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Walmart, Costco and other companies rethink self-checkout, some stores removing them (www.cnn.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 89 points 2 years ago (10 children)

I have no sympathy for companies losing money due to theft at self-checkout, it's a cost saving measure that's bitten them in the ass.

They also suck for alcohol, or anything that doesn't have a barcode, as mentioned in the story. I never buy either of those products at self checkout.

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  • [–] 29 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Ha,, I once got booted from a Safeway in my early 20's when I was trying to buy beers and the lady who was supposed to be verifying ID was shooting the shit w her coworker. She clearly saw the thing flashing, but wanted to finish her story. I tried waving at her to no avail. She had a very I'll get to you in a minute vibe, but she clearly wasn't talking about work stuff. I had worked at a Lucky previously and they used the same self checkout system system. I knew I just needed to type my bday on their terminal to get it to sell, so I went n did it lol. Hey, self check out amirite? I figured fuck it, I'll do that part too I guess.

    She finally noticed like right before I paid and took my beers and wouldn't let me pay. I was like here's my ID, I've been waiting like 5 minutes to show you. Manager showed up told me to leave, and never come back, it was a whole thing. Granted, I was 100% being a young , dumb prick, but I was annoyed with the lady not doing her job, and wasting my time. Having been on the other side of that terminal before, knowing how easy it was to do, I was super annoyed that she wasn't even acknowledging me trying to get her attention. Fun times lol.

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  • [+] -20 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I knew I just needed to type my bday on their terminal to get it to sell, so I went n did it lol.

    EWW

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  • [+] 4 points 2 years ago (1 child)
    [deleted]
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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    It's probably my inexperience with self-checkout speaking, but I would never enter PII into a corporate terminal for the sake of a six-pack.

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  • [–] 23 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Self checkout is useful when you only want a few things. Much faster.

    If you're getting a full trolley, you'd need a barcode scanner to take round the shop with you. If you don't have that, it's faster to go with a manned checkout.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    A grocery store near me has the self-scan as part of the app. It's pretty good, but honestly it's not that bad to do a full trip through the self checkout.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    Wegmans tried that at first but failed and removed it. No one wants to scan products with their phone while shopping.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    Oh dang, I love it. It's awesome to be able to see what my total cost is as I shop. I definitely buy less when I do it that way, and added bonuses include everything already being bagged the way I like it and not having to talk to people (at least usually). I did it all the time during the pandemic.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    The only thing is that I wish I had something other than the phone for the scanning. Using the phone camera to scan isn't anywhere near as fast/good as using a scanning gun.

    But my guess is that it got removed because too many people were "scanning" and just taking off. It's pretty easy to fool self check, but enough people will avoid trying because there are people there, cameras, etc. Pretty hard to get that coverage on the whole store.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago

    Maybe, and that's probably the reason they cite, but honestly I bet the real reason is that people were buying less and so they wanted to make it as difficult as they could without removing the option entirely.

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  • [–] 12 points 2 years ago

    I honestly only use self check out. I don't buy a ton in a single shopping trip and I just find it easier to do it myself since I bring my own bulky bags that go on the side of my bike. A lot easier for me in general and sucks some places are getting rid of it.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Interesting! Alcohol doesn't have a barcode there?

    Here it does. But the self checkout lamp will go to red instantly and a clerk has to come to approve your age.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    But the self checkout lamp will go to red instantly and a clerk has to come to approve your age.

    Which negates the benefit of self service.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Just scan the alcohol first, scan the rest next. As long as it's not the only thing you're getting, it's almost def faster. Even if it is the only thing you're getting, the time for someone to do an age check compared to standing behind 2 carts/trollies is nothing. Self check for me almost every time is way, way faster. Exception being if I have a ton of groceries (I can scan as fast as teh employees, but the self check shit has more guardrails that slow shit down) or a ton of produce (employees at a lot of stores are required to memorize the PLU, I am not.)

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago

    Trying to tell the pears and their variants and potatoes and their variants apart is such a pain in the ass without a barcode. Especially since the example pic is usually quite different, and like 10px on a 480p greased up, airgapped touchscreen. I hate self checkout. The only time I use it is when the store is open late at night. Which, I actually do like. Having stores open till 1am or 3am can be extremely handy, especially if you have an office job during the day and do night classes.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago

    I bought beer last time I went through self checkout and of course it called some teenage girl over to check my ID; I'm pushing 60. I just said "No. I'm old enough to be your grandfather." She was fine with that.

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