For the record, Clark Howard brings up self-checkouts in this video as well as in this other video.
I know they were intended to save money, but I kind of hope that their losses from self checkout are greater than what it would cost to pay a two or three employees to open a couple of the 20 closed checkout lanes in most Walmarts or Targets.
I have mixed feelings about this. Personally, I use the self checkout at both Walmart and Costco. They are faster and sometimes, my time is worth something, especially when I have a 30 minute drive with frozen foods. Some people are willing to trade convenience over time.
Many things we have done over the decades save us time and we enjoy the convenience.
For example:
- Using email rather than actually waiting for the mailman
- Self-service spray car wash instead of a drive through
- Using an ATM rather than stand in line at a bank (or credit union)
- Vending machines instead of findinga store and going inside
- Downloading a podcast rather than waiting for the regularly scheduled radio broadcast
- Amazon delivery rather than actually shopping
- Looking up a number in Google rather than calling 411
- Paying someone to change your oil
There is a tradeoff between automation and the cost of personnel, wages, insurance, finding someone to manage those things and find someone to work when someone does not show up for their shift and so on.
It is said that self-checkout can reduce staffing expenses by up to 40% but the increase in shrinkage rises 2 to 3%. There are still costs as there must be someone to manage problems, verify age for certain products and direct shoppers.
There are places in the world where you go inside a store, shop and leave and never interact with an employee. Clark even mentions Sams Club where the shopper does their own checkout.
All true but the thing with the self checkout is that instead of an employee working on checking out other customers, they have someone standing around to watch for them putting stuff it bags that they âforgotâ to scan. I often wonder why Walmart and Target spent money to waste floor real estate for build and equip 20 or more checkout lanes and then only open maybe 4 at maxâŚeven during the holiday season
Whenever I plan to buy frozen foods I bring a cooler with frozen blocks with me. Iâm single and donât buy lots of stuff, it works for me.
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I used to work at Target and self-checkout was awful â shoplifting, but also people who were ringing up purchases of large numbers of items, which defeated the purpose of self-checkout.
It seems like itâs all- or nothing, when setting an item limit and enforcing it would definitely help. Limit to, say, 6 items or fewer, and stick to it and even program the machines to accept only that limit of items.
Self-checkout is a technological development that backfired, and anyone on the front lines could have told the companies what would happen! It could have been implemented better than it has been.
Why just Walmart? QFC. Safeway seems to have no troubles.
And I"m sure safeway sees a few six packs of coke or a box of cereal go out the door as well. But Walmart sells a lot more than groceries.
You place items on one side, scan them and place the on the opposite side. That bagging side is often a scale. That helps the store determine if you scanned or scammed.
Since the computer has the name, SKU, barcode, description and other information about each product, the computer can also know the weight of a product.
It is still possible to scam a store by affixing a different barcode, but difficult to make the weight of a big screen TV be the same as a can of beans. Yes, someone could also print a barcode at home and try to cheat, however there are also cameras where employees on their handheld device can monitor the scan area and products. If they see something strange, they can freeze the scanner and will stop by to review items in the cart.
When barcodes came on the scene they were primarily used for inventory control AND gave the ability for a store to quickly change prices. Rather than send a clerk to a shelf and remove or cover up existing stickers on each can and then put new stickers on each item, they change the price in the computer and have a clerk just change the label on the shelf with the new price.
I have seen videos showing a few ways people try to scam the stores at registers and by loading up a cart, bypassing the registers and slipping out a side door. Even Home Depot and Lowes have had issues with people loading up a cart and zooming out the front door without scanning. Ways to stop that include supermarket baskets with wheels that lock up or security tags that need to be de-energized before hitting the door to the parking lot.
Yes, some stores also check receipts dilligently or sometimes jsut cursory perhaps trying to instill a fear that they will catch thiefs. Here we had such a welcoming door person checking receipts that after checking with the Manager, actually had a surprise ghathering and gave gifts to the woman for showing âAlohaâ above and beyond abd really was both an asset to the store and an obvious welcoming committee.
I have never used the self-outs. No one can be found to help a customer find something in the store, but they have a dozen employees watching self checkers? And if I accidentally forget a lipstick or something else small on the bottom of my cart, then will call the police? No thank you! And that goes for Safeway and Kroger , or any other stirred that uses self-check. And no, I will not stop to show the Walmart door person my receipt: I paid for everything in those bags at the cashier aisle. I had one guy start rapidly walking backwards next to me when he saw that I was not stopping! He gave upâŚ.,I had a receipt in my left hand.
Sorry, I love the self checkouts. Exaggerating in your post doesnât help your argument. In my Wal-Mart there is usually one (not âa dozenâ) employee watching the self checkers. He/she is there for questions, checking ID for alcohol, and yes if you âforgetâ to scan something. As for the guy checking receipts, he has a job to do and youâre âthat ladyâ who makes his job miserable. Just because you have a receipt in your hand doesnât mean it matches everything in your basket. There are people who cheat at the self checkout and they are creating the need for the receipt checker guy.
If you are âflakyâ like Clark and you forget to scan your lipstick, then yes, you need to use the real person checkout.
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For many customers, I agreeâŚbut apparently there ARE problems with merchandise leaving the store without being scanned. I will often use the self checkout at my grocery store, but there have been time where all 8 of the self check machines are in use and there is a line waiting, so them are trying to turn them into a replacement for the âexpress laneâ at checkout - 15 items or less. That keeps the lines flowing. But my grocery store, unlike most Walmarts or Targets I have been in, will open additional "clerk checkâ stations when lines start to back up. The places that seem like you MUST use self checkout are Loweâs and Home Depot.
In my area both of those have real people checkouts and self checkouts.
In Kansas City they have just a few checkout lines. Almost everyone has to use self checkout.
The problem was bad customer service. They see you having problems with the plastic bags or not enough bags instead they were on their phones. Yes, I use to work as an asset protection associate. The theft was crazy. But, some was by accident. You need good customer service. It was not there.
In my local Wal-Mart if the associates looking after the self checkouts were on their personal phones theyâd be fired on the spot. What you see are probably the devices they use to do stuff in the store.
The âCellphonesâ allow the employee monitor the checkouts. They can pause the terminal to see if there is a problem or other issues. Thy yare not on a cellphone chatting with people.
" The scanners allow employees to monitor in real time the self-checkout stations, showing details such as the items that have been scanned, the quantities of each product and which stations are active at that time."