What's Normal? - Do you usually use the self-checkout at the grocery store? (1 Viewer)

[Juxtatarot]

Here's one reason to use self checkout

Off topic but my innate frugalness cringes at his $100 basket. It's easy to spend a lot less for similar foods.

 

[The Z Machine]

99.9% of the time. The fewer people I have to deal with the better

I would love to be like this but the self checkout line moves slower, is longer, and I think has a 25 item limit. I'm usually above 25 items.

I do like to bag my own groceries though and I know I'm better at it than most baggers.

 

[Rustoleum]

If I can fit all my stuff in 4 bags (one spin of the little t-shirt bag carousel) I self check, but I worked in a grocery store just as scanners and plastic bags replaced hand ringing and paper, and as upthread, the “place item in bag” or built in delay between scans makes me violent.

I have two superpowers: scanning/bagging groceries, and Irish Goodbyes (as close to invisibility as I could get I guess.). Self-check has stolen one of those from me.

When I go to the full-service register, I send my stuff down the belt in the order I hope they will bag it in.

 

[the moops]

Here's one reason to use self checkout

Huh? Is he suggesting mis-scanning to steal stuff?

It's a joke dude

 

[Scoresman]

One of the scams is getting something like a 10 pack of filet mignons and scanning something way cheaper instead of it. So like get one of those small packs of yeast, hold it against the expensive item and scan that instead.

 

[the moops]

I didn't realize there was this many angry people in the supermarket

Seriously. I gotta be more careful in those places apparently.

 

[Terminalxylem]

Here's one reason to use self checkout

Huh? Is he suggesting mis-scanning to steal stuff?

It's a joke dude

Yeah, I didn’t get it, or realize intentionally mis-scanning was rampant.

 

[Terminalxylem]

To me it's like a bartender. A new big craft beer place opened in town and you go in an buy a "card" with a set amount of money on it. Then you go to the tap and swipe the card and beers are priced by the ounce. It's terrible.

Great for the company as they cut staff and eliminate jobs and likely rake in extra profit as people don't accurately calculate the math on how much a beer should cost by the ounce. Especially after a few drinks.

Hate that place.

There is a popular little brewery in downtown Detroit that we go to once in awhile. I read that they went to all app ordering and paying to cut staff and costs.

When you sit down be it inside or outside no server comes over, you have to scan menu on your phone, figure out what kind of beer you would like, if you want food the same thing. Order on their and pay on their app.

The only time you see anyone is when they drop your beer or food off at the table. Almost zero interaction. Out bill was 50 dollars and when i go to pay of course the tip % pops up. My wife said "Nobody even talked to us", they just ran the food out like a busboy would.

I don’t use self scan regularly at grocery stores, but love QR menu/order/pay restaurants.

Don’t really enjoy interacting with waitstaff. Just give me the info electronically, so I don’t have to endure a ten-minute spiel about specials I definitely won’t be ordering, alcoholic beverage pretense, and multiple delays before my order is taken/bill arrives.

I’m dining with people with whom I’m interested in socializing, not looking for gratuitous small talk with the workers.

As long as an human is available if something goes wrong/questions arise, I’d be content to be served by robots. Everything else electronically automated.

This also takes care of a few others peeves, like indecisive orderers and bickering over how a bill is split. The only downside, imo, is it may involve downloading an app.

I'm the exact opposite. One of the primary things about eating out is the social interaction with the staff. It's not gratuitous small talk in my opinion. It's the basics of hospitality.

Reducing it to door dash is a big negative for me.

In some of the best meals I can remember at a restaurant, a great service staff was a key part of it.

I guess we all have different priorities. But I mainly eat out for the food, plus the company of the people with whom I share the meal. Very rarely, the setting/ambiance of the restaurant is a draw, but not because of the people who work there.

TBH, I can’t imagine enjoying chatting with a bartender, and it’s not because I rarely drink. Hospitality is fine, but I don’t recall any meaningful interactions with waitstaff, ever. And we eat out nearly every week. FWIW, not a huge fan of meal delivery stuff like DoorDash, either.

I also don’t like talking to my hairstylist, dentist, mechanic, etc. I’m not rude to them, and will exchange pleasantries, but not looking for random conversation, outside of the service they provide.

Probably a consequence of being introverted.

 

[Mitchie]

One of the scams is getting something like a 10 pack of filet mignons and scanning something way cheaper instead of it. So like get one of those small packs of yeast, hold it against the expensive item and scan that instead.

hadn't thought of that, one of the supermarkets i go to, the automation screams out the product when scanned, now i know why.

 

[Snoopy]

The self-scans around here have a weight scale in the bagging area and will reject the item if the item put in there is not the expected weight of the item just scanned.

 

[belljr]

Timely

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/13/business/self-checkout-stores-shopping/index.html

 

[Keerock]

Timely

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/13/business/self-checkout-stores-shopping/index.html

What a bunch of crap.

“Our customers have told us this over time — that the self-scan machines that we’ve got in our stores … can be slow, they can be unreliable (and) they’re obviously impersonal,”

So those customers shouldn't use the self-checkout! It's like me complaining that a restaurant serves both caffeinated and decaf coffee. I'm going to complain because I don't want decaf but caffeinated is available to me?

IHP

 

[Joe Bryant]

Timely

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/13/business/self-checkout-stores-shopping/index.html

What a bunch of crap.

“Our customers have told us this over time — that the self-scan machines that we’ve got in our stores … can be slow, they can be unreliable (and) they’re obviously impersonal,”

So those customers shouldn't use the self-checkout! It's like me complaining that a restaurant serves both caffeinated and decaf coffee. I'm going to complain because I don't want decaf but caffeinated is available to me?

IHP

I do understand why a company would want to reduce the number of paths for a customer though. It's a fine line.

We struggle with this.

For instance, lots of people on our FBG staff BEG me to kill the Draft Dominator Classic tool. Having two different draft tools requires a ton of extra work on our part and makes things way mor difficult for our tech folks maintaining two very different systems. Our Customer service folks deal with a ton of issues on confusion between the two products.

It's hugely inefficient. A big (and maybe smarter) company would say kill the old one.

Every year, I spend the money to keep the old one going. Because I know there's a section of our long time audience (many of them here on the forums) that prefer the old one.

So I get why companies want to "pick a lane".

The question is always if the upsides outweigh the downsides.

 

[caustic]

I always use self check. Was picking up some groceries on the way home from work yesterday, and with this thread's spirited debate in mind, I decided to go to a cashier to see what I was missing.

There were two shoppers in front of me. The cashier scans all of shopper #1's groceries quickly - nice, fast cashier! Then came the coupons. This shopper pulls out a fat roll of clipped coupons and hands them to the cashier one by one. After that, they ask the cashier to split the bill into multiple transactions because they need to pay with multiple cards. After a couple minutes of sorting out which items belong in which transaction, the shopper pays for two of the three tranches of groceries. Then, on the third and final transaction, they pull out another coupon. This one puzzles the cashier - it's a huge piece of paper and the shopper instructs her to "run it like a check." The cashier calls over her supervisor, who also struggles with the coupon and says something about not being able to override the cash register's system. At this point it's been 15+ minutes, the self-check line has completely turned over 2-3 times, and there's still another shopper in front of me. The supervisor calls over their supervisor to handle this strange coupon. Supervisor 2 spends a bunch of time typing something into the register and waiting for it to load. After another minute or two, they tell me and shopper #2 that "you may want to use self check - this could be a while." So after ~20 minutes of waiting, I ended up using self check anyway.

tl;dr - tried a cashier because of this thread and got stuck behind professional coupon clipper, do not recommend.

 

[Keerock]

Just saw this meme:

"I had the slowest, rudest, nastiest cashier today... I'm done using self-checkout"

 

[Gally]

I hate the self checkout as it always seems to have issues or have to wait for a staff member to "check" my id for beer or whatever. It's just a pain that I would rather not deal with. I always go to the cashier.

 

[Gally]

To me it's like a bartender. A new big craft beer place opened in town and you go in an buy a "card" with a set amount of money on it. Then you go to the tap and swipe the card and beers are priced by the ounce. It's terrible.

Great for the company as they cut staff and eliminate jobs and likely rake in extra profit as people don't accurately calculate the math on how much a beer should cost by the ounce. Especially after a few drinks.

Hate that place.

When I first went to one of these places I thought it was awesome. I can take my time and look at the options and try a couple to see what one I want to fill up with. Then change easily etc. In theory I thought it was a great idea.

In practice I found that the taps usually were foamy (yes I know how to pour from a tap) no matter how you approached it. Many times it also cut off the pour to 2/3 of a glass because it only did a certain number of ounces at a time.

That place that has this also has wait staff serving you at the table so you can also order drinks like a normal restaurant. After using this a couple times the novelty wore off and now I just go the regular way.

Also, as someone pointed out the price per ounce was usually a little high and with the waste on the foam and other aspects it just didn't work well. In the end I thought the concept was good but the execution wasn't.

 

[Scoresman]

The self-scans around here have a weight scale in the bagging area and will reject the item if the item put in there is not the expected weight of the item just scanned.

Yeah but how often does the employee actually look to see what caused the error to try and find shoplifting. This error happens to me all the time and cashier just swipes a card to remove the error. Never looks in my bag or anything. As a theft deterrent, I dont think it works well.

 

[SoBeDad]

Self checkout at Publix, unless I want to get cash for a lottery ticket or bruskers on Lincoln Road. The nearby by small legacy Publix 2 blocks away has no self-checkout yet, the space is small, but it'll come eventually.

My Traders Joe's doesn't have self checkout, still a smiling friendly cashier, some older folks including an Ernest Hemingway look alike Mario who is quite a character. When I ask the cashiers where is Hemingway, many of the younger ones don't know about the Hemingway white beard, or the annual look-alike contest in Key West.

 

[Joe Bryant]

My Traders Joe's doesn't have self checkout, still a smiling friendly cashier, some older folks including an Ernest Hemingway look alike Mario who is quite a character. When I ask the cashiers where is Hemingway, many of the younger ones don't know about the Hemingway white beard, or the annual look-alike contest in Key West.

This. I'm sure Trader Joes will hold out as long as they until the accountants force them.

But that kind of vibe is exactly the kind of thing people love about Trader Joes.

 

[Joe Bryant]

tl;dr - tried a cashier because of this thread and got stuck behind professional coupon clipper, do not recommend.

That's another maybe unexpected problem with self checkout. It forces the high effort customers to the clerk line. And makes that experience overall worse too.

It's not as simple as "Let's have both ways - that can't hurt anything".

 

[Keerock]

tl;dr - tried a cashier because of this thread and got stuck behind professional coupon clipper, do not recommend.

That's another maybe unexpected problem with self checkout. It forces the high effort customers to the clerk line. And makes that experience overall worse too.

It's not as simple as "Let's have both ways - that can't hurt anything".

Just keep her out of the self-checkout

 

[Ministry of Pain]

I'd like to put in a special plug for the Kroger's in Atlanta, GA along the Beltline, they have a beer bar or beer taps with decent selection and they also seem to be making a lot of food in there. Great spot to find a chair and people watch around lunch time. I stumbled on to it last time I was in Atlanta and it was fantastic plus the exercise getting to and from along the Beltline, actually met some very nice strangers along the way, good place to get lost.

 

[Keerock]

I'd like to put in a special plug for the Kroger's in Atlanta, GA along the Beltline, they have a beer bar or beer taps with decent selection and they also seem to be making a lot of food in there. Great spot to find a chair and people watch around lunch time. I stumbled on to it last time I was in Atlanta and it was fantastic plus the exercise getting to and from along the Beltline, actually met some very nice strangers along the way, good place to get lost.

The Kroger's what?

 

[Terminalxylem]

My Traders Joe's doesn't have self checkout, still a smiling friendly cashier, some older folks including an Ernest Hemingway look alike Mario who is quite a character. When I ask the cashiers where is Hemingway, many of the younger ones don't know about the Hemingway white beard, or the annual look-alike contest in Key West.

This. I'm sure Trader Joes will hold out as long as they until the accountants force them.

But that kind of vibe is exactly the kind of thing people love about Trader Joes.

Don’t want to belabor this point, but antisocial people also like Trader Joe‘s because:

they carry interesting, high quality products, some of which aren’t available elsewhere
they’re reasonably priced
they run efficiently - tend to have many cashiers, relative to bigger chains

Cashier persona may factor in for some, but I don’t think it plays a big role in TJ’s following. TBH, I can’t think of anyone who doesn’t love that place.

 

[Terminalxylem]

When I go to the full-service register, I send my stuff down the belt in the order I hope they will bag it in.

This is important. Also a good idea to orient bar codes to facilitate quick scanning.

 

[SoBeDad]

When I go to the full-service register, I send my stuff down the belt in the order I hope they will bag it in.

This is important. Also a good idea to orient bar codes to facilitate quick scanning.

Grocery stores is a part of my social life! I don't mind the checkout being a little slow, gives me time to browse some tabloids. When I've gone with my gregarious friend Billy, he goes even further, converses with everyone, is even a little fresh. Why is everyone in such a hurry?

 

[NutterButter]

My Traders Joe's doesn't have self checkout, still a smiling friendly cashier, some older folks including an Ernest Hemingway look alike Mario who is quite a character. When I ask the cashiers where is Hemingway, many of the younger ones don't know about the Hemingway white beard, or the annual look-alike contest in Key West.

This. I'm sure Trader Joes will hold out as long as they until the accountants force them.

But that kind of vibe is exactly the kind of thing people love about Trader Joes.

Don’t want to belabor this point, but antisocial people also like Trader Joe‘s because:

they carry interesting, high quality products, some of which aren’t available elsewhere
they’re reasonably priced
they run efficiently - tend to have many cashiers, relative to bigger chains

Cashier persona may factor in for some, but I don’t think it plays a big role in TJ’s following. TBH, I can’t think of anyone who doesn’t love that place.

Nice to meet you. I'm NutterButter. Maybe a separate thread though. They have a following similar to the cult of costco i belong to .

 

[ChiefD]

This is important. Also a good idea to orient bar codes to facilitate quick scanning.

Such an underrated move. I do this.

Only the top .05% of retail shoppers are ballers like this.

 

[belljr]

I think I been to Trader Joes once in my life. Just after they opened one up around here. Guess that was about 15 years ago

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

This is important. Also a good idea to orient bar codes to facilitate quick scanning.

Such an underrated move. I do this.

Only the top .05% of retail shoppers are ballers like this.

:tipsballcap:

Also....when it comes to the conveyor belt:

Cold stuff (except eggs)..........Cans, boxes and jars.........meat/poultry/fish.......veggies.....fruits.........eggs..........bread.

 

[massraider]

There is a small chain in New England called Market Basket, and man, their cashiers and baggers are next level fast.

When I moved down south for a bit I was in pain, I felt like even the scanners were slower. beeeeeeeeeeep

This. I'm sure Trader Joes will hold out as long as they until the accountants force them.

You can tell they are privately owned.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Timely

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/13/business/self-checkout-stores-shopping/index.html

If you go on to read it is (always,) more about my beloved Don Ohlmeyer quote, "The answer to all your questions is money"

But now, retailers are rethinking self-checkout. They have found that self-checkout leads to higher merchandise losses from customer errors and intentional shoplifting — known as “shrink” — than human cashiers ringing up customers.

Shrink has been a growing problem for retailers, who have blamed shoplifting for the increase and called for tougher penalties. But retailers’ self-checkout strategies have also contributed to their shrink problems.

One study of retailers in the United States, Britain and other European countries found that companies with self-checkout lanes and apps had a loss rate of about 4%, more than double the industry average.

Some products have multiple barcodes or barcodes that don’t scan properly with self-checkout technology. Produce, including fruit and meat, typically needs to be weighed and manually entered into the system using a code. Customers may type in the wrong code by accident. Other times shoppers won’t hear the “beep” confirming an item has been scanned properly.


Other customers take advantage of the lax oversight at self-checkout aisles and have developed techniques for stealing. Common tactics include not scanning an item, swapping a cheaper item (bananas) for a more expensive one (steak), scanning counterfeit barcodes attached to their wrists or properly scanning everything and then walking out without paying.

Stores have tried to limit losses by tightening self-checkout security features, such as adding weight sensors. But additional anti-theft measures also lead to more frustrating “unexpected item in the bagging area” errors, requiring employees to intervene.

Walmart removed self-checkout machines at some stores in New Mexico earlier this year. ShopRite pulled them at a Delaware store after customer complaints. Wegmans last year ended a mobile app that allowed customers to scan, bag and pay for groceries while they shopped after reporting losses. Costco said it’s adding more staff in self-checkout areas after it found that non-members were sneaking in to use membership cards that didn’t belong to them at self-checkout.

Costco management said this year that shrink increased “in part we believe due to the rollout of self-checkout.”

 

[Terminalxylem]

Why is everyone in such a hurry?

Because time is finite, and those interactions add little to quality of life (both for the consumer, and employee).

 

[Snoopy]

This is important. Also a good idea to orient bar codes to facilitate quick scanning.

Such an underrated move. I do this.

Only the top .05% of retail shoppers are ballers like this.

Or Aldi shoppers (Their products have barcodes everywhere)

 

[Joe Bryant]

My Traders Joe's doesn't have self checkout, still a smiling friendly cashier, some older folks including an Ernest Hemingway look alike Mario who is quite a character. When I ask the cashiers where is Hemingway, many of the younger ones don't know about the Hemingway white beard, or the annual look-alike contest in Key West.

This. I'm sure Trader Joes will hold out as long as they until the accountants force them.

But that kind of vibe is exactly the kind of thing people love about Trader Joes.

Don’t want to belabor this point, but antisocial people also like Trader Joe‘s because:

they carry interesting, high quality products, some of which aren’t available elsewhere
they’re reasonably priced
they run efficiently - tend to have many cashiers, relative to bigger chains

Cashier persona may factor in for some, but I don’t think it plays a big role in TJ’s following. TBH, I can’t think of anyone who doesn’t love that place.

Sure. Trader Joe's does lots of things right.

It's ok that it can be great staff and interaction as well as great products and prices and efficiency.

Several things can be true at the same time.

 

[Doug B]

@Doug B do you "make groceries" or is that an out of date phrase?

My grandparents might have "Making groceries" is pretty old-school, though it used to get trotted out by advertisers well into the 1980s.

Schwegmann ad 1988

From 1988, here is a Thanksgiving theme ad from the defunct Schwegmann Grocery Store in New Orleans. Making groceries Schwegmann Style.

www.youtube.com

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Until this thread I swear I've never heard the term "making groceries"

 

[PIK95]

No, because self checkout takes away jobs.

 

[shuke]

I do often but sometimes it's difficult to balance my impatience with waiting in line vs. impatience with the machine pausing between scans and telling me to put something in the bagging area WHEN IT'S ALREADY ####ING IN THERE!

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Grocery stores is a part of my social life!

You're a wildman.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Grocery stores is a part of my social life!

You're a wildman.

I’m not sure this is exactly what he’s talking about but there’s a Safeway in Baltimore that’s known as the social Safeway for its attractive clientele.

 

[Keerock]

Grocery stores is a part of my social life!

You're a wildman.

I’m not sure this is exactly what he’s talking about but there’s a Safeway in Baltimore that’s known as the social Safeway for its attractive clientele.

My local Kroger must be nicknamed Kraken Kroger...

 

[Scoresman]

Grocery stores is a part of my social life!

You're a wildman.

I’m not sure this is exactly what he’s talking about but there’s a Safeway in Baltimore that’s known as the social Safeway for its attractive clientele.

There's one in San Francisco that's a notorious pickup spot.

 

[acarey50]

No, because self checkout takes away jobs.

Does it necessarily take away jobs, or does it just mean that the labor force is/can be retrained for other roles in the organization that in theory could lead it to be more efficient?

Instead of having 6 checkers, I can have say 2 people checking, 1 person monitoring the self checkout area to provide assistance and repurpose 3 others to other duties in the store - perhaps stocking the produce section or working in the bakery area - who can double as overflow checkers in periods of heavy activity. Perhaps that's a bit altruistic, but changes don't necessarily mean losing jobs - it may mean changing jobs.

 

[Keerock]

No, because self checkout takes away jobs.

Does it necessarily take away jobs, or does it just mean that the labor force is/can be retrained for other roles in the organization that in theory could lead it to be more efficient?

Instead of having 6 checkers, I can have say 2 people checking, 1 person monitoring the self checkout area to provide assistance and repurpose 3 others to other duties in the store - perhaps stocking the produce section or working in the bakery area - who can double as overflow checkers in periods of heavy activity. Perhaps that's a bit altruistic, but changes don't necessarily mean losing jobs - it may mean changing jobs.

100% agree with this. There are PLENTY of other things that any "displaced" checkers can be doing. Working the service desk, restocking, filling online orders, cleaning, cart corral, etc.

The reality, at least from what I can tell, is that grocery stores can't (or won't) hire enough people as it is. Just as an example, the service desk and bottle return are almost always closed at many of my local stores because they don't have enough people to work them.

 

[3C's]

Related

Both Target & Walmart announced they... - Curt Autry NBC12

Both Target & Walmart announced they will be closed on Thanksgiving so all of the self-checkout people can be with their families.

www.facebook.com

 

[acarey50]

I'd like to see a Venn diagram of the people that complain about self checkout and the people that still write out checks at the grocery store.

My guess is that it is pretty close to just a circle.

 

[PIK95]

No, because self checkout takes away jobs.

Does it necessarily take away jobs, or does it just mean that the labor force is/can be retrained for other roles in the organization that in theory could lead it to be more efficient?

Instead of having 6 checkers, I can have say 2 people checking, 1 person monitoring the self checkout area to provide assistance and repurpose 3 others to other duties in the store - perhaps stocking the produce section or working in the bakery area - who can double as overflow checkers in periods of heavy activity. Perhaps that's a bit altruistic, but changes don't necessarily mean losing jobs - it may mean changing jobs.

100% agree with this. There are PLENTY of other things that any "displaced" checkers can be doing. Working the service desk, restocking, filling online orders, cleaning, cart corral, etc.

The reality, at least from what I can tell, is that grocery stores can't (or won't) hire enough people as it is. Just as an example, the service desk and bottle return are almost always closed at many of my local stores because they don't have enough people to work them.

Have you walked in a michaels, stop and shop, or shaws lately? They did not just move the cashiers, they are gone. When I bought my Christmas tree at Michael's, there were two people working in the whole store the girl said. One was in custom framing, and she was covering everything else. I had to meet the framing girl outside the back of the store so she could get my tree out of the truck container. Shaws has zero checkout workers after 8pm when I shop.

 

[Scoresman]

People aren't going to take jobs that are just retrieving shopping carts and bagging because companies dont pay a living wage for this work. I assume cashiers make living wage but they arent going to pay these same people the same to retrieve shopping carts.