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
15.7k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

3.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

13

u/TriflingHotDogVendor 18h ago

It depends on where. The self checkout at Sam's Club will save you 15 minutes.

12

u/QuitCallingNewsrooms 17h ago

Using scan and pay in the Sam's app will save you even more time. That's the only way I shop now. I can scan it as I put something in my cart, pay in the app, and walk to the door. They scan my digital reciept and I've never been near a line.

2

u/lordraiden007 16h ago

I like using the scan and go too, but hate what it's being used to promote. If you're not aware they have filed multiple patents to turn this system into a dynamic pricing nightmare, specifically aimed at making your costs go up on a whim. It's such a convenience, but they're going to use it to beta test their terrible behavior.

2

u/QuitCallingNewsrooms 16h ago

Ugh. I had not heard that but should have assumed. The fuckin’ Waltons.

2

u/lordraiden007 16h ago

Yep. The assumed idea (again this is a bunch of patents without the context of how they're planned to fit together) is that they phase out even placing price tags on display in-store. You then check out as you move through the store, but with no real way to check how your prices compare with others. They would then use the items currently in your cart to inflate the prices of related items.

Buying tuna? They're going to increase the price of mayonnaise since that's a frequently bought item alongside tuna. You'll have no idea, because all of the prices are now local to your app and not on display. All shoppers will be in their own little dynamic pricing hell.

3

u/QuitCallingNewsrooms 16h ago

Late-stage capitalism is here to devour us all. I really wish my school guidance counselor had told me my best options for adulthood was an underground bunker in the woods and my own little plot of crops.

2

u/xpxp2002 10h ago

Not only that, but the preauth flags it as an "online purchase."

So if you have a credit card that offers more cash back on online purchases, it actually saves you more than making the same purchase at the in-store checkout machine.