicker than if I went to a cashier.
Yes I know, jobs. People need jobs and people only get to keep their jobs if they’re useful and cost effective.
I feel the exact same way you do about all of this. Couldn’t agree more.
Introverts of the world unite!! (Separately.)
Here for all of this HeatherC! Exactly how I feel.
I’d add to your comment, MissMarirose, that some introverts will be happy to unite, just without any expectation of actually interacting!
My husband worked in a grocery store in high school so he LOVES self checkout, he takes it so seriously, lol. he organizes everything as he goes and he’s fast.
I like self checkout for smaller trips, if I’m buying 5-10 things I dont want to wait in line behind the person with a full cart. But with a full cart it often is easier to go to the cashier….IF they’re properly staffed and open. and thats a big IF at a lot of stores around me.
I also worked as a cashier and they taught us how to bag properly. When I check out I put all my cold stuff on the counter first then my dry goods and then any soft or vulnerable items last. My husband came with me once and tried to just put everything on the counter no particular order and I had to stop him lol. He now helps me my way lol.
Ha ha! I hate how my partner puts all the heavy things in one bag, sometimes ten tins on top of a lone loaf of bread he put at the bottom with god knows what intention, something like a cushion to protect the cans? Then all the lighter things in another bag. It’s impossible to carry well balanced. I am resolute in how I stack the trolley to make it easier for the cashier and myself. God I sound SO boring! Sorry. But hey at least we can all agree that we don’t go approach the checkout with a carton of milk upside down. Ms Middleton, that’s you.
I will always choose self checkout if I only have a few items that have barcodes. It’s faster and easier.
I hate self checkout. Like I really really hate it. I just moved from CA to CO and one thing that’s very different is that at Target, Walmart, and the grocery store here they will only have one lane open with an employee checking out customers. That’s it. Only one lane open at Target. There was a line with 20 people waiting for self checkout. At the grocery store I will have 30 items and have to use self checkout.
I don’t like it, either. I’m crap at it. And yes practise makes perfect, but the stress of hearing people behind me tutting as I bugger it up again is just too much. I’m in your shop, you checkout your products for me.
Hate self checkouts. Very dislike machines replacing people. I’m an introvert that has to do deep breathing exercises before social situations. I don’t need the cashier to be my best friend. I will tell them I understand that their job is to be friendly to customers. Just so you know, you don’t need to be chit chatty with me. End of. Oh, forgot, please, please..don’t lift the lid off the candle I”m buying, smell it and then tell me you approve! I don’t care what you think about your candle scents opinions in relation to my own.
Ultimately, dislike machines replacing humans.
loling at myself. Really do hate it when cashiers lift the lid off to smell my candle.
I live near a Publix and a Walmart marketplace. Walmart is all self checkout. They do not factor in that on more than one occasion, senior citizens require additional assistance with self checkout. I had one gentleman say he was watching me to see how to do it. It takes employees away when they have to undo errors and assist other customers. They also don’t factor in that a lot of people do there once a month grocery shopping there. I have seen carts full to the top, which takes a longer time and also requires assistance from employees.
If only the self checkouts weren’t designed by paranoid sadists.
Why do self checkouts insist that I put every item on a scale after scanning it? Who decided that putting the “Tobacco products” button right under the “Start” button is good UI, so that the machine thinks you want to buy cigarettes (requires an employee) if you press the start button three milliseconds too long? And why is there no “Back” button on that “Tobacco products” screen?
Why do the 10 different types of bananas the store offers all have a different price, so that it takes five minutes to find the correct banana on the screen? Why are the images you’re using completely washed out as if they had been displayed in the store for 15 years? How did you even achieve that on a computer?
Exactly, rrabbit. It’s about how well they are designed physically and the app itself. I’m in Ontario Canada and we have a lot of self check out in stores and they range from the good and fast to error prone and annoying. My local Woolworth’s-like store has a system that is really good, always picks up markdown prices, deals with coupons, barcodes, loyalty cards and credit cards, never has had a problem. There’s plenty of room for your purchases and room for your bags. There’s even a bin for coat hangers and other stuff. You can put your bag to the side and pack it as you go.
My local grocery store on the other hand is dreadful. The user interface is awful, and it will not let you put your bag to the side to pack your groceries. There’s suddenly a shriek at you that there is a foreign item un-scanned in the bag area! You have to stack your groceries to one side until you’ve paid and then you can pack them which of course adds to delays. Items such as fruit are difficult to locate and the system screams at you if you put the fruit on the scale before you have located it in the list. It often fails to pick up 50% off labels, and burps when you try to use a coupon. It’s a nightmare. There is a cashier who is full-time helping people who are having difficulties or reduced to screaming at the system.
I tend to use cashiers most of the time, they need jobs.
No way…. I love self checkout. I am ten times faster at it than anyone on the working a cash register. The people working them are taking their sweet time and I have waited over ten minutes in very short lineups… (when I have to go to stores without self checkout options, there are actually cashiers that I knowingly avoid because they are so slow…..
The only chain where I actually prefer the cashiers (and that’s because they are fast and efficient) – Costco!
I’m surprised at this. Self checkouts have been the norm in the UK for as long as I can remember. I did notice when travelling that the US doesn’t seem to use them nearly as much (which I think is maybe because US banking/payment systems are far less sophisticated- I was very shocked the first time someone in America physically took my card away).
I personally really like them, especially the scan and go kind (where you don’t check out at all, just wave your device over each product as you pick it up from the shelves and put it straight into your bag). I hate having to queue to checkout!
SamuelWhiskers. I’m in the UK. Your experience shows I get most of my life delivered, particularly food orders, because seeing self checkouts in express supermarkets still seems very new to me. They’re not new, of course. Just my life is sheltered and so out of date!!
Agree SamuelWhiskers! I’m in the UK too, the only scan and go I’ve tried was in London once, it was an Amazon Fresh shop and it was so weird! But I could get used to it I’m sure. The self checkouts in M&S and Waitrose are particularly good, especially since you often don’t need to put anything in a bagging area which is where the majority of the issues are. The rest are okay, you just have to match their speed and it’s pretty smooth sailing, but they can get annoying when it repeatedly thinks something is on the scale and it’s not.
Where I shop, the checkout people do not bag your groceries, they just ring them up. And then they just stand there watching you as you try to quickly bag up your stuff at the end of the counter. Then you have to come back to the middle part of the counter so that you can swipe your card and pay. Annoying. Self checkout all the way baby!!!
So, I’m curious, talking about stores implementing self checkout to replace having to pay regular cashiers – what’s the job market like in this area these days? I remember during the height of the pandemic so many places having trouble finding people to work those jobs – Starbucks was offering several hundred dollars up front for new hirees – and though I haven’t followed it closely, I was under the impression finding people continued to be a problem. And how does the increasing prevalence of self check out track with the pandemic experience?
My local grocery store, very popular, good prices and helpful staff, constantly has trouble finding people to work; there’s always a display in the front of the store advertising positions, and walk in interviews. I assume some of the problem is location; the surrounding area is reasonably affluent and local kids, for example, have other things they can do with their time, or else they work for short periods like school vacations then move on.
Like many above, I personally prefer self check out, it’s usually faster and I can pack my own stuff. But then, I’m not a Target, etc regular, from comments above it sounds like these stores have their own issues. And location (how close) is more of a consideration for me than loyalty, as long as I’m reasonably happy with what a store provides.
Cashiering jobs have turned into online pickers as the popularity has continued to grow for that service. The jobs aren’t going anywhere.
Opposite here! I LOVE them. I’m extremely introverted and hate small talk so these are ideal for me!!!
I love self checkouts. I don’t want to talk to anyone and I get to choose how everything is bagged and organized for putting away when I get home. As for the complaints that it’s taking a job away, I don’t agree. The stores are now full of employees fulfilling online shopping orders. They’re still employed just not at a cash register.
Food Lion definitely has self checkouts where I live!
I will use self checkout when they either pay me for my time or give me the employee discount.
I live in a rural area and lots of people have cash only. So corporate Lowes decided to remove all regular registers. They now have only self checkout that only takes cards. What genius thought this was a good idea? Do they not talk to district/area managers? I know the majority of the country uses electronic payments, but people here (including contractors) were leaving carts of supplies to drive 2 hours to the competitor and pay cash. I wonder how long it will be before they add back the regular registers.
People in Canada have been bagging their groceries for ages if they ever went to Superstore or any of the related stores under that umbrella, so that’s nothing new here.
I once again post that there are people who get paid thanks to the self-checkout units and that is the people who work on them, program them, assemble and ship them. These are not all high tech jobs and the IT departments of these places thank you. If you think that these people are high paid, you need to do research into what they actually make and how they are treated. Not the Apple end of the spectrum, but the people who work on the ground levels. This sector of the tech world employs a lot of people, who don’t make much above minimum wage.
I guess I’m old school because I refuse to use self check out unless I have 5 small items or less – It’s infuriating with repeat instructions and “bagging errors” at the grocery store, and if I’m at Target or god forbid Wally world – yes I expect service or I’m just going to order on line – and spend less – Let someone have a job – and if you’re losing $ because of self check out errors – stealing etc too bad – I personally hate self check out – pay me if you want me to do the work you should have enough employees to do – Every self check out with over 10 items should have an automatic 10% minimum discount
I will not shop at grocery stores that DON’T offer self checkout. I am an introvert and I work in a customer facing role. The last thing I want to do when I’m not on the clock is interact with random humans 😂
It’s all fun and games until you scan the bottle of wine…. then you need to wait 2-3min for some frazzled monitor to make sure you’re not a minor 😅
Imma hybrid. Small basket, self checkout. Overflowing, humans please. Even if I’m not in the mood to talk to anyone, huge basket=HELP! Just smile and carry on lol.
I hate self checkouts! First and foremost because I would like a person to be doing that job. I usually buy groceries at Wegmans, and while I am careful about how I place items on the belt, the cashiers are all very good about packing and do it exactly how I would.
Secondly because it rarely goes smoothly. The machines are always blathering on about buying bags or I’m not putting items in the bagging area fast enough, or maybe it’s heavy and I just want to put it back in the cart after scanning, or there’s not enough room.
The last time I picked up a few things at a Tops the assistant had to come over 3 times to clear things on the machine! I think most if it is to try and prevent stealing and you know what the best way to do that is? Have an actual cashier!
No self checkout for me, on principle.
1. If they want me to do the work of their cashiers, they have to pay me (rebate).
2. People are losing their jobs over this. That’s a big no-no for me.
3. Having seem how long it sometimes takes people to work the machines, I might as well stand in line at the manned/womanned checkout, get service I pay for and not feel as if someone made once again even more profit through me and my unpaid labor at the self checkout machine.
In case it is not quite clear, I hate these things and the thinking behind them with a vengeance!
Totally, totally agree, LivingDesert. This is your stuff, check it out for me: it’s enough that I’ve used your shop to buy your products. Get/retain workers and pay them proper wages. Your self checkouts are a mess to use, I can’t do it; I’ve seen others struggle, and they are far better than I am with the things. The one thing I do understand is that people who find interaction with others difficult appreciate the no talk process. But I’d love to be a checkout member of staff at these new queues for older people who take longer and value conversation because they are lonely. I could talk all day to them. I love interacting.
It depends. The main supermarkets have very limited (1 or two depending on the time of day) cash registers open. The self scans only accept debit (no credit cards or cash) cards—I usually do use the self scan in the supermarket because waiting in line for the cash register feels like it takes forever. I can sometimes be out of the store 15 minutes faster. I personally dislike the home delivery (curbside pickup doesn’t exist here), because of the extra pollution and because it’s simply less safe for bikes (a major form of transportation here—especially with kids and blind spots).
That said, I try to go to the live person in other stores. We have issues with housing, affordable food, jobs, etc, and people with less schooling have been paying the highest price.
I do not see any benefit in terms of price when companies switch to self scanning. I am sometimes checked (especially if I purchase something like salmon, candy, or vitamin D that has a higher likelihood of being stolen). This means that you are treated (politely) as a potential thief. That doesn’t happen when you go to a register.
I agree with the tiktoks! Those little interactions with strangers makes life worth living. Even if there isn’t much small talk, it’s just an opportunity to interact with another human and make everyone more empathetic and human! I do like self-checkout when I don’t have a lot of items, but I definitely make an effort to try to find a cashier or checkout person.
I love self checkout for 10 items or less. But a full cart? No thank you. I’m not ringing all that up.
When I know I’ll be getting just a few items, I’ll go to Walmart self checkout. For groceries where I know I’ll have a full cart, I go to my local grocery chain that unloads all the items onto the conveyor belt for you, rings them up, loads them back into the cart, walks out with you and unloads it all into your car, AND takes the shopping cart back. All I have to do is stand there and have my money ready. I’m introverted as hell, but I’ll put up with chit chat to save myself from having to do all of that.
I love self checkouts and so do my young children. They have told me they enjoy it as they can scan their own items, count out their money and/or gift cards, pay at their own pace and not feel rushed, bag their own items, grab the receipt and change (dependent on payment method). It teaches them independence, learning to save and be responsible with their own money. Now when I have errands such as grocery shopping and what not they want to come to be immersed in the experience and try to take over. LOL.
This must be some sort of American thing ?
Love them…
What kind of live cashiers do y’all have?? The stores I go to, they don’t talk that much at all. Like really… I only use self-checkout when I have to because if you’re not paying me to be a cashier I’m not doing it for free.
It’s not the machines. It’s the machine existing, only allowing for you to check out with a limited number of items, and then the rest of the cashier lines save for 1-2 being unstaffed for everybody who is making a bigger purchase. Why are people who are spending more money being inconvenienced? That’s illogical.
I spent twenty minutes at a line at Target because I needed some household stuff that tallied well over $200, and I sat there watching people go through the self check and thinking…why even go out shopping now lol? Amazon may be trash, but they understand a fundamental thing about consumerism that gives it the edge — make it easy and convenient for the customer.