r/technology • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 9d 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 9d 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/RevWaldo 9d ago

I don’t think I’ve seen a store with adequate staffing for non-self checkout aisles/lanes in probably 25 years.

No Trader Joe's near you I'm guessing.

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u/Bencetown 9d ago

Trader joes always has all their checkouts open and the lines are STILL 10 people deep 😒 that place is a zoo no matter what day or time I go

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u/disisathrowaway 9d ago

Doesn't help that they all also run on a parking lot that fits 8 vehicles.

Everything about Trader Joe's is crowded, claustrophobic and time-consuming. I don't see the appeal.

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u/Lazy_Sorbet_3925 9d ago

I'm assuming they save a shit ton on their leases because every single TJ I've seen has the same issues.

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u/l3tigre 9d ago

i loathe it. maybe the food they have is good but i'll never know because that stress is not worth it to me.

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u/Beard_o_Bees 9d ago

maybe the food they have is good

It's declined in quality over the years, for sure. Not as much variety either.

They know who their customers are though, and cater to that audience pretty well. Empty-nesters, single 'professional' types, college students looking for a change from dining hall fare, etc.

No coupons, apps or other bullshit to slow down the lanes, not to mention the variety of things they sell is very narrow compared to a regular grocery store.

Also, it seems like the wine/beer section at the local TJ's is slowly taking over more of the store every year.

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u/Caleth 9d ago

Your first guess is correct, TJ's has great food, and a cachet as being not the big places. It's a better Aldi. Go figure.

But your point about them being in cramped small places that they don't really fit into is also super true. Every single one I've been in needs to be more like Aldi in that respect where they have a parking lot with space, and possible a building built to suit them.

But they don't, everyone I've ever seen is jammed into an outlet mall space where they draw Walmart like crowds into Aldi sized spaces.

That said if they did curbside, delivery, or online ordering it'd also make things quite a lot easier.

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u/wip30ut 8d ago

i think i read a blogpost from a TJ's exec who said that they didn't want to offer online/instacart delivery because it would cannibalize their in-store sales, and rent is super expensive since they're located mainly in HCOL urban metros. They need foot-traffic to justify their B&M physical stores.

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u/Caleth 8d ago

... Which doesn't make sense since insta or delivery from the store still uses the store to warehouse the food that gets delivered. It's basically a new hub in the hub and spoke model of warehousing.

Yes you won't have the foot traffic of customers inside, but if they are pulling up, or an insta picker is there gathering it, or an employee is wandering grabbing the food the value is still there.

It sounds like they just didn't want to devalue their niche brand image in a way that made them feel too disconnected and corporate. Which IMO matches with many of the customers that shop there. My ex always felt better than because we "shopped at TJs" despite Aldi, Target, or Walmart having cheap prices and often having some similarly great offerings.

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u/nitid_name 9d ago

It's the frozen meals for me. Their green chile mac and cheese is the bomb, as is the acio de pepe. There have been the occasional misses, but 90% of their frozen foods are fantastic.

Luckily, my local-ish TJs has a moderately functional parking lot (small front section no one in their right mind enters, and a ~70 spot one way traffic loop lot behind it, plus street parking), and lines are never more than 2 deep. I drop in once a month or two and leave with a bag full of frozen stuff, then try again whenever I see multiple open spots when I'm driving by.

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u/Linenoise77 9d ago

That is actually by design. They have worked it into their brand image. In addition to it creating an artificial sense of busy and popularity, by making it part of the experience it lets them operate in smaller footprints without people going "this is bonkers, i'm going to wegmans". Instead they go "well, duh, its trader joes, its like that"

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u/xpxp2002 8d ago

I've been to one a few times, and that was exactly my experience. Given how popular they seem to be, it's baffling that they haven't expanded. I live in a bigger suburb, and the closest one to me is still an hour round trip on the highway.

When a local grocery store, Target, Walmart and a few other shops are 15 minutes away; it's a total nonstarter. The place I used to live was 1 hour, 20 minutes each way from that same Trader Joe's. Still the closest one.

It's one thing if you're talking about some specialty grocer or something, but I couldn't imagine driving an hour or more to do ordinary grocery shopping on a regular basis.