Grocery self-checkout

My Wal Mart has it. Scan and go also in fact.

Just used the new Sam’s Club express exit last week, and that was pretty damn impressive. If you use scan and go (which I do always), you complete your checkout on the app. Then you exit through an “arch”, which I presumes scans the items in your cart and matches them to your checkout. An employee is on the other side and gets basically a green light / red light indicator, and just told me “you’re good!” That was it. Couldn’t have been easier or quicker.

My Walmart has it. But all the “ethnic” products are locked up, which was the main source of theft.

OP lives with poor people, because those are the only places with shoppers who cannot be trusted. Some shithole in a blue city or some shithole in a red rural county most likely. Either place is full of addicts and checkout girls.

The rest of us get self-checkouts.

A retail manager told me the companies make a profit from self checkout even with theft - the money they save on staffing costs more than compensates people scanning though 2 cheap items when the second item is very expensive. And a lot of expensive items are now tagged.

The self checkout kiosks are super calibrated to the weight of the item you are scanning. If there is a mismatch a red light goes off and the employee comes over. Not even sure how you would shoplift something easily that way. I mean, you can just flat out steal and leave the store with something you didn’t pay for, but the self checkout wouldn’t have been what facilitated that.

Scan and go, I can totally see being a problem. And Sam’s really seems to have a plan to address that.

But I don’t really correlate self checkout with the rise in shoplifting.

My Walmart has self checkout. You have to print out a receipt and there's someone at the door to check it (or at least pretend to).

[quote]he self checkout kiosks are super calibrated to the weight of the item you are scanning. If there is a mismatch a red light goes off and the employee comes over. Not even sure how you would shoplift something easily that way.

Because there's usually only one member of staff manning all of the self serve machines and a lot of the time will just authorise it without checking.

Self-checkout in my area (eastern LA Co.) - Walmart, Target, Vons, Sprouts, Amazon Fresh

No self-checkout: Stater Bros., Aldi, Trader Joe's, Grocery Outlet

The thing that surprises me is that the DIY stores, such as Lowes and Home Depot, have almost only self-checkout while some grocery stores have moved away from it. There are so many high value items to be stolen at a DIY store.

Self-checkout is a form of union busting. Those cashier/clerk jobs (at least at most grocery stores) are union jobs with benefits and pensions. Installing self-checkout reduced the need for human clerks -and the money you spend on them. Since the grocery chains are making billions in profit, they are taking advantage of their workers and ultimately damaging the American economy.

R10 has a gas station attendant and travel agent.

Hate to burst your bubble, R11, but I've driven electric cars for over a decade (no Teslas). And a travel agent can be a very good thing to have. Mine saved me over $3,000 on my last trip!

Not all change is progress.

Okay. So only the advancements you enjoy are allowed. No we would for you.

I assume the big losses are from professional shoplifters, not regular customers.

Don't waste your time r12.

Maybe some Walmarts have gotten rid of it, likely stores that had a large theft problem from the self checkouts, but mos of them still have it.

R15. I know you're right, of course. There is no use arguing with Luddites---they're on the lowest rung of the intellectual ladder---but they are infuriating.

Despairing of sacrificing living wages and decent jobs so employers can up their already-obscene profit margins has nothing to do with embracing or rejecting technology. Call me a socialist, not a Luddite!

[quote]The thing that surprises me is that the DIY stores, such as Lowes and Home Depot, have almost only self-checkout while some grocery stores have moved away from it. There are so many high value items to be stolen at a DIY store.

The demographics who shop at home improvement stores (ie, homeowners) aren’t the typical retail shoplifters.

Hate IT

It’s always fucking up things and staff have to come over and void something any way. Hire a god damned teen to check the groceries

I love using self check out. I think the people that complain, dislike or won't use it, are people that have never figured out how to scan an item properly. I guess it's another way of saying a lot of people are just plain old dipshits.

[quote]Self-checkout is a form of union busting. Those cashier/clerk jobs (at least at most grocery stores) are union jobs with benefits and pensions. Installing self-checkout reduced the need for human clerks -and the money you spend on them. Since the grocery chains are making billions in profit, they are taking advantage of their workers and ultimately damaging the American economy.

Are you posting from 1965? Only the legacy major grocery chains (Kroger, Albertsons, etc.) are unionized, and many of their locations are not.

Walmart, Target, Trader Joe's, Aldi, and the majority of ethnic markets want nothing to do with unions.

Self-checkout is rumored to not be delivering as great of cost savings as expected.

In addition to increased theft, there are apparently additional costs that weren't factored into the original business case, including things like increased credit card transactions (even if Walmart gets transaction processing at interchange + a small amount other retailers do not), higher than expected maintenance costs on the checkout machines, more extensive inventory management requirements, lower customer satisfaction.

My impression is that most customers under 70 or so prefer self- checkout so it's hard for me to believe that customer dissatisfaction would drive the elimination of self checkout. People don't even remember gas station attendant any longer, for example.

Found this online as to how self service shoplifting is done. Sure seems like a lot of work to steal a steak! Slipping something in a purse sounds a LOT easier!

The banana trick

The banana trick is punching in a cheaper item’s code while weighing a heavier item. This shoplifting tactic gets its name from bananas being one of the cheapest fruits.

The process is pretty simple. The shoplifter places an expensive item on the scale, for example steak, and then keys in the code for a cheaper item, such as bananas.

The pass around

The pass around method works by simply transferring some items to the bagging area without scanning them. The shoplifter scans one item and then places it along with a second expensive item in a bag at the same time.

Most self checkout systems include scales to measure the weight of scanned items. However, the variance in weight of many common items at grocery stores means that it is still possible to trick the scale into thinking no extra weight has been added to the bag.

The switcheroo

The switcheroo is a new form of one of the oldest grocery store theft scams. When shopping, the shoplifter switches the barcode of an expensive item with that of a cheaper one.

Previously, it was performed by picking a similar looking item, for example changing the code of one type of meat for another. Now, because the main self checkout security measure is a scale, it’s more important to pick items that weigh a similar amount.

This opens up the possibility of much bigger price differences between the scanned item and real product, as it becomes possible to, for example, scan tenderloin as potatoes.

I find more frequent glitches with debit/credit cards with self checkout.

R12: on my last cruise, the airline kept mucking up my return itinerary while I was traveling. A massive headache for her, but my agent had something reasonable in place by the time I disembarked. My brother had his paid (not upgraded, nor points) first class seat downgraded to coach; travel agent got the fare difference refunded.

I have a pretty good experience at CVS but only because I still have a red card with a barcode for a membership called CarePass (or similar). It costs $5/month but they offer a $10/month credit. But to me the real advantage is (I think) scanning the card and being somehow recognized as a lower risk customer. I’ve never had a “Wait for Attendant “ message appear and I wonder if they have different security settings for registered consumers. I might be wrong, a sample size of 1 person here.

I remember now the CVS red card is called an Extra Care Card

Both the regular Walmart and the Walmart Store (for groceries) near me have self-checkout. You can only purchase a certain number of items using self-checkout, though. I know it's 20 at the grocery store.

In the regular store. there are quite a few areas that have locked shelves where you have to ring a buzzer to get an associate to give you the item. They started locking up more and more items in the health and beauty area, but that got to be a real pain in the butt, so I stopped buying those things there. I noticed last time I was in the store, they'd reversed course and removed many of the glass panels and locks for these items.

Target in West Hollywood had the self checkout registers blocked off for over a year. Finally removed them all together a couple of months ago.

5-10 years from now it's going to be humanoid robot things with forced chitchat addressing you by name and reminding you to sign up for their monthly rewards program

I mostly hate self-checkout. Uniglo is the only place I've been that has it figured out - you just dump your shit in the bin and it totals it for you. But the grocery store? It's a pain in the ass. I never have used it at a grocery store where someone didn't have to intervene. And, I like talking to the cashiers.

The CVS stores near my neighborhood all have 'self checkouts' and encourage everyone to use them. Probably because their employees are too busy running around the store 'unlocking' Plexiglas cases which keep the shaving cream, shampoo, razors, etc. 'nice and safe'.

If I just have a few things and the checkout lines are backed up (looking at you Vons), I love them. Don’t usually have any interventions when I use them - they seem to work well. Also, Sam’s Club Scan-N-Go is one of the best things to happen to retail in many years. It’s amazing.

But otherwise prefer a standard checkout.

[quote] I remember now the CVS red card is called an Extra Care Card

CVS ... the store where the cash register receipt is three feet long, because they think customers are going to read a bunch of shit on a narrow strip of paper about all their current deals and special offers.

A few years ago used Self-Check-Out at ShopRite on McDonald Avenue in Brooklyn. Noticed it was gone when I was there last week. When I questioned cashier, "too much fraud."

[quote] But the grocery store? It's a pain in the ass. I never have used it at a grocery store where someone didn't have to intervene. And, I like talking to the cashiers.

You’re in your 80s, right?

R36, some of CVS's "bunch of shit" includes $5 off Cash Rewards. Sure helps my budget.

R36 Living in the past I see. I haven’t even seen a paper receipt from CVS in years. I get them on email automatically.

I have never gone to Walmart, but I've never seen anything locked up at any grocery store or apothecary I visit.

[quote]some of CVS's "bunch of shit" includes $5 off Cash Rewards. Sure helps my budget.

So it's $5 OFF their jacked-up price, which brings the item you're purchasing down $5, to the MSRP which Walgreens, Target and Walmart have it priced at. They're not losing a cent on your purchase - it's the price it should have been sold at in the first place.

I skip scan at walmart all the time. I rip the off so fucking bad. I feel like Robin Hood. I'm white though and when I boost there I usually do it on the way home from work so I don't look "the type". So even if I were to get caught I'd play dumb and only have to pay for what I "forgot" to scan. You go in there as a fat black lady, acting loud, a shower cap on, ripped pants, and having a cart full of stuff, then yeah. They're going to profile you and watch you like a hawk.

Having things locked up just leads more people to shop online. You can get free store pickup at most places, and they'll bring it out to your card. No need to go inside at all. You can also order for home delivery -- Amazon has almost everything, often at better prices, and you get free shipping with Prime.

Yep, don’t want my money. Fine, I’ll shop in the nicer areas.

R43 Wow. Now that’s a post.

Yeah. Souch criminality and racism in a few sentences.

It wasn't racism it was reality. I'm agreeing with blacks that they're profiled.

Yeah. Fat black ladies with shower caps are profiling victims.

Someone answer me this, if they know three is massive fraud at the self check out, why aren't they catching it as it happens? When they do inventory and find out X number of items are missing how do they know it was stolen at the self check out instead of someone just putting in their handbag or coat?

R50 They probably don't. But they realized over the years that their shrinkage went up with the introduction of self-checkout, and therefore connect the two together. I'm sure once they started removing self-checkouts, they realized they have less shrinkage.

I think they did catch people red handed...I read a few reports where cops were called and the thieves were arrested (walmart)

I thought in CA if you steal less than $900 you're good to go.

There was a video on TikTok of an aisle in a chain drug store showing everything locked up except the sun screen.

R53 That was basically overturned when Prop 36 passed (by a wide margin - 68:32) last November.

Stores are moving (slowly) to RFID tags on all merchandise. Hopefully things will start to improve.

I shop at HEB, every time I go through self checkout, the cashier's are always a flamboyant gay and his fag hag gossiping and talking it up. They have no idea what is going on and seem annoyed that a customer needs help.

It's enduring.

[quote] I'm sure once they started removing self-checkouts, they realized they have less shrinkage.

They have already removed them in some stores, if they will realize it when they have removed them, they should have already removed them all, or maybe the stealing from self checkouts isn't any worse than other ways to steal.

I know that in Walgreens, certain products are locked in a clear plastic box where the cashier removes it with a key when you pay...in nyc

R55 I’d guess that technology like the Sam’s Club “exit arch” will arrive sooner. It’s really impressive to see, and no tagging of merchandise is needed.

R23, right , my complaint. Just like a ton of AI, the “innovation” is actually a drawback

R40 at CVS Self-Check Out, two options on screen for receipt -- Print and Email.

I shop at Whole Foods twice a week every week and I NEVER use the self scanners. I don't want to weigh and scan my produce because I don't work there.

Self checkout at grocery stores in rare in much of Europe. But you will not complain of loss of time. The checkout staff are efficient and very fucking fast. Inevitably they scan things much faster than the customer can toss them into a bag without any thought to what goes in what bag. They are lightning fast and pleasant. Post scan your groceries are diverted in many stores to one of three partitioned bagging areas -- in recognition of the fact that the customer will be bagging longer than the employee scans. If you ask for help bagging things, the clerk will gladly do, otherwise it's hands off, the customer's responsibility. It's much faster than either self-serve or cashier route in the US.

It’s almost like the stores don’t want people to steal and the customers don’t want to be their own clerk.

Right

[quote]Self checkout at grocery stores in rare in much of Europe.

This isn't true, r63. In some places in Europe, you can even scan your items as you pick them up from the shelves, before you even get to the checkout. In some places, there isn't even a checkout.

[quote] It’s almost like the stores don’t want people to steal and the customers don’t want to be their own clerk.

I think it’s overwhelmingly the former. Almost every retail establishment offers both options, and the self-check-out lines attract most of the customers. Most people under 70 don’t wHr to wait in line or have the forced interaction with the clerk.

yeah, I've shopped in Europe where you can scan your stuff in the shopping cart.

forced interaction with the clerk?

Asocial? Antisocial?

If I have a few items, self check out is so much faster, but if I have a cart full of groceries, then I will go through a cashier

I miss how the bag boys would walk you out and you can grab their ass if you tipped well enough

[quote] forced interaction with the clerk? Asocial? Antisocial?

R69 considers talking to a paid employees social. Lonely? Shunned?

Do you speak to anyone at all r72? Texting doesn't count.

[quote]It wasn't racism it was reality. I'm agreeing with blacks that they're profiled.

The biggest shoplifters are white teens and suburban white moms. While the stores are busy following around black people, those white teens and suburban white moms are robbing them blind. It's been this way forever. I'm not saying that black people don't shoplift, but because they're watched so closely, it's not that easy.

Yes. I talk to a lot of people. But I'm glad I can get gasoline these days without having a forced conversation with a person who is paid to be friendly to me. I'm glad I can book a flight without having a conversation with a travel agent. Do you miss the days when the clerks not only totaled the bill but had to get the goods from the shelf for you? That would provide for really long conversations.

[quote]In some places in Europe, you can even scan your items as you pick them up from the shelves, before you even get to the checkout. In some places, there isn't even a checkout.

My oversight R66 in ignoring the scan as you shop method. It's making headway where I live, with indications it may advance quickly, but it's still far from commonplace in this country. It has the advantage of bagging things in a sensible way as you go. I know it's more common in sone other countries. I was focused entirely on the checkout lines and it didn't cross my mind.

I actually hate self checkout. I much prefer places like Trader Joe’s who staff and system are completely efficient. You don’t save as much time as you think with self checkout and you have to bag your own groceries.

And if I'm buying wine or beer I have to wait for a clerk to come by and verify my age. No, they take one look and know.

R78 CA bans all liquor through self service checkout in any form. Dates back to when all the grocers here teamed up to get that legislation passed to obstruct Fresh & Easy (Tesco)’s entry into the market since wine and beer and self checkout were a huge part of their business model. It worked as they went belly up fast. But we’re still stuck with the law.

Interesting, R79, as I make a point of including my gray-bearded mug in the camera when I buy wine at Aldi self-checkout.

Fresh and Easy? Wasn’t that around for only a couple of years?

Sam's Club and Walmart (but only if you have Walmart+) let you "scan and go." You scan the barcodes of everything before you put it in your cart, and then just walk out.

Amazon Fresh tried the "Just Walk Out" concept and spent hundreds of millions of dollars on it before dumping it. It relied on cameras watching what you put in your cart. Now they just use the Dash cart, which is similar to Scan & Go but you don't need your phone.

R81 That’s the point. Fresh & Easy was owned by Tesco, and this was their big entry into the U.S. They wanted to come in and be all about beer and wine, “Trader Joe” light, and limited employee footprint with everything being self checkout. Even every produce item was individually wrapped and labeled for self checkout.

The big CA grocers saw a threat. So they pushed a bill through Sacramento to ban alcohol sales through self checkout in any form.

It worked. Fresh & Easy imploded quickly in a big way. Similar to Target in Canada.

R83 Interesting. It’s funny because in Cali you can buy alcohol literally anywhere seems like. Not just beer either, most 7-11s sell hard liquor.

R84 Totally. I can buy a whiskey mini at my gas station while filling up, or at the dive bar by my house at 6am on a Sunday, but self serve checkout is a no go.

Gotta love California.

“Jack, you’re not going to believe it. Rosario left me dry and I had to get more gin. They made me ring it up myself. Honey, do I look like I work retail?”

Depends on my mood. If I have a lot of shit, I go to the old fashioned checkout. I'm not bagging a basket full of stuff.

I dislike looking up the code on produce items.

I don't think self-checkout is for a basket full of groceries. It's the new 10 items or less line.

Nothing worse than getting behind some frau with a CART FULL at the self-checkout.

Well, I can think of a lot things which are worse, but that's up there.

I’m not waiting in a line.

Disabled folks like me need cashiers. I’ve taken my stuff to customer service and had them ring it up when there are no cashiers on register. It’s an ADA requirement.

Customer service has been okay with a couple of items I've found. Self-service at Publix is rarely a cartful, folks picking up a sandwich and/or drink at lunch use it often. Aldi is another story as mine has one staffed lane and five self-service machines, so yeah, full carts have little choice often. Aldi has a quirk/glitch where gift cards are considered "cash" that machines can't accept.

[quote]I’m not waiting in a line.

Does this stem from not being chosen as a line leader in 1st grade? How does one get through life without having to wait in line sometimes?

R94 The problem is not the line. The problem are the cunts who want to small talk with the cashier. NYC is the only city who knows how to multitask apparently. And no I’m not the poster who made that remark about lines.

Stores threatened to end self checkout here, but our minimum wage is too high and there aren't enough adequately skilled workers to pick up the slack, so it never happened. Target did close self checkout in the mornings for a couple months, but this led to people using the pharmacy to check out purchases, and people abandoning carts at the closed self checkout area and the too-long staffed line. Walmart would never stop self checkout, because they never have more than 1 or 2 cashier lanes open. By this time last year, we all heard that there is no evidence that shrinkage is caused by self checkout fraud, but rather caused by employee theft and poor inventory management.

Related story: I have a neighbor a block away who was very friendly, wanted a date or a fuck or something and I was thinking about it. Until one morning I was in line at TargetCVS to pick up a prescription. And he sidled up to the pharmacy counter, cutting the line, with a few non-pharmacy items in his arms, and asked them to check them out, which they did, except for the apples because they don't have a produce scale, and he left the apples at the pharmacy. This self-centered behavior led me to decline further advances.

R55, that won’t do anything. Employees are told not to get involved.

[quote]I have never gone to Walmart, but I've never seen anything locked up at any grocery store or apothecary I visit.

What area do you live in?

R92, what’s your disability?

R89, it varies per store. Most are self-checkout period.

The Walmart near me still has it and they are pushing it HARD. So I am not sure your premise holds, OP.

[quote]The biggest shoplifters are white teens and suburban white moms.

Whatever you say, Wokelina.

The Home Depot near me expanded their self checkouts, but they hover over you while you're scanning I guess to make sure you're not stealing.

R193 That’s actually fact. I’m not talking about strong robberies or even theft(carjackings, theft with battery). Shoplifting is a specific type of theft in which one discreetly takes shit under the presumption that they are not being noticed. All stats reveal that demographic stated by that poster are the biggest shoplifters. Now whether they get caught or prosecuted is another thing.

Self-check out is just another way to eliminate more employees. I almost never use them, unless there is a very long line at the regular check-out and I'm in a hurry.

R105. Do you feel guilty every time you pump your own gas, book your own flights, use a washing machine, wore machine-woven clothes, read a newspaper online......?

r82 Just Walk Out is still being used. New and rapidly growing charge point operator, IONNA, will be implementing Amazon's tech in a number of it's so called "Rechargeries."

People who shop at Aldi are upstanding citizens and people who shop at Walmart are white trash. Explains the difference in loss rates between them.

R98 Either they're from Pretenious Ville, MD or I'm A Rich Asshole, DE

I just read an article that some items in Walmart has invisible price codes right in the middle of items. So it scans

New tech!

R110 huh?

Walmart uses a hidden trick to catch shoplifting and ‘skip scanning’ — here’s how

How it works is that bar codes are hidden so self-checkout scanners can recognize products even when customers aren’t aiming directly at the traditional barcode — making theft harder, since traditionally it’s easy for people to skip scanning at item at self-checkout registers.

The tech was developed by barcode company Digimarc and has been around for five years

Only cunts really use it

Enough people did not use it so they were not saving on personnel. Aldis here has no self checkout. The poor staff has to stack and checkout back and forth.

I refuse to use it. Every single time I tried anywhere it screwed up. Before I even thought about the decrease real people workers aspect.

[quote]very single time I tried anywhere it screwed up.

Sounds like user error.

But I always try to go to get my groceries checked out by a human. I like to think it helps keep them employed. When I was in HS, I worked as a cashier (where you had to push the keys down) and was a member of the union.

I’m just glad the ones I’ve encountered don’t weight the bagging area are you scan an item. Not everyone wants to put a case of pop there but rather they throw it back into the cart.

When* not are

it's awful coz when you buy beer, you have to wait for them to come check your ID

R119 *hic*

RFID tags? Well if they have the time to do that, they can put price stickers on everything then. I’m sick of trying to find the price of two similar products by hunting for the tags stuck on the shelves. I was looking at a deli case of ready made meals and you had to guess which ones were $6 and which ones were $10 or $12.

I also pay attention to cost per ounce or whatever because the giant economy size isn’t always cheaper than the normal size. It’s supermarket jujitsu.