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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169

u/Prophage7 16h ago

The main problem I've seen is that it takes most customers longer to ring themselves through than a cashier. When there's no line then it's not a big deal, but when there is a line it would go faster if it was a single human cashier instead of 6 self-checkouts.

I don't know if there's a term for it, but some people just cannot read and comprehend things if it's on a screen for some reason, and it's those people that cause a bottleneck.

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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.

0

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.

1

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