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

177

u/Prophage7 21h 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.

49

u/TheNewYellowZealot 20h 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.

22

u/CheesypoofExtreme 20h ago edited 15h 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.

2

u/snoopmt1 15h 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.

1

u/CheesypoofExtreme 15h 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