Are self checkout lanes rare?

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I always use the ATM at my Credit Union.  I hate standing in line and they are quick and efficient, just as in the stores.  The ATM can do 90% of what the teller can do and quicker, so what's not to like?

 

I'm glad those of you who do not like self check out and ATMs do not use them.  I get a chuckle watching someone who has never used a self check out lane finding their way around.  I don't mind helping them a bit but they do tend to slow things down a lot.

 

Speaking of self checkout, the one thing i HATE is the voice.  I do not want to hear the price of every item, and directions, I'm glad I can shut the off.
 
I do everything I can electronically and online. In the past 3 years I've only been into my Credit Union 3 times, once to access our safe deposit box and twice to have documents notorized. I deposit checks on my ipad and get e statements, rather than paper statements so I have less paper to shred down the line. When I retired 12 years ago a ordered a box of 200 checks as I was out of them. I'm on the second book of checks and have only used 5 checks for that book, so thats 30 checks written in 12 years. All the bills,including the property tax are paid online.

But I only like to use self checkout for a few items, and only in stores where the damn things work properly. And I agree with the others that have stated, there should be some sort of discount for using self checkout, because after all it is saving the retailer from having to pay a checker. And I would be perfectly OK with no self checkout at all, provided there were adequete checkers on duty all the time so I didn't have to wait for 15 mins to checkout $35.00 of groceries. And really, to protect the jobs of people that need them there should also not be self checkout. Before we know it there will be no work for human beings at all. Unions should be fighting this trend.
Eddie
 
Pulltostart, Publix is the same up here at the north end of the state. Carryout service (no tipping please!), and cashiers. Among the stores around here:

Have them: Wal-Mart, Sams (just put some in recently), Costco, Target, Home Depot, Kroger.
Don't have them: Publix, Lowe's, Fresh Market, Whole Foods.

The ones at Target are the best locally. They scan reliably, and they have the magic "I don't want to bag this item" button, that saves you from being bag-nagged. The ones at Home Depot don't bag-nag, but getting them to scan is difficult sometimes. Wal-Mart varies a lot. One store has ones that are terrible about bag-nagging; you get a constant stream of "Please bag the last item" alternating with "Unexpected item in bagging area!". Another store has ones that nearly always work perfectly.
 
Unions should be fighting this trend.

I don't know the exact position unions have, but I do know someone who is very active with the grocery checker union (even to the level of involvement with contract negotiation) who despises those self checkouts. She always--always--uses a regular line, even though the grocery store apparently prefers the employees to use self checkout. Her husband refuses to shop at Home Depot at certain hours, since that location apparently has times when it's self checkout only.
 
i HATE is the voice

I hate the voice, too. I suspect most people do. I've asked the clerks in charge of self checkouts how they stand it having that voice screeching away all day long. One told me he just got to the point of tuning it out.

 

One cashier commented about the voice, and the crankiness of the machine in general, and referred to the "princess in a box."
 
It is almost enivitable

That as labor and other costs rise for retail, and margins get tighter something is going to have to give; and that is likely more self-service in various forms.

As it is for many even large department/retail stores you have to hunt to find an open cash register.

Recall years ago stores like Macy's would have an open cashier in almost every department. Now it is often more like one per floor. *LOL*

Supermarkets here run the gamut; some have several cashier bays but only ever two at the most are staffed. Others seem to manage staffing to coincide with peak customer demand.

Largest issue one hears from managers is finding people with the maths skills who want to do the job, and take it seriously. You cannot have a cashier whose drawer is frequently short. Nor understands how and can properly closeout/balance their drawer at end of shift.
 
Trader Joe's is very good about keeping all their lanes open. Although they're usually very busy since they were allowed to start selling wine, there's hardly ever more than one person waiting in line.

A local supermarket nearby seems to employ mostly teenagers in the cashier positions (at least on weekends). Probably a first job for most of them, and it would be a shame if automation robbed them of the experience.
 
It's a B*#@$%! running 'em/working at 'em too!!!!

Too many people who don't know how to use 'em reason with 'em when a move IS their fault, and not in any derogatory sense... Just move the stuff into your EMPTY cart when the bagging area is FULL! (And let the machine see you move the basket in FRONT of you--not BEHIND you...)

The screen gets too BLINDING to have to go into & do the price adjustments that the custom needs to go to a real person register to go to...

The weight/bagging problem to relieve the customers from...

Last of all are the people who want to get out of using them altogether coming to my podium that has the real register used to transfer orders to that sometimes have to be paid at if there is a problem w/ cash/card functions/paying by checks or using split payment functions (though I dislike having to do WIC--and just direct customers to regular registers for that & tax-exempt, as well as (when we had that program) price matching (especially in excessive)...

Also, It doesn't help that that register doesn't have a sort of bull-pen, hence folks especially in a hurry try to do their business BESIDE me, or in FRONT of me, or go behind it, instead of in FRONT of it...

And that's not even counting the "free stuff" I'd seen/heard of people make off with when their payment in the card reader doesn't work, or just taking off when no one is looking, from one thing , to a few things, to entire orders, we can't seem to stop, when really it's "when no one's watching", while other customers (mostly those w/ "real (honest) problems" need help...

-- Dave
 
I've used them and continue to use them, when I only have a few items. The majority of the time there isn't any wait, whereas there is a wait at the manned register lines. I rarely have any problems. Usually it takes me a couple of minutes to ring everything up and pay for it. In and out fast.

Personally, if someone is continuously having issues at these, then the best thing would be, is to not use them.
 
I've never had much of an issue with self-checkout lanes.  They've become more commonplace as the cost of wages has either increased or been threatened.

 

Home Depot rarely has more than two manned lanes open.  I try to use them, but when faced with a soccer mom with a cartload, I default to the self-checkout with my five items.

 

I wasn't aware that Lowes was anti-gay.  I go to Home Depot, Lowes and Menards.  Lowes is cleaner.  Home Depot is most likely to have the wrong item in a given spot.  I haven't learned where things are in Menards.  That store wears me out, too big!

 

I almost never go the Wal-Mart.  At night, they only have the door on one side open.  You have to go in, I had to go to the other side, all the way back, grab my items and go back.  They had 2-3 lanes open, then you had to show your receipt at the door.  It was a long walk for a tarp.

 

That reeks of theft control to me.  Wal-Mart is my store of last resort or if you care to see the poorest people in your area.
 
Funny, but when I lived on the island of Montreal, I noticed a good number of self-checkout lanes in the newer and bigger grocery stores like IGA and Metro as well as most of the Walmarts.  Since fleeing to "moo cow country" I tend to be shopping in the same stores, more or less, but I have yet to see any self-checkout lanes.  

 

I'd have to guess the 'need' for self-checkouts is in part driven by store traffic.  The IGA or the Walmart in the nearest town is probably nowhere near as "busy" as one in the burbs of Montreal.   I also notice that the shoppers in this neck of the woods seem to be older than in the city (yes, I count myself as 'older' now, too...LOL)

 

 
 
Thought I would update:

Saturday evening I went to Walmart and noticed next to the self checkout "corral" they added a self checkout with a conveyor belt.

As I was leaving, I noticed on the other end of the manned checkouts, another "corra" of self checkouts has been added just like the other with its own overseer podium. There was only one personchecking out onthese while the others were all busy. These seem to have replaced some "short lanes" that were manned but did not have conveyors and were installed on twis, that is in the length of one regular lane they had two short lanes.

Another umusual thing I noticed were lots of metal benches lined up against the corral walls of the self checkouts facing toward the front of the store. I had not noticed these before.

There were also tables with microwave ovens on them, I wonder if these are for those that don't have power at home because of the hurricane Irma to heat meals and possibly sit on the benches to cool off and eat.
 
I was in our Walmart the other day and also noticed that the self-checkouts had returned after about a  years hiatus and, right next to the corral now too.. they used to be about halfway down the mile of never open regular checkouts  
 
yall know they are trying to get rid of cash

I say cash is king... only place to get organic in this little town grocery store wise is Wally world...
I only use the cashiers. They have added even more self checkout. AH dont price match any more either.
I usually bring my own cloth bags too.
the elite wants to control everthing we do etc so they can tax us(cattle and useless eaters thatthe elite call us)... I listen to Katherine Abrecht of "the Spychips" the co arthor...
RFID chips.... she explains .. they want to chip us all too...also RBN on internet radio...talks aout what is really going on...
its none of their business what we buy either. that why loyalty cards were started years ago. to track everything we buy. remember that Tom Cruise movie? wasnt it "the Minority Report"? also "1984 "and listen to DR Wynn Parker. on "RBN" he will tell you things to make your blood run cold...
yeah I used to use self checkouts only back when we lived in the city....but no more. More and more AI is being used , too.
thanks all
 
I use self-checkout at Walmart and Sam's Club. Have noticed there is rarely a regular lane open at Walmart early in the morning (6:00-7:30), or one is open with no cashier in sight.

Dave-- The most common problem I have with Walmart self-checkout is the "Unexpected item in the bagging area" error, which requires a worker to reset something. Thanks for the tips on how to avoid that. Didn't realize one should be behind the empty cart and push, not pull, it past the machine. In fact, didn't know the machine could even sense cart movement. Good to know.
 
I was a cashier while in high school, way before scanning registers were even thought of, back when you had to manually punch in all codes and prices.....

and I was sure as hell a lot faster than these lazy ass cashiers today!......not only can they not operate a register without looking at the keys, but they can't even make change without the help of a register....

I jump at self-check outs when available.....I can scan and bag a whole shopping cart faster than a 2 piece order through an Express Lane....
 
actually, has anyone been to a Walmart.....approach a register with lines, and they quickly open another register....

"our associates are the faster ever"

yeah, fast to disappear if you need help!

this is the biggest joke ever......

 
Our chain

had them by 2000. One cashier to watch 4 check outs was the drawback. Shoplifters loved it. Then we got cameras and that helped.
We could follow the thief from the store to their vehicle via the digital recordings, read their license plate, and the police showed up at their front door if they didn't catch them en route.

The only complaint I have using then is they can become slow, when they need recalibrating.
 
We’ve two types

We’ve had self scan checkout going right back to the mid 1990s when one of the higher end Irish supermarkets introduced hand held scanners that you just scan as you shop, load your reusable bags directly as you go. Then you just hand back the scanner and it uploads the items to the till, you pay and walk out.

Only SuperValu (nothing to do with the US chain of the same name) seems to use those.

The rest all have the talking check out systems with the scales. Those systems have been in use since at least 2003/4 and seem to be cropping up in smaller retailers like Spar now too.

They’ve become pretty ubiquitous at this stage.
 
I've heard on a radio program ('the talk during the morning drive') that one new feature to bring security to self-check scanners one-step-further, is installing face-level cameras, as opposed to solely rely on over-head surveillance (which only recently have improved resolutions w/o the blur)...

If only some of these developments could have been invented and/or implemented sooner, as it would have saved a lot of losses due to theft...

-- Dave
 
Whole Foods

Our WF took the self checkout away. Rumored to be a point of high shoplifting.

The worst stores for self checkout, Kroger. Constantly get the wait for cashier assistance nonsense. Additionally, they have two overhead monitors that are supposed to indicate the number of registers open, number of people in line, and average wait time. Worthless nonsense, IMO.

Malcolm
 
Walmart, Kroger, and Home Depot here have them.  At night the self check lanes are the ONLY lanes open at both Kroger stores in town and at Walmart! I was a cashier at Walmart when I was in college so I can get through pretty darn quick.  Kroger annoys me because it won't allow a person to remove the full bags from the stand to place in the buggy without giving that annoying "Attendant has been notified to assist you" warning.  It ticks me off!  When the ones in Walmart start talking back at me I argue with them...makes people think I'm weird or something!  Kind of like arguing with a GPS device in the car.
 
For most checkout procedures, I prefer the self operated lanes. The places that don't have them take longer to do the process. Wasting my  time waiting for another person to check out my order is not going to keep checkers' jobs around. I remember how awful it was to get out of HD when they only had humans doing the checking and far too few of them at that. Now it's a breeze.
 
The now defunct "Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets"

 

 

In 2007 a "new" type of market started popping up in CA (AZ & NV too) called "Fresh & Easy".   A European type store owned (at the time) by the UK supermarket giant, Tesco.  In Nov, 2013 Fresh & Easy was purchased by an American private equity firm.   They opened too many stores too fast and... unable to sustain, started closing stores and filed bankruptcy in 2015.  My local "Neighborhood Market" a half mile away (photo below) is still sitting empty after 2 years.  Another near by location and been reopened as a Filipino (Asian) market.  

 

I liked the concept and they had some good products (pre-packaged meats, etc) but found myself going there mostly for "convenience items" as it was much faster getting in and out than the regular market around the corner.

 

Back to the subject at hand... the two interesting things about Fresh & Easy were, #1 all the checkout lanes were 100% self checkout.  Some with the "bagging area" next to it, the rest with automated conveyors and a much larger bagging area, like in a regular market.  Their system worked well and I rarely had issues scanning anything.  I<span style="font-size: 12pt;">nteresting thing #2: yes while it was all self checkout, there were always from 1 to 4 employees near the check out lanes to assist if needed and THEY (quite often) bagged your groceries for you!</span>

  

As for other stores with self checkout, my local Home Depot has 4, one grocery store I go to has 4 or 6, but 2 other markets don't have any and my local Costco does not have self checkout. 

 

On a side note, when I was looking for photos to post, I came across this article from last year saying "Self checkout makes shoplifting easier"  See the link below.

 

Kevin

http://www.vocativ.com/350018/study-confirms-self-checkout-makes-shoplifting-easier/
revvinkevin-2017092113041904035_1.jpg

revvinkevin-2017092113041904035_2.jpg
 

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