Also, the last time I went to a cashier, because it was the one time I saw a long line at the self-check lane, I stood in the short line, I was third, while the cashier chatted up the customers, left the line to help another cashier with something and was generally very slow. I suspect they’re not required to be efficient anymore, and perhaps even encouraged not to be. I watched as the guy I would have been behind in the self-check line left the store while I was still second in line at the cashier.
I’d rather do self-checkout because these people have no joy in life and they will sit there and drag their asses for minutes chatting with Sally Sue about nothing and then to this one poster’s point they’ll leave the line to help somebody else and you’re left just standing there holding your crap when you could have gone to the self-checkout and been out and and on your way. So that would really piss me off if they killed the self-checkout because the inefficiency is unbelievable. I think maybe in more urban areas with nefarious locals sure kill them or at least heavily monitor them because people be trying to be scumbags and it’s not right to steal from a grocery store regardless if the prices are insane or not
At supermarkets in my country they have a system where they will semi-randomly check what you have in your bags the moment before you’d pay.
There’s random things that make it more likely like buying meat but there’s definitely a random element to it.
What i have noticed, however is that at times of financial strife (or just before them), the regularity of me getting checked can go through the roof (25% baseline chance up to 70-80% at peak).
And so I’m beginning to see these signs as a recession indicator. Especially as it’s a massive supermarket chain with access to a lot of customer and market data.
Probably someone smarter than me could use this to make money.
It certainly always saves me time. Especially when I cut out doing the part where I pay.
You still need employees to help hapless customers and flag tech problems, the security cameras from above to dissuade theft, and someone to man the monitors of said cameras. They were banking on full human replacement. Can’t wait for our AI future with a store devoid of employees where they drop a net from the ceiling and pepper spray me because I forgot my eggplant was the organic price.
They are banking on the majority being honest.
We’ll see honest people are when AI has taken their job and they need to eat.
They’re not honest so I see no reason to be.
We’ll see how honest (principled) people act when faced with unfair circumstances
Reads like a misleading statistic. Why would you invest in self-checkout if you already have it in place?
I don’t see any evidence they’re “pulling back”, at least not in Europe. More and more are self service checkouts than ever before. That said I think stores prefer the kiosks where people scan their items than the kind where people have barcode readers and wander the store scanning (or not scanning) goods.
My experience isnt representative of the situation as a whole, but ive noticed a pull back in our usual shopping locations (mid-west US). Our local Meijer (grocery) closed half of the self checkouts and added two more people to their standard checkout lanes plus a few more to assist the remaining self checkout. Costco near us got rid of their self checkout entirely. Aldi on the other hand installed more self checkouts, but its in a gated area where you have to scan your receipt to get out.
Self-checkout was a boon because reduced wages to process customers (in theory).
Now they have an even better mechanism to push: delivery and pickup. Keep the customers away from the merchandise except what they have already paid for. Wal-Mart pushing the promise of free delivery under 22 minutes when I go to check if they have something in-store.
It’s only free until they hook you.
I don’t think they even advertise it as free, if they are it should be illegal/made illegal as it is only with the purchase of their subscription services.
It’s not my fault if the chocolate milk lid is loose.
I don’t think this means they are actually pulling out.
Its unclear to me if the 36% is bc they already have the tech so they don’t plan to invest further and new adoption don’t happen bc everyone who “needs” it already has it or if the ones who have it are planning to get rid of it.
To me it just sounds like the people at the top didn’t foresee the problems that actually arise in a real world setting and their overconfidence gets adjusted to a more reasonable outlook but the self checkout will not go anywhere, 36% is still a pretty big number, self checkout might just not be feasible for a lot of places in the first place.
I see it being implemented in more places not less, they are just finetuning it now.
I’m sure they were shown a staged demo of how the camera and “AI” catches people putting items in the bag without scanning and that convinced them the tech was good enough.
But, the scan camera check only catches people who aren’t trying to fool it. There are easy ways around it.
I always, within reason, try to check out with a person and use cash.
I always, within reason try to avoid those exact things.
Until you realise they closed all but one staffed checkout.
Do it anyway. And complain to the management and the head office if that one staffed checkout is overburdened and you have to wait an unreasonable amount of time.
And they will point to the self checkouts. The better idea is not to use them or go to stores that have them, but at least in my area its the majority of places. However this seems like the old argument of forcing someone to pump gas for you to save someone’s job. Very few complain about putting gas in their own vehicles.
You point out up front that self-checkouts are not a substitute and ideally list the ways that theirs are broken. In the case of the local management, talk over them if you have to in order to make your point.
And yes, I complain about having to punp gas, too.
Didn’t realize self checkouts were such a divisive topic, like wtf I’ll take that any day of the week over standing in line behind people who have seemingly never been to a supermarket before and their shit is still standing there all over the place while the cashier is already scanning my products. I get that it keeps someone employed but I think the answer to that is better welfare, not sticking to the old ways just so someone gets to do menial shit for a living.
I’m honestly surprised anyone likes self checkout. It’s such a pain in the ass. Almost always have some sort of error that I need to wait to be rescued from.
Maybe it’s different where you are from, but where I am from human cashiers are way more efficient.
I think a balance is good.
I worked at Target a long time ago as a Front End manager, before the days of self checkout. So I know how to cashier quickly and efficiently, and I get annoyed shopping at other places where the employees or customers are being slow.
I also appreciate just how volatile needs can be and how difficult it can be to staff. There have been books written on the subject, but in short for large stores with a lot of volume, customers do not usually trickle into checkout constantly as one might expect. Instead, they crash against the front of the store like waves. Personally when i’m shopping I try to identify these waves and time my checkout between them. At Target, we would often only have a couple of dedicated cahsiers, and would call the cart attendant or floor employees to help out for these waves. Self-checkout helps to smooth this out a lot and reduces all that walking back-and-forth.
I also hated all the upselling they made cashiers do. Target credit/debit cards and extended warranties on electronics. As an employee it was obnoxious and felt like we were annoying customers. As a customer, I was annoyed. One of my complaints about self-checkout today is how they ask you so many questions. My local grocery store self-checkout requires 5 button presses after i’m done scanning, which i think is bad design.
But also sometimes people need help. Some products are more complicated to buy. Some people are disable. Coupons are a plague upon society which machines are incapable of addressing. Some people just plain want a social experience, and it’s good to have human employees standing around in general. So I like the idea of having a mix.
And, of course, Universal Basic Income so we can stop asking “but what about jobs?” about every new innovation (but fuck AI though).
I agree, I have nothing against both being an option. In my bubble, everyone pretty much uses self checkout exclusively whenever available, except maybe for a large haul, so I was surprised to see how many in the comments actively dislike it.
That part about waves is interesting, it’s absolutely true and it happens all the time but I never really thought about it.
At my grocery store I used to use the self checkout until they instituted a new policy where they would randomly check you and verify that the contents of the bag matched the receipt. Well fuck that, I ain’t gonna be treated like a criminal. I’m back to waiting in the line, let them do the work.
Yeah that’s pretty shitty in that case I’d also use the regular checkout
At mine there’s one cashier who’s an absolute delight which serves as such a stark contrast to the self checkout that accuses me of stealing regularly and is very hesitant to actually scan some items. Add in that cashiers are faster and I can pay while they scan and it’s just a better experience unless the line is crazy and I don’t have many items
Lol, the only place I’m letting them check my work is Costco. I don’t even take my receipt from the machine at other places, and have told employees on more than one occasion that they can go get my receipt from the machine or go check with LP and keep walking.
They can’t legally stop you, so I’m not playing their games.
They can ban you from the store.
Is it a membership store? If not, they would need to have a posted policy that you’re required to follow for that to be a real threat.
The drone at the front of the store is not allowed to do more than request to see your receipt, and playing off that you can’t hear them is also a good option I’ve used in the past when they try.
Is it a subscription based store, like a Costco?
If so, you signed up for the cart checks. The only thing you can do is not shop there.
If not, once you pay for it, it’s yours, and they have no legal right to touch it or check it unless you give them permission.
All you have to do is kindly say “no thank you” and keep walking. If they stop you, they’re violating other laws.
If they suspect you of theft, they can calls the cops. Otherwise, they must let you pass.The corpos and cops know the laws and, as such, your rights. It’s time we all know them, too, so we can put them (corpos and cops) all in their place on the ground.
I have thought about all of this at great length. The problem is that they can ban me from the store.
They can, but if they ban you for not allowing them to check, that’s illegal, and you can sue. If they ban you for theft, they need the cops to prove it.
Keep in mind, you must be kind when you refuse. A nice smile and kind “no thank you” is enough. If you’re combative, they can ban you for that. If they’re dicks that ban for the sake of banning, fuck em
Using a cashier to me is easier, and I like talking to the person ringing my stuff.
I never use self-checkouts but I observe them while walking by. I wait in line for a clerk at a cash register while all those in the self-checkout line seem to have a personal assistant.
My preferred shops in Denmark allow you to use an app to scan and bag produce while roaming the store, payment is done on the app as well and to exit you show a QR code to a scanner. I love it
At least in my neck of the woods there isn’t a lot of choice. Self check out, or your alternative is shopping online.
Because morons love self checkout.
This seems very US coded. In euro they’re doubling down even with self scan on the phone or with a tool they give me. I scan them as I put them in my cart and at checkout I just pay and leave. It’s awesome.
I’m learning a lot in this thread about European dystopia. I guess if y’all like it to each their own. Over here in the US, we’ve had enough.
US here. Scan-as-you-go plus self checkout is amazing. Lay out your reusable bags in the cart when you arrive then pick-scan-bag through the store. Self checkout becomes a 2 minute process at most, no matter how many items you have and everything’s already bagged for the trip home.
Our local store (Stop&Shop) is rather trashy compared to competitors but we go there because of the fast scan and self-checkout process.
Same in Australia regarding doubling down. They’re giving trolleys with an ipad thing on them you scan everything with, and increasing the exit area security so you cannot leave without the staff opening it if you didn’t buy anything, and AI based cameras all over the store and gates that judge whether it should open for you after buying things.
It’s a mix of awesome and horrible.
and
AImechanical turk based cameras all over the store and gates that judge whether it should open for you after buying things.I highly doubt they’re actually using AI, given every other claim I’ve seen that starts out like this ending up being poorly paid people in a low wage country.
This is why I don’t shop in stores anymore , I have to do all the work and be treated like a crim. I boycott any place with self checkout and prefer the aldi even though it’s slow with very few registers open.
My local Aldi has 1 real register and a half dozen self checkouts. Aldi isn’t safe.
I have a smart cart at my local grocery store that adds the products to my account. I just pass through payment, no need for scanning anymore. Love it.
The cart alsof weighs my products so I only have to scan one barcode. It multiplies by itself.
Have they tried adding AI? 3D printing? Quantum computing? Space based solar power?
I don’t think so but CVS and Walgreens installed digital cooler doors so you can see whats in stock before you open the door. Apparently you couldn’t do that before when the doors were 100% transparent glass that didn’t use extra electricity.
AI, yes.
Once got flagged for theft because the camera saw me put a box down on the far side of the scanner and then used the handheld scanner because it was large. Evidently the box getting past the fixed scanner without scanning triggers theft even if you scan it.
In a convenience store, I put products on a platform and I don’t have to scan barcode and it just “scans” my whole order all at once with machine vision. It worked well for me, but seems to have the clerk on high alert to watch it like a hawk from any mistakes, which sounds exhausting. I got the sense that it screws up a lot and the clerk is on the hook for it.
Morrison’s (UK) has something called “visual security” which triggers if the machine learning model thinks you haven’t scanned something, the worker then has to watch the video and verify. It kept triggering on me because I often put my bike helmet in the cart. But it’s easy to place the cart slightly away from the camera and then it won’t see.
