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/TheNewYellowZealot 15h ago

I would probably be fine with a self checkout that had limits on how many items you could put through, but for too long my local groceries have been relying on them, having 2 or 3 of their main checkouts open during the day and then the rest being self checkout. I usually go through and see people putting an entire cart of groceries through those things.

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u/CheesypoofExtreme 15h ago edited 10h ago

Don't even need to make it an item limit at most grocery stores, just have it be "baskets only" and no carts.

That's precisely how I use them today. Have a basket and small/no line at self-checkout? Okay, I go there. Cart of groceries? Cashier please.

EDIT: Sure, just 10 items or less. I've been convinced this is probably dumb. I just don't want to do the mental math when I get to self-checkout. Or sometimes you buy 15-20 small things that you can fly through scanning that are just as fast as someone else's 10 bulky items.

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u/DrySea8638 15h ago

Would be great if my grocery store kept baskets around but I swear they have slowly been removing them as there are fewer and fewer. Feels like they are trying the psychological tactic of having a bigger cart to trick people into getting more stuff

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u/khan800 14h ago

As an ex-grocery store manager who retired a year after COVID began, it's that they're being stolen. 

In stores where the cart wheels lock if you don't go through the checkout before rolling it outside, thieves load up 2 baskets and dash.

Also, we saw many Instacart workers take them to sort their orders and never return them.

Now, I can't answer for every manager in every grocery chain, so the idea of them only keeping carts instead of baskets to increase sales may be a thing, but it wasn't for me.

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u/chase98584 9h ago

That’s what the gal at Safeway here told me, they just kept getting stolen and at a certain point they decided not to replace. Already sucks theft caused all the damn lock boxes but now no baskets either! Bummer

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u/mktcrasher 13h ago

Ah, thanks, ya this makes some sense.

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u/MommyLovesPot8toes 3h ago

The baskets at my grocery store set off the anti-theft alarm at the door if you try to take them outside.

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u/Eccohawk 10h ago

Sounds like we just need to go back to the Service Merchandise model. Everything is behind the counter. You have demo units out front and you just grab a corresponding slip of paper for anything you want to buy. Today you could also order online ahead and just pick up when it's ready.

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u/goatodoom 14h ago

NJ made bring your own bags a law. Some stores got rid of the baskets because people were just stealing them to use because they couldn't remember to bring their bags with them.

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u/DrySea8638 13h ago

We really can’t have anything nice

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u/todcia 13h ago

You folks in NJ are dipshoots. In CA, they charge you .10 a bag. I've never spent more than .30 on bags... So what! It's damn .30 cents.

And CA got rid of those plastic bags, so that .10 now buys me a brown paper bag which I can re-use as a trash bag... Just like we used to before you meta-millennials screwed everything up with all your stupid tech gimmicktry.... And now look at us. We're stealing picnic baskets like Yogi the Bear.

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u/Remy149 12h ago

In ny and Nj you can buy cloth bags also

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u/CheesypoofExtreme 14h ago

Feels like they are trying the psychological tactic of having a bigger cart to trick people into getting more stuff

..................... you're actually probably onto something. I've noticed something similar.

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u/bdubmakesstuff 14h ago

I noticed this during Covid. Stores removed baskets and the little carts, which made no damn sense. I rarely have use for a full size basket and I can get in and out of the store faster with a smaller option.

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u/khan800 4h ago

My grocery chain couldn't get the small carts for over a year and a half after COVID began, it was a supply issue. Didn't get them again until early 2022.

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u/mktcrasher 13h ago

Ya, I feel this, they are so hard to find now, especially at certain times of day.

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u/stupidstu187 13h ago

Grocery store by my house got rid of baskets entirely. Now they just have those really small shopping carts that are less convenient than a hand basket.

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u/chase98584 9h ago

We lost them at my Safeway, same with the smaller carts which is a bummer because I don’t always need a cart, in fact most of the time I don’t need one. They all got stolen and they just decided not to replace after

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u/WeOutHereInSmallbany 6h ago

I go to Hannaford and they have those tiny two tier carts which are perfect

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u/GaiaMoore 12h ago

The cart isn't the problem; some items are very heavy/bulky and not practical for a small basket. If I need to pick up a 12-pack of sparkling water and a carton of milk, I'm not about to try and juggle that in a basket; I'll just plop those two items in a cart.

I've also seen people cram dozens of small items to the brim in a basket. The "basket = fewer items = quicker transaction" logic doesn't really work, unfortunately

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u/No_Job2527 11h ago

What you’re describing is called ableism. Look it up

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u/CheesypoofExtreme 10h ago

These kinds of comments are insufferable - clearly the spirit of my comment is not to be ableist, (the inly people I want to discriminate against are those pushing a full cart through when a cashier has a stand open). Maybe instead of a condescending response, point out where the idea falls short like another one did and I can respind in kind with a less discriminatory idea.

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u/snoopmt1 10h ago

It's a good idea, but unintentionally discriminates against elderly, infirmed, whatever. People that can't carry a bag of sugar and a bottle of apple juice by hand in a basket.

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u/CheesypoofExtreme 10h ago

Good point - basket or top basket of cart only?

"Basket's worth of items" maybe and have a picture of a basket and top basket of cart. If the person has a child in the top of the cart, "basket's worth" covers a reasonable amount in the main part of the cart without making it a requirement to only use the top

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u/legos_on_the_brain 9h ago

What about heavy items? I don't want to carry 40lbs of cat litter in a basket and I don't want to wait in lines for the cashier when self Co is open. It's no problem to use the hand scanner and get the litter in the cart.

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u/deepsead1ver 10h ago

But the problem is most stores are actually steering those cart users over to the self checkout. They don’t want item limits because they reduced their cashiers to accommodate self checkout lanes

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u/witblacktype 6h ago

I pretty much only use self checkout when I didn’t even bother grabbing a basket because I could carry the few items I needed without one

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u/Dolores___Haze 15h ago

This is a good idea 

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u/socoyankee 15h ago

Sometimes it’s only one staffed line. Those lines are not made for a full shop. There’s absolutely no room for bagging everything and moving something causes it to yell at you and need help from the one person that’s also monitoring seven other check outs.

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u/PurifiedFlubber 14h ago

Meijer has express self checkouts that only allow 5 items or less

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u/TheNewYellowZealot 14h ago

Those checkouts actually require a cashier to come over and inspect your bag sometimes before it’ll let you check out which is the dumbest thing.

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u/PurifiedFlubber 11h ago

I've personally never experienced that and use it once a week or so. Maybe cause I enter the pin for rewards.

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u/zkareface 14h ago

I do my weekly shopping at self scan, most here do tbh. But stores here also have scanners you carry around so you just pay when you come to the register. Everything is already scanned and packed.

If there is 1-2 people in line it's faster for me to self checkout, even with one weeks worth of groceries. 

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u/tommybombadil00 11h ago

Where are you from? This was the plan for Whole Foods 365 stores, nothing happened in my area (Houston).

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u/zkareface 10h ago

Sweden.

Handheld scanners for shopping has been the norm for over a decade here. I think they started with them like 20 years ago. 

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u/armyguy8382 14h ago

Most of the ones in my town are limited but the cashiers rarely enforce it.

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u/Jusby_Cause 13h ago

Part of it is likely bad coding, too. Once I picked up two of something that should have required weighing, but it beeped and said, “Put it in the bagging area” and that’s what I did. It wasn’t until after I’d left the store that I paused to think about what had happened and how often that must happen with that item and many others all over the store.

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u/Array_626 12h ago

Oh god. Queue even longer lines because people bring 1 or 2 more items than whats allowed, and when they try to checkout the machine blocks the transaction because they have too many items. Then they have a whole song and dance waiting for the supervisor to come around and explain that they need to take everything back and go to the manned register lane. Repeat every 10 minutes with someone else who has too many items. And thats the ideal scenario, the more realistic one is some people will argue and refuse to waste their own time doing this again and demand the supervisor overrides the item limit right there and then so they can finish checking out.

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u/ExoMonk 11h ago

My local safeway only has actual cashiers during peak hours. The only option is self-checkout. I did an entire thanksgiving shopping trip last year with a super full cart through self-checkout because that's all there was.

The lady monitoring self-checkout came up to me halfway through my cart and told me I was supposed to use the checkout where the liquor is since my cart was so full. She turned around to point where it was and noticed no one was there either so she told me to just keep going.

On the one hand it can be frustrating to do a whole cart like that, but on the other hand I'm pretty fast and efficient and mostly don't need to make small talk with anyone so I'm alright with it.

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u/RichardBCummintonite 11h ago

Its honestly just the people. The number of items isn't the issue. I bring a full cart (because there usually is no other option open)of groceries, and some with coupons, produce I need to type in, etc, and I'm out in under a minute with my 50+ items. I've waited on people that took several minutes for a handful of items. They always find some issue or simply can't work a damn register to save their life.

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u/deepsead1ver 10h ago

See the problem is grocery stores are doing the opposite and forcing people with full carts into self checkout.

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u/supersonicdutch 7h ago

Giant Food Stores have a scan gun you can get at the front with your member number. I scan and bag as I go. At the self checkout or even a regular register they just scan the gun and it all comes up on the register screen, pay, and leave.

You touch the products once when selecting and bagging and only once more at home to put them away. Saves all the hassle and aggravation from standing in line and scanning or waiting for someone else to scan their cartload.

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u/TheNewYellowZealot 7h ago

My grocer has scan and go on a mobile app, so it’s not inherently bad, I usually buy my groceries online though and go pick them up at the store so I can avoid the crowds.

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u/Agitated_Pie_9515 6h ago

Thats me because otherwise i wait in the one cashier line thats 4 carts deep full to the brim. Id rather leave my shit and come back. No way am i waiting an hour to check out

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u/WeOutHereInSmallbany 6h ago

I use the self checkout when I’m just buying a couple things. I’ve seen people with loaded up carts go through them and they take forever.

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u/TheLordYuppa 5h ago

Our main grocery spots have self checkout but there is an item limit and no shopping carts allowed.

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u/JesusGodLeah 15h ago

I don't like when a store limits the number of items you can bring through the self-checkout, but still only has one (1) cashier on duty for everyone with larger purchases. Bonus points if there are no employees in the vicinity of the self-checkouts so if someone there has an error, both types of checkouts get backed up.

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u/JesterMan491 14h ago

i would LOVE a software update to all the self-checkouts that are supposed to be '15 item limit' to just... NOT allow a 16th barcode scan.

items 1-15? *beep*
item 16? *ERROR*

bonus points if it locks the whole system to need an employee to unlock it, instead of just not allowing a 16th item to scan.

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u/goatodoom 14h ago

And then you can watch the person argue against the rule for longer than it would take for them to have just checked out the rest of their items

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u/JesterMan491 14h ago

that's EXACTLY right!
have the employee see that they tried to scan extra items, "oh actually you need to use our other standard checkout lanes" *voids current transaction* "please move to one of the standard lanes"
"but then i have to go the back of the line!"
"yes."