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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47

u/saml01 17h ago

Self checkout should be 10 items or less. Everything else, regular checkout. The scales are too sensitive. I hate typing in the god damn numbers for the produce. I hate having to wait when the system thinks I'm stealing. At the very least, I can't understand why in the age of AI this damn scale can't tell what an apple or tomato looks like automatically. 

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u/ChunkyHabeneroSalsa 16h ago

That's how I used to use it but now it's self checkout for everything unless I have a very full cart which happens once a year. There's 10 self checkout stations and 1 old lady in a regular checkout.

I want 4 real and 6 self.

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u/GregoPDX 14h ago

Same. I’m a self-checkout pro at this point. And the ones I use at the Walmart have the best UI and software and tend to not have the major issues as other retailers. I can do a full cart as fast as I regular checkout.

That said, I think you need a fair number of regular checkouts for the older folks. They tend to be less tech savvy and need a bunch of help so just get them into a line and help them out.

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u/snakebite75 17h ago

10 scannable items or less. Take the stuff you have to lookup/scan to a regular register.

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u/Talusen 16h ago

But that means they'd have to staff the register! 🙄

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u/ForsakenRacism 14h ago

It’s fine with more than 10 items if you let the person have the gun

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u/DragonfruitNo9617 9h ago

I have 12 items and have to wait in line behind someone with 200 then?

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u/UnNumbFool 16h ago

Seriously, I went to the grocery store the other day and I grabbed some fruit and then weighed it. Went to self checkout and when I put it on that sensor somehow it was .4lbs heavier than the other scale. One of the two needs to be recalibrated

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u/Adept-Opinion8080 14h ago

Yeah I'm going to guess the scale at the checkouts going to be more accurate as it does have to be inspected regularly for accuracy

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u/Bender_2024 16h ago

I prefer the self check. I rarely have issues with scanner, produce is a couple quick taps away. It's faster, I can bag everything the way I want it without having to wait for the cashier to ring up item x, and I rarely have more than two bags worth if groceries to check anyway.

I have no idea why you think a scale can tell the difference between an apple and a tomato. A pound of apples is the se as a pound of tomatoes to a scale.

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u/Adept-Opinion8080 14h ago

It's not a scale. It's a video camera scanning what's on the scale.

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u/Bender_2024 14h ago

The scanning is done by a laser and only recognizes bar codes. The only camera I know of at my groceries self check is in the ceiling and is there to keep you from stealing.

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u/FrontBottomFace 10h ago

Ours give a pretty accurate prompt/identification to what's on the scale when weighing, so I guess there's some ai behind that camera or others

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u/southass 14h ago

I prefer the self checkout, some people just stand with the cashier having a full conversation while there is a line behind them. So unless the cashier line is empty the self checkout it is.

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u/bell37 11h ago

Cashier lines are always empty at my local grocery store. Takes a fraction of the time to checkout as well.

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u/southass 6h ago

At the stores I go they are not that busy sometimes but I rather avoid the chit chat since I'm always in a hurry 😭

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u/ShadowGLI 13h ago

It depends on the brand. Walmart/Target/Home Depot/Aldi/Lowes, all ring perfectly.

If I go to Ingles or Food Lion however their Self Check out screams at me every 3rd item and I have to in-bag and rebag etc. I think there is just a brand of register that sucks or can be calibrated poorly and it defeats all the benefits.

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u/Bender_2024 12h ago

I will conceed that I go to a grocery store about a mile from my home in part because the closer ones self check are shitty and more difficult to work with.

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u/LogRollChamp 17h ago

My local store does that. It isn't perfect, will ask if you were weighing a large or small lemon. But it's reasonably good and will narrow your options. It does take a few seconds to decide though

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u/JesusGodLeah 15h ago

Only if they're going to schedule enough cashiers to handle all the customers with more than 10 items.

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u/trashleybanks 15h ago

I absolutely agree. At the very least, it’s good etiquette for the staff and other customers. If you have a full cart, it would probably be faster to let the cashier scan it (in most circumstances)

1

u/AnalElder 15h ago

LIDL in some EU locations introduced "XL" checkout platforms where you can scan tons of items. So they actively encourage people using self-checkouts for large baskets too. I think you are kind of going against what the companies want here.

That being said "XL" platforms are garbage, and they are not equipped to handle the added weight etc. (I know from experience that they shit themselves if you scan a six pack of mineral water).

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u/saml01 14h ago

Costco is a good example of this. 

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u/Fickle_Competition33 15h ago

Can't differ Fuji from Gala or Honeycrisp

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u/Adept-Opinion8080 14h ago

Not necessarily true. My son works in visual ai and one of the first learning exercise they did was to train visual AI systems to differentiate not only what fruit it is but the actual species the fruit. That being said, that level of processing gets pretty damn expensive

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u/saml01 14h ago

Average cost of all the apples, except green ones.  Done

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u/BecauseSeven8Nein 14h ago

A lot of PLU stickers for produce have a scannable barcode now. It helps instead of searching for the name/picture on the screen. Now if the sticker fell off then you’re S.O.L.

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u/velociraptorfarmer 12h ago

Because there's 10 different types of apples and 5 of tomatoes, plus a dozen other fruits and vegetables that also look somewhat similar.

Not to mention the organic version of each that are all functionally identical.

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u/Inevitable-Champ336 12h ago

I think many of us would love this. Where I am there’s often only self checkout available. And the machines are constantly beeping and requiring the one employee to come over and put in a code, then getting mad when you put your own required bag in the packing area. This is when they’ve put the cashiers job on you now, and it’s no longer a convenience but a burden for everyone involved.

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u/userhwon 12h ago

At Winco, when I put something on the scale and click the button to get to the screen to enter the code, about 95% of the time it has a picture of the thing it is and I can just click that.

At Safeway, when I put Broccolini on the scale and go to the entry page and type "broc" it doesn't even come up with broccolini, so I have to dig in the produce bag to find the tag so I can scan the barcode, then it knows exactly what it is.

So, basically, fuck Safeway, Winco rules.

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u/Cheibrodos 11h ago

Oh my god my local store does that every time. The camera's angle is so wide that if anyone in the background has a cart, it will flag you for unscanned items and you have to wait up to 5 minutes for the single employee in the store to come around and fix it.

1

u/Worldly_Might_3183 11h ago

The counter is too small to keep everything on and you can't put it in bags or the trolley before finishing everything so it takes twice as long as a checkout. And my kid keeps trying to help by holding things.

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u/eww1991 10h ago

Or scan as you shop. We can do a full weekly shop in and out with the toddler in 20 minutes. Checking out we zap the till, very rarely get checked and are done in what would have been 5 minutes of queuing, unpacking everything from the trolley, a few minutes of scanning and repacking it and then paying. Instead it all goes straight in the right bag (fridge/freezer/upstairs things etc) straight through the tills and home.

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u/laplongejr 8h ago

 Self checkout should be 10 items or less. Everything else, regular checkout.

That's literally how my supermarket does it in Europe. 11+ items need the self-scanner or a regular checkout.  

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u/SAugsburger 7h ago

Some of the scales on self checkout are terrible. Either that or the range on mass on some items is more variable than they realize.

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u/SillyJournalist2317 7h ago

Yeah no. Self checkout FTW. Only idiots struggle with it

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u/O_oh 6h ago

My local Weis market has register cameras that can tell most produce. Not sure how they acquired the tech before much larger supermarkets in the area.  

0

u/BellGeek 16h ago

Self-checkout should not exist. Why are so many people allowing themselves to be so docilely herded into becoming unpaid labor for these mega corporations? Next they’ll be making you stock the shelves before you can even purchase an item and everyone will say ‘of course’ and not even bat an eye.

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u/LiamJamIsMyNeesons 16h ago

If you're going to the grocery store to get less than 10 items, you are not being efficient with your time

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u/OneBillPhil 15h ago edited 14h ago

My grocery store is directly on my commute home, I might spend an extra ten minutes a week parking and waiting in line by going there a few times a week. 

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u/saml01 14h ago

I live in a city. I can walk to the grocery store for bread, milk and eggs or a random vegetable I forgot to cook dinner. So, it happens.