Hmm I like self checkout because I don’t like dealing with retail people. I’m introverted by nature.
Just get me the F in and get me the F out. Charge the correct price and give me correct change. Machines do this SO WELL.
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Another upaode is that usually all retirees come out of their houses to shop at 11 - 14:00 to shop groceries (same time as employees are getting out for lunch).
The self checkouts are smaller and usally only used by the ones that have small number of items.
And the seniors usually tend to go to the cashiers anyway.
They can jumble with their change while I do not have to wait two eons to finally get out of the shop and back to the office.
I noticed that with self-checkout terminals, fruit varieties are still mis-labeled and missing. I noted that because I write down the price for such items, to be sure I enter the correct variety and price. It wasn’t there. Not only you’d pay more than is on the label - you also risk to be accused of theft if there is a bag ceck. And if you call somebody to correct it, you waste several minutes since the missing variety might not even be in the system.
Good. I fucking hate them.
Do the work yourself and then wait ages while the one checkout assistant deals with everyone else’s issues because your checkout is happily accusing you of theft. Bullshit cost saving at the expense of the customer experience.
Don’t even get me started on Asda’s dystopian AI security gates. Want to take your young child for a piss? ACCESS DENIED! Try to open the gate manually? ALARM! ALARM! SOMEONE IS TRYING TO ASSERT THEIR HUMANITY!
Self checkout in theory is better for both sides - business and consumer.
That said most self checkout as implemented is insufferable. The modern experience is waiting 5 minutes for someone to clear out your order because you accidentally clicked the version of Limes that this store doesn’t sell, despite it being an option on the POS, or to tap no / decline on the 5 different “Donate? Round up? Bag? Survey? Phone number?” prompts, or for the POS to lock up because you scanned a single can 3 times rather than 3 cans once, or for the cart to lock up so you slam your shin into it because the camera determined you were a thief.
Personally I avoid all self checkouts.
Is this how it works in the US? Because everywhere I use them in Europe they are pretty smooth if you’re not buying alcohol.
I’m an Anerican and I’ve not really had any of these issues. The bagging area one yes, but otherwise no real problems and I’ve never in my life had a cart lock up. I try to avoid self check out, it’s not my job so why am I doing it?
Canada is halfway between the two. The best part of self checkouts is one queue feeding into many stations. Traditional tills drive me fucking mad i hate them so so much!
Give me a canadian tire, winners, or dollarama style checkout with one big ass queue feeding into all tills. Then grandma can pay in 19th century haypennies and coupons as an excuse to get her socializing fix outside the nursing home, and i can get my fucking groceries in a timely and non-infuriating manner.
At least in the major retailers in my area - yes.
They are annoying AF and that’s coming from a pretty antisocial person.
Some of them are great. Lidl comes to mind.
Lidl just simply doesn’t let you leave
Questionable savings? I have saved A LOT of time at self checkouts, especially when just buying a few things. It’s way faster than standing in line behind people seemingly doing their yearly shopping.
You should take your watch and measure.
But I love my self-checkout discounts. It would suck if I had to start paying for everything in my cart again.
Looks like the “Voice of Retail Industry” survey the article cites only surveyed US-american stores.
I don’t think it is a pullout, it is saturation. You can only have so many self-checkout stations before the effectiveness of adding more diminishes.
I prefer the mobile checkout, but Walmart paywalled that.
They are slower than regular checkout lines and only benefit the stores. When things go wrong at a self checkout you inevitably sit there for a long time waiting for someone from the store to get around to helping. If theres a problem checking out, the blame for it falls on you. I despise all of them.
The problem with self checkout is when things gone wrong, either the customer will cancel their transaction, ignore the problem and deny accountability , brute forcing which breaking the rules , or search for the staff for solution. It just make the failure more prominent thus defeating the very solution that self checkout offer.
Ah so the genius executives behind these will be held accountable by shareholders and fired right? Right?
I’m waiting for them to close the stores to customers entirely and go to pick up or delivery only.
I know that would kill impulse buying, but I think they might make it up by not needing to police the isles, and no theft.
Service Merchandise did tag pulls and pick up at the register for everything back in the 70s and 80s. That might come back.
that would kill impulse buying
Clearly you don’t work in digital advertising
Holy shit, Service Merchandise, that’s a name I haven’t heard in a very long time. You just reminded me of taking the tag to the counter. Didn’t circuit city also do tag pulls?
Toys R Us for video games as well.
Go back to the old General Store model where you’d bring your list and have them pick it out?
I would pick up 60 2-liter sodas at a time from my Wal-Mart, if they would let me place an order and let me pick it up. Sadly, only delivery is allowed to have the variety of drinks that I want.
Canadian Tire isn’t far off from this. They’ve put so much effort into making their stores as unpleasant and time wasting of an experience as they can. I pretty much only go there when I need something I can only get there, now.
in our area, people are just smashing in grab at a grocery store, because they arent even allowed to give them “customer” service anymore. these people are not hurting for money, but to fuel thier addiction(very high area of people doing various drugs. not even allowed to lock up the expensive stuff, because idiot regionals think the store needs to have all items available for customers.
Grocery store? So are the drug dealers in your area only accepting hotdog buns? Or are they fencing them first?
Eitherway, as long as somebody is eating the stolen food then I like that outcome better than the stores just dumping them in a locked dumpster when the date runs out. That’s what happens to an obscene amount of food anyway.
