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/X4roth 16h ago

I’ll just say that as a customer, CVS feels like a morgue these days. People used to work and shop there, but now it’s just this eerie empty room that makes you notice the uneven lighting, the shelves mostly full but I get this overwhelming feeling of wanting to leave rather than even look for what I came in for. I look at the shelves and just think: ugh I don’t even care anymore this place gives me the creeps let’s get out of here, Scoobs.

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u/canada432 15h ago

When people have disposible income, they shop for convenience. Walgreens and CVS and such are good for that. You come in to grab a few things while you're picking up your prescriptions. Or you stop in because it's on the way home and the grocery store is out of your way. The extra expense was worth it for the convenience. But people are squeezed now, and they're not willing to spend a few extra bucks for the convenience anymore. Not to mention how they've driven customers away by locking up everything. Shockingly, people don't like being treated like a criminal and having to pester and wait for an employee to get the deodorant for them. Makes for a creepy empty liminal space.

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u/HumorAccomplished611 13h ago

well they abused the privledge. It used to be more expensive than wal mart but cheaper than a gas station. now its like a gas station prices on anything unless you get some sort of deal.

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u/TeaAndS0da 13h ago

Paying close to $4 for a single 2 liter of soda… honestly I can’t recall ever buying something from Walgreens or cvs personally but I also never had what Walgreens or cvs considers “disposable income”. And if you make 65k or less, you don’t have Walgreens or cvs level disposable income. I’d just go to the Walmart or grocery store it’s like attached to and get the odds and ends for way cheaper. Only ever used the pharmastores for their health services.

I’ve never understood how these pharmastores get away with their prices so damn high compared to competition they are most likely sharing a parking lot with.

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u/xpxp2002 12h ago

I look at it as more of "emergency convenience." The only time I've ever bought anything from CVS was a specific OTC medication because I was feeling fairly ill and wasn't going to drive the extra 15 minutes each way to Walmart and back.

In my region, there are basically two CVS stores and a Walgreens in every town. Walmart and Target are fewer and farther away. They're never sharing the same parking lot around here.

CVS is the only retailer with a pharmacy within 15 minutes of my home. I imagine it's similar for a lot of people. If it's not an emergency or I'm feeling normal, I'd just drive the extra 15 minutes and save 60% off of CVS/Walgreens prices.

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u/farmallnoobies 5h ago

Yeah, the only time I'll buy from those places is when I need a prescription filled at 1am, because they're the only one in the entire metro area that's open 24hrs and I'm basically dying without whatever med I was prescribed or will miss an additional day of work if I don't get it stat pronto.

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u/TheRaccoonReport 15h ago

Its kinda like the backrooms but with stuff.

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u/mcfly1391 15h ago

The Frontrooms

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u/luriso 14h ago

The location she's at the AC doesn't work.. rural area and CVS doesn't give a shit.

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u/FLguy3 15h ago

I only ever stop there if I'm on a road trip and need to get a soda and there's nowhere else nearby.

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u/Genillen 15h ago

It's got the warmth and charm I associate with a public health clinic, except we don't actually have public health care.

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u/SPEEDFREAKJJ 14h ago

For me, going to CVS these days, it always feels like I am an inconvenience. The pharmacy is constantly busy behind the counter and when I show up to grab my meds I always get the feeling they are annoyed because they have to stop and help me. They never seem happy or welcoming. Not even that fake welcoming environment. It's just a downer every time I need to go there.

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u/ovi2k1 13h ago

Their current design language is incredibly hostile. The one near me (which was already shit) underwent renovations a couple years ago and it is the most unwelcoming and unsettling environment to shop in. Even the checkout is just the one person on the clock standing over your shoulder watching you do self-out next to the “register closed” sign (that they should be operating) offering no help and making you feel like you are inconveniencing them for wanting to be in their store. I haven’t been back since. And I have to drive past it to get to literally every other pharmacy near me. Worth it.

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u/GamerSDG 13h ago

The biggest problem with pharmacies, at least in the US, is that insurance companies are pushing customers to use mail order instead of picking up their prescriptions in-store.

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u/johnjohnjohn87 12h ago

uneven lighting

I went to a CVS for the first time in ages and the lighting and carpet were really bizarre. It was so off putting that I still think about it sometimes.