Former Lancastrian

So its Saturday morning Im bored as no footie on TV yet so trawling the online news when I came across this article about self service checkouts at stores in Canada.

So do you use them, like them, hate them, use a cashier line manned by a human or shop at stores that don't have them? I very rarely use them even if only a dozen items. Yes we all have busy or in some cases non busy lives but I guess I am just one of those who prefers not to adapt to everything in todays world. I was more interested in some of the comments at the bottom of the article and after reading several it does make you wonder about several points made.

Stores claim that by using these they can reduce costs thereby passing the savings on to you. I can't say I have noticed this.
Consumers complain that they are not as user friendly as made out to be.
Some prefer the human interaction unless its the sour faced cashier who hates their job.
I admit the up selling or asked would you like the deal of the day can be sometimes annoying but I can either politely say No thanks or make the comment well if I wanted it then I would have put it in my basket/trolley.
Is it a way to reduce the workforce thereby increasing unemployment or just not hiring full time staff and providing benefits to their employees.
By using a self service you could miss out on meeting the future partner of your life or meeting a new friend.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/sel...rvey-1.4926545

pdarwin

If it's anything like our local Loblaws, the checkout staff are so slow and inefficient and customers let them scan the groceries then just stand there watching as the lady bags it all for them instead of doing it themselves, and in long lines, there's me stood waiting and seething with impatience. For a small number of items I will use the self checkout as it's generally far faster, but for a big load of groceries, it's more of a pain.

scrubbedexpat091

I use the self check out if the line is shorter.

Technology is going to replace cashiers and there is no stopping that. My bet is the store of the future will have few if any human workers. Robots will be able to replenish the shelves, automatic payment when you exit the store etc.


I find it odd at times people will get into an uproar over self check out but will gladly book airline tickets online and check in online with no hesitation even though both cost jobs just like self check out does.

sharkus

Typically I'll try and avoid the self checkout at Walmart. For some reason it seems to be slower than self checkout at other places. It's as if the machines have inherited the slowness from the human cashiers there.
Unless it's very busy, I'll always use the self checkout at IKEA. If I have a very large item then typically I'd be getting it delivered, so would still use the self-checkout to pay, then off to delivery desk.
For other things, if there is a self-checkout I'll use it. I'd really like my local Longo's to have self-checkout as it is where I'd usually have a few small items I could handle myself.

Rete

Down here in the states, we've had them for a while and I find that I use them when I have fewer than 10 items to checkout simply because the lines are long for checkout with a human cashier. Oft times you spend as much time in the waiting line as it took you to shop for the few items you needed.

As for cutting down on personnel, honestly, I don't see it. Taking Walmart as an example, our large super store never has more than 6 registers open on any given day and this was before self-service checkouts were available. Sam's Club is the same, as is Home Depot. So from my point of view, they assist the shopper in completing their shopping in a reasonable amount of time which makes for a happier customer.

Vulcanoid

I always use the self-serve. The line can sometimes be longer (proof they're more desirable? ) but the convenience is totally worth any extra wait. All it is is waving the barcode over a scanner myself instead of handing it to someone else to wave over a bar scanner - whichever one I use I have to bag it up & get it back in the cart and pay, so why add the multiple passing back-and-forths with someone who doesn't want to be there, and is either trying to make awkward small talk or sell you something you don't want....

The 'cost savings passed on' is of course impossible to verify unless they're going to start adding stickers to things "We eliminated x wage bill, so when the ingredient inflation of y came along we could keep item z at this price"...

Jerseygirl

I prefer to use the self checkouts rather than waiting in line for a cashier.

BristolUK

I never buy so few items at the supermarket that I'd go through self checkout.

caretaker

I don't like them and don't use them.

Siouxie

They are only available at Walmart near me, I will use it if I have only 1 or 2 items.

Piff Poff

I will use them if there is a queue at the normal checkouts and if i only have a few bits and bobs. Never for a trolley load.

scilly

I don't like them, will always use the normal checkout ........ Express with less than 8 items, or Express with less than 15, or a full load.

Our Safeway is usually pretty good at policing the number of items at the Express ones ..... I've been there when someone was told to put things back in their trolley and go to a regular checkout

Checkout clerks bag the groceries, either in their plastic bags or your own.

There are about 4 self checkouts, and I've seen them when there has not been a human standing nearby ready to help the customer.

OH uses the self checkouts if he only has 3 or items.

Dorothy

I use them all the time here in Australia. The problem I saw with the ones in Walmart is that they don't take cash, only cards . If I'm only popping in for a $5 item I'd rather not wait in the line-up for a cashier, but I'd like to pay in cash.

Vulcanoid

Yeah, that's something that weirds me about them actually - it's less of an issue in Canada with the penny abolition, but back in Britain the self-serve checkouts were a great way to just pour change in and not wait while it got laboriously counted by a human (plus British pennies aren't legal tender over 20p and humans don't like counting them but machines will happily take as many quids worth as you're going to put in). Yet almost all the ones in Canada are card only, which totally eliminates that benefit, for both shopper (above) and store (since the machine can say 'hey, that British 5p piece might have been passed off to you as a Canadian dime as a quick glance wouldn't tell, but I'm not taking it'). My guess is they think it's outweighed by the occasional jamming from overuse.

BristolUK

Another reason for using a human is getting cashback. The supermarket is also the bank in this respect.

Or do the self serve machines pay out cash too?