Do you like self-checkouts for small amounts of items?

[SparklyUnicorn]

Although there is one grocery store in the city that is extremely expensive.  They are up there with Whole Paycheck.  Seriously.  I go there once in awhile for very specific "special" items, but otherwise I think they are just too expensive.  They have those self check out things.  On principle I don't use them because I figure I'm paying for the service of having someone bag my stuff and ring out my stuff.  They also always offer to carry your groceries out to the car.  I don't take them up on that, but they will do it.

 

 

[Miss Tick]

The bi-weekly grocery trip is often a family affair, so using our own bags in the self-check lanes is faster and avoids dh's issues with how other people bag groceries.

[6packofun]

I love self-checkout.  I can go faster than just about any cashier not from Aldi.  LOL  But if I have too much, I don't mind using a cashier. I'm usually tapping my toes a bit impatiently, but it's OK.  (Because if you have 25+ items you probably shouldn't be in the self-checkout lane anyway, RIGHT???)

[Farrar]

I want to see someone show me a scientifically done study that says they're faster. And not in a lab with the best software and people trained to use them. At random stores with actual bumbling customers. Because everyone is repeating it like it's a fact and it's simply not my experience at multiple stores. Sometimes, sure. But not on average.

 

I looked and can't find any studies about it.

[luuknam]

(Because if you have 25+ items you probably shouldn't be in the self-checkout lane anyway, RIGHT???)

 

Almost every place I've seen says self-checkout is only for 15-20 items or less.

[wendyroo]

Has anyone tried Sams' new app that allows you to scan items with your phone as you put them in your cart?  Then you pay through the app and just show the receipt on your phone to the greeter/receipt checker.

 

Wendy

 

 

[J-rap]

I like them because I think they're fun!  But I only use them if I have a small amount and if I'm not buying fresh fruit and vegetables (things that need to be weighed).

[Southern Ivy]

Has anyone tried Sams' new app that allows you to scan items with your phone as you put them in your cart?  Then you pay through the app and just show the receipt on your phone to the greeter/receipt checker.

 

Wendy

I haven't, but I really want to. I HATE Sam's lines. 

[Southern Ivy]

I'm off to Walmart for some groceries and stuff. I can guarantee I'll be in the self-checkout today.  :hurray:

[cjzimmer1]

Self checkouts whenever possible even if the line is longer.  So much nicer not to have to deal with the cashier plus I can bag my groceries my way.  I frequently buy the trays of discount trays ofdonuts.  Even If I specifically say "Please don't stack the donuts", the baggers feel the need to stack the donuts and mash all the frosting on the plastic.  

 

I tell the right up front I want paper bags.  9 times out of 10 then still stuff them in plastic.  And then I have to remind I asked for paper and then they stuff the plastic bags into the paper bags.  But I don't want the plastic at all.

 

Just so much easier to do the whole transaction myself and get it done right.

Edited November 16, 2016 by cjzimmer1

[Cinder]

I like them ok and have used them a lot but if a cashier is available I'd rather go there because it's usually faster. General chit-chat doesn't bother me, though I hate when they try to sell you their store credit card. Ugh.

 

One trick I've learned for getting the self-check machine to register a very lightweight item is to throw the item down into the bag or press down on the bag/shelf-scale-thingee as I'm placing the item in it. You wouldn't think it would make a difference, but by doing this I rarely get that error message saying I haven't placed the item in the bag.

[Cinder]

Almost every place I've seen says self-checkout is only for 15-20 items or less.

 

My local walmart doesn't impose a limit and I've seen people go through there with a cart load. :glare:

[Chelle in MO]

I'm off to Walmart for some groceries and stuff. I can guarantee I'll be in the self-checkout today.  :hurray:

 

We expect you to report back on how it went!   :lol:

[cjzimmer1]

My local walmart doesn't impose a limit and I've seen people go through there with a cart load. :glare:

 

Our grocery store has two styles of self check, scanner only for less than 20 items and scanner plus long belt for any sized order.

[Guest]

I prefer them. Too many people don't know the meaning of customer service anymore. I've been in CS and would ever have acted how many do now. Self check outs keep me from saying what is really on my mind. 😬

[Garga]

I almost never buy less than two full weeks' worth of groceries at stores that have them.  They're only in one store that I go to for my big two-week grocery shopping trip.  They're in a couple more stores, but I don't go to them.

 

I *think* that if I had only a few items I'd prefer them, but only if they work!  I have only used them occasionally, but I'd say that out of the 10 or so times I've used them, 7 times there was some issue where the person manning the area had to come over and help.  Urgh.  And these weren't operator errors. 

 

If they worked and if I had under 15 items, I think I'd like them.  If they continue not to work for me, then I don't like them.  

 

P.S.  There is almost never chit-chat with the cashiers for me.  A "how are you" when they start and a "have a nice day" when they're done.  Once in a while, when I shop late at night, someone will get a little chatty, but that's rare.  And usually only when it's late, like 10 pm or so.

Edited November 16, 2016 by Garga

[SparklyUnicorn]

I never saw a limit sign for the self check out.  Most places around here have tons of self check out machines though.

 

 

[Sherry in OH]

I like self-checkout at the library but not at stores.  

 

Our Walmart always has lines at the self-checkouts. This is partly because on any given day one or more of the kiosks are out of order.  The main reason, however, is that although the store has at least twenty checkout lanes that could be staffed, usually only two of them are open - the twenty item or less lane (opposite end of the store from groceries) and the tobacco lane.  

 

The Kroger and Meijer self-checkouts are not as bad as Walmart's but I usually have a full cart when shopping those stores. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

You need different bags. I have two kinds, one is a plasticky fabric that can be wiped, the other are cotton and can go in the washing machine. Neither fall apart. Back home, free plastic bags for groceries do not exist; the cotton bags last for a decade and more.

 

Where are you getting the cotton ones? 

 

Yeah I have some of those Germany bags. They are tiny and they shrink in the wash.  But at least they can be washed. 

[Scarlett]

I want to see someone show me a scientifically done study that says they're faster. And not in a lab with the best software and people trained to use them. At random stores with actual bumbling customers. Because everyone is repeating it like it's a fact and it's simply not my experience at multiple stores. Sometimes, sure. But not on average.

 

I looked and can't find any studies about it.

 

 

It takes a little practice.  I am very efficient and fast at self checkout.  My husband hates them though.  He freaks out over the 'you have not bagged this item' warning....I don't freak out I just hit clear until it won't let me then I look up for the helper and she helps me.  It is faster than waiting for 20 minutes in a line for sure.  And I like bagging my own stuff.

[Guest]

.

Edited September 11, 2020 by Æthelthryth the Texan

[Farrar]

It takes a little practice.  I am very efficient and fast at self checkout.  My husband hates them though.  He freaks out over the 'you have not bagged this item' warning....I don't freak out I just hit clear until it won't let me then I look up for the helper and she helps me.  It is faster than waiting for 20 minutes in a line for sure.  And I like bagging my own stuff.

 

I have routinely waited in 20 minute self-checkout lines just to get to the front though. It's not just me I'm waiting for.

 

And the bag thing... if you live somewhere with a bag tax, everyone brings their own bags. Those things HATE random bags. So then you have to check out, put everything down unbagged on the weight thing, then bag. It adds time, even if everything is working. I have not seen a single system where the "I brought my own bag" thing worked. 

[Tap]

I want to see someone show me a scientifically done study that says they're faster. And not in a lab with the best software and people trained to use them. At random stores with actual bumbling customers. Because everyone is repeating it like it's a fact and it's simply not my experience at multiple stores. Sometimes, sure. But not on average.

 

I looked and can't find any studies about it.

They are definitely faster in the sense that one cashier can help 4 people at once.  They have added cashiers at Safeway and the lines that used to have 1-2 customers at a time, now have 4+.  I only need help at a self-checkout maybe 1 out of the 10 times I use one (alcohol-needs ID, coupon won't scan, lightweight item wont register on the scale etc). I generally know when this is going to happen, so I save all those items for the end, so the cashier only has to come over once and be done. For those people who know how to use self checkout, it is wayyyy faster than the line behind someone with a cart full of groceries, someone with WIC, or a couponer.  I am sure that 5 people who know how to use self checkout can get in an out before one large cartful can be rang up and bagged. 

 

Sometimes, I can self check out faster that the cashier.  I know the codes of items I buy frequently, already know to put in my savings card and credit card. I know how I want it bagged.  I do that between ringing items up, while the computer does its thing.  I am used to multitasking, so sometimes I am standing and waiting for the computer to catch up with me, not the other way around. LOL

[Tap]

I have routinely waited in 20 minute self-checkout lines just to get to the front though. It's not just me I'm waiting for.

 

And the bag thing... if you live somewhere with a bag tax, everyone brings their own bags. Those things HATE random bags. So then you have to check out, put everything down unbagged on the weight thing, then bag. It adds time, even if everything is working. I have not seen a single system where the "I brought my own bag" thing worked. 

Intesting, maybe it is the software. I just let the cashier know I have my own bag and set it on the scale.  She gives me the all clear and I bag into my bags.  It just takes a second to catch their eye.  If they are busy I scan a couple of items and put in my payment cards and then just transfer them to my own bags when I am done.  Since I only use self checkout for 20 or less items, even if I had to put all of the items on the scale and then rebag them at the end, it wouldn't take as long as waiting in the regular checkout line here.  The regular checkouts have customers with full carts, so even though those lines only have 3 waiting customers, it takes a long time for each customer.  12 people can go through self checkout in the same amount of time. (3 customers x4 registers at self checkout).

 

It could be where you live though.  Maybe if the size of the orders were more even between the different checkouts, then it would take more even amounts of time.

[Farrar]

They are definitely faster in the sense that one cashier can help 4 people at once.  They have added cashiers at Safeway and the lines that used to have 1-2 customers at a time, now have 4+.  I only need help at a self-checkout maybe 1 out of the 10 times I use one (alcohol-needs ID, coupon won't scan, lightweight item wont register on the scale etc). I generally know when this is going to happen, so I save all those items for the end, so the cashier only has to come over once and be done. For those people who know how to use self checkout, it is wayyyy faster than the line behind someone with a cart full of groceries, someone with WIC, or a couponer.  I am sure that 5 people who know how to use self checkout can get in an out before one large cartful can be rang up and bagged. 

 

Sometimes, I can self check out faster that the cashier.  I know the codes of items I buy frequently, already know to put in my savings card and credit card. I know how I want it bagged.  I do that between ringing items up, while the computer does its thing.  I am used to multitasking, so sometimes I am standing and waiting for the computer to catch up with me, not the other way around. LOL

 

That also assumes that there's no line for the self-checkouts though. The line for the self-checkouts at my local grocery store routinely goes around the bank of them and down the frozen foods section.

 

I really think this is one of those things that's being repeated over and over... without any data. I'm sure that once you're good at it, it's faster if there's no line for the self-checkouts vs. a line for the cashiers. But I almost never have that situation present itself. I'm guessing that's a relatively common occurrence in the suburbs though.

 

I'd really like to see which is actually faster. A line of twenty people with the same groceries at a cashier vs. at a self-checkout. I think the cashier would win easily.

[Wabi Sabi]

Other: I use them only when I have no other option. Sometimes if you're at the store very early morning or late at night there are no regular cashiers and self-checkout is the only option. 

[creekland]

I will not use them - ever.  Ok, I think I did once, but only because we were in a hurry or something.  I try to put the experience out of my memory.   :lol:  (Nothing went wrong - it just seemed so wrong to me.)

 

I prefer to keep jobs and I love the small talk with the cashiers when it happens (doesn't always).  I'll stand in a long line to avoid self checkout - as apparently do many others around me.  I suppose it's as close as I can get to more traditional markets?  

 

If a store ever went to self checkout only, I'd switch where I shopped.

 

ps  I also bag my own groceries everywhere except Walmart where they make it tough to do so.

Edited November 16, 2016 by creekland

[Bluegoat]

I prefer not to.  But if the lines are long for cashiers, and I have kids with me, I will use them.

 

The ones here have no limit on the items, but it isn't easy to use them for a larger order because youi have to move the bags around.

 

I find them annoying, but the main reason is I don't want the store to hire fewer cashiers. 

 

I do like them for buying things that might make me feel embarrassed, like hemorrhoid cream.  Which is of course a little silly.

[Southern Ivy]

We expect you to report back on how it went!   :lol:

 

haha well, it went well. I had a moment where it freaked and said "please wait for assistance" and basically it just didn't like that I took the bag off. I told it to shut up and then it went right back to working. Not a major ordeal at all. 

I even did 2 separate transactions. *GASP*

[Southern Ivy]

dp 

 

Edited November 16, 2016 by Southern Ivy

[HS Mom in NC]

 

 

I really think this is one of those things that's being repeated over and over... without any data.

 

No, we're not mindlessly parroting it.  We're speaking to your out of our personal experiences when we've actually compared the two.  At my grocery store, Target and Lowe's I simply push the "I brought my own button" and put my own bag there with no problem at all.  That may not be your personal experience, but where I live the machines we use have no problem at all accepting the bags. It's rare I've ever needed assistance from an employee. I've never in my life seen a line from the self check out longer than 5 or 6 people because we have so many self scanners and they rarely require assistance from an employee.  Sorry your stores have crappy machines or not enough machines, or both.

 

At my local Walmart the first batch of machines was more problematic.  Now it's less common to need help but the number of times an employee was needed is more than the places listed above. 

 

You would have to control for machine reliability, number of self check outs to shoppers, number of cashiers to lines, and attentiveness of employees (How many times have I seen that employee at Walmart dawdling and chatting when someone needed help? Plenty.)  for a decent study.

 

[rocassie]

I loathe them because almost always there is an issue.  Then I have to wait around for the issue to be fixed.  Therefore, I did not save time.

[HS Mom in NC]

No snark, I'm genuinely interested in the other point of view. 

For those of you who don't use them in hopes of the store hiring and retaining more employees, do you choose to continue subscribing to newspapers for delivery at your doorstep?  Do you continue buying CD for movies and music?  Would you have continued using horse and buggy paraphernalia as the masses started buying cars?  

[Southern Ivy]

No, we're not mindlessly parroting it.  We're speaking to your out of our personal experiences when we've actually compared the two.  At my grocery store, Target and Lowe's I simply push the "I brought my own button" and put my own bag there with no problem at all.  That may not be your personal experience, but where I live the machines we use have no problem at all accepting the bags. It's rare I've ever needed assistance from an employee. I've never in my life seen a line from the self check out longer than 5 or 6 people because we have so many self scanners and they rarely require assistance from an employee.  Sorry your stores have crappy machines or not enough machines, or both.

 

At my local Walmart the first batch of machines was more problematic.  Now it's less common to need help but the number of times an employee was needed is more than the places listed above. 

 

You would have to control for machine reliability, number of self check outs to shoppers, number of cashiers to lines, and attentiveness of employees (How many times have I seen that employee at Walmart dawdling and chatting when someone needed help? Plenty.)  for a decent study.

 

I used to live in NW Arkansas, so with Walmart HQ being there, we often got the pilot programs. The first self-checkouts were horrible!! ALWAYS screaming at us. You couldn't remove a full bag without it freaking out and making everyone think you were shoplifting. 

They have come so far in the last 6 years. 

[Bluegoat]

No snark, I'm genuinely interested in the other point of view. 

 

For those of you who don't use them in hopes of the store hiring and retaining more employees, do you choose to continue subscribing to newspapers for delivery at your doorstep?  Do you continue buying CD for movies and music?  Would you have continued using horse and buggy paraphernalia as the masses started buying cars?  

Well, I still have a milkman.

 

And, if our local paper wasn't totally screwing their employees, and was practicing good journalism, I would subscribe in order to help keep it viable.  I think supporting idependant, good journalism is really important.  The move to "free" news is seriously bad for any democratic society.  Whether the paper is hard copy and delivered has pros and cons - on one hand delivery employs people (and in the past kids who don't have many other ways to get a job) but it also uses a lot of paper.

 

I also try and buy things made locally or by craftsmen rather than mass-produced things, and try and spend my money generally in ways that support the kind of economy I think is healthy for people.

 

That doesn't mean I would oppose any change in production or employment practices, sometimes a change in practices can be positive, or neutral.  (Like, maybe digital newspapers.)

[Farrar]

No snark, I'm genuinely interested in the other point of view. 

 

For those of you who don't use them in hopes of the store hiring and retaining more employees, do you choose to continue subscribing to newspapers for delivery at your doorstep?  Do you continue buying CD for movies and music?  Would you have continued using horse and buggy paraphernalia as the masses started buying cars?  

 

I don't like the newspaper analogy because the work of journalism takes the same number of people however you get it - something the people who think all content should be free and also reliable and high quality don't seem to get at all. The delivery people lose their jobs, I suppose. The CD thing... yeah, okay. But that's not representative of jobs. Instead of people to physically mint CD's, people run servers that sell music. Both are several steps removed from the customer in terms of job visibility.

 

I'm not against changing the tech. Please change the tech. But I find that in high volume stores, the self-checkouts aren't as good except for the store itself. And that bugs me.

 

Probably all the empty suburban stores should change most of theirs out. It's always fun when I'm in the exurbs and the shelves are all totally full and organized and the "lines" are never more than a couple of people. But the real test is the high volume sales. It clogs up the works. Which says to me that they're actually inferior.

[Crimson Wife]

 

P.S.  There is almost never chit-chat with the cashiers for me.  A "how are you" when they start and a "have a nice day" when they're done.  Once in a while, when I shop late at night, someone will get a little chatty, but that's rare.  And usually only when it's late, like 10 pm or so.

 

I want your cashiers. I don't know if it's a California thing but the ones here are obnoxiously (to my New England-raised mind) chatty. And it's not just at one particular store, where I could chalk it up to training. It's EVERYWHERE!

 

[zoobie]

Yes I have thought more than once that they have been specifically told to bag every single item separately.  It makes me crazy.  And the way they have their bagging situation set up, they make it difficult to bring and use your own bags so I don't bring my own bags when I go there.  Elsewhere yes, but not there. 

 

My number one complaint with reusable bags is not being able to wash them without them falling apart.  That bugs me severely.  I know some people say it doesn't matter.  It matters to me.  I think it's gross to keep reusing these bags on stuff, some of which can't be washed all that thoroughly as it is (produce for example).

 

Trader Joe's has some new-ish canvas totes with navy handles that are around $3 and washable. I love them. I may use them for Christmas wrapping this year. :rofl: 

 

Flip & Tumble bags wash well.

 

The Whole Foods insulated bags with the wide straps are washable too. 

[Farrar]

To the bolded, isn't that true of self check outs though?  The more self check outs there are, the more people are needed to build, program and maintain them?

 

Maybe, yeah. Even the newspaper delivery guys get replaced to some extent by the guys running the newspaper servers and designing the site and so forth. I presume it's fewer people though in both cases.

 

Quick, we might have agreement! Someone start a thread about how the coal industry is dead and those workers should get over themselves!

[Bluegoat]

To the bolded, isn't that true of self check outs though?  The more self check outs there are, the more people are needed to build, program and maintain them?

 

Would it be more than are needed to build and maintain the regular ones?  I doubt it would by a lot.

 

They are also different kinds of employees with different training requirements - computer programers, say, rather than cashiers. 

[LucyStoner]

There's so many people in line to use the self checkouts that the canker lines are often shorter. Especially because cashiers tend to know what they are doing and there is always some customer or two who is clueless about how to use the self check out slowing the line there down.

 

If given my druthers, I prefer the cashier. Also, I often buy markdowns that need a person to accept the store affixed 50% off sticker. I'm kinda cheap.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Trader Joe's has some new-ish canvas totes with navy handles that are around $3 and washable. I love them. I may use them for Christmas wrapping this year. :rofl:

 

Flip & Tumble bags wash well.

 

The Whole Foods insulated bags with the wide straps are washable too. 

 

I'll look for them.

 

I have washed the big Aldi bags.  They aren't the same after the first wash.  After the second wash they start to fall apart.  I love the bags otherwise though.

[Aura]

Self-checkouts are a progression of technology. Having worked them myself as a cashier, I don't think they don't take the place of cashiers. They just offer an alternative. You wouldn't have more cashiers working if you didn't have self-checkouts. You'd just have longer lines.

 

I do think they're a source of loss for stores. People who shoplift take advantage of them. Individuals will swap things out. They'll also tag-team. One or two keep the cashier distracted while another seemingly innocently checks out, while bagging stuff they haven't paid for or swapping out items or whatever. People will scan and bag all their items, then just leave without paying for it, and if the cashier is busy with 3 other people, she won't notice in time to stop them. I don't really see them being that beneficial for stores.

 

But I'll use whatever is the easiest way to get out of the store. If I have only a handful of items, that generally means self-checkout.

[barnwife]

I like the idea of self-checkout, minus cashiers losing jobs. 

However, as I usually shop with all the kiddos (6, 4, 3, and a NB at the end of the year), I much prefer cashiers. They ring me up while I entertain the kiddos, remind them not to touch merchandise, etc...However, our library just added a self-checkout. As they get more experience with it, they might be able to handle it in other places.

For now, I want to kid-wrangle while the cashier does everything else.

[Luckymama]

I am annoyed when I can't use self checkout!

[Chelle in MO]

haha well, it went well. I had a moment where it freaked and said "please wait for assistance" and basically it just didn't like that I took the bag off. I told it to shut up and then it went right back to working. Not a major ordeal at all. 

I even did 2 separate transactions. *GASP*

 

That's amazing!  I had NO IDEA it could work like that!  :lol:

 

You were really pushing things w/the 2 separate transactions, weren't you?   :toetap05:  :sneaky2:

[Scarlett]

I don't think I have ever waited in line for self check out....hmmmm....that would REALLY annoy me.

 

That is the beauty of self check...no waiting.

[Slartibartfast]

I rarely use self check out.

 

 

[MamaBearTeacher]

I am scared to use them.  I have only used them when I was told that I had to and then I asked the cashier to help me.  

 

 

[EmseB]

I don't like self-checkouts.  I have too many kids who want to "help". I always mess up their bagging/weight thing and need someone to reset the thing.

 

Unless I am by myself with less than 5 items that all have their own barcodes (i.e. no produce) I am not going to use a self-checkout.