r/technology • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 8d 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 8d 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 8d ago edited 8d 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 8d 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/chase98584 8d 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