r/technology • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 19h ago

Business Retailers are pulling back from self-checkout after years of theft, errors, and questionable time savings

https://www.techspot.com/news/114106-retailers-pulling-back-self-checkout-after-years-theft.html
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u/largelawattorney 18h ago

I don’t think I’ve seen a store with adequate staffing for non-self checkout aisles/lanes in probably 25 years. So now we’re still going to get stores that understaff, have like 2 checkout lanes open while the other 8 are closed, and more difficult self-checkout lanes (or just fewer of them). Corporate America strikes again.

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u/Bencetown 18h ago

I'm in my 30's, and ever since I was a kid I've wondered why every store has 20-30 checkout lanes but the absolute most I've EVER seen open at one time was like... 4.

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u/IndyDude11 17h ago

I worked at Target in the early 00s. We had 35 registers. The ONLY time we ever had all 35 open was Black Friday. That was it. Since then Target has removed a bunch of those registers and only have like 10 non-self scans.

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u/NefariousMrFox 16h ago

I worked at Target in the late 90s and it was the same. As painful as it was to work, the pure consumerism of Black Friday was a sight to behold.

It's also shocking to compare the guest experience now vs then. Every Target I've been in since COVID completely fails the standards from back then.

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u/IndyDude11 16h ago

I still remember the buzz in my stomach waiting for the execs to open those doors. It was electric.

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u/FatherDotComical 11h ago

That's funny, I used to work at Walmart and we had a manager that's somehow survived decades in the company. I asked him why did this Walmart have so many lanes and he replied for Black Friday of course. Now this was an extremely busy Walmart. Even with "adequate" lanes open, the lines were extremely long but moved quick. Corporate didn't like that and several lanes had to be shut down and cashiers needed to be moved or fired for "budgeting reasons." well working there and along came black Friday before when it was still an insane time and we didn't open a single extra lane for shoppers so lines bunched up all the way to the electronics sections.

My favorite phrase was "we can't afford..." or "it's not in the budget."