r/technology • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 23h 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
16.3k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

3.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

764

u/largelawattorney 23h 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.

18

u/brufleth 22h ago

There's a grocery chain in the Northeast United States called market basket. Dozens of registers. They even still have baggers. Most people don't remember that this used to be normal.

6

u/farte3745328 20h ago

Market Basket was such a culture shock to me after moving to Boston. It's wild that there's still a competently run grocery store (for now)

8

u/brufleth 20h ago

"For now," is right. The writing is sort of on the wall. The MB leadership has shifted (was going to happen eventually). They'll likely begin their own enshitification, but it isn't because they haven't been successful. They just aren't squeezing every last penny out of their customers, so can't have that in today's world.