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'It hasn't delivered': The spectacular failure of self-checkout technology (www.bbc.com)
submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/technology
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[–] [email protected] 42 points 7 months ago (4 children)

Silly fluff piece.

Self-check out is there by customer demand. People suck to interact with, even underpaid, underappreciated people who are being asked to stand all day and deal with shitty customers.

Shareholders were promised other savings on pure speculation, and didn't get it.

Yes, CEOs and shareholders, you get to pay for the machine, then pay someone to maintain it, and pay someone to watch it, and pay someone to help me when I can't work it.

In return, you get one more day of staying in business.

Suck it up, buttercup. Self checkout is here to stay.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I’ve seen several of these articles over the past few months. Someone is pushing hard to make self checkout seem bad. If it wasn’t for self checkout I’d absolutely hate the grocery store. Lines fucking suck. Self checkout is a more efficient line because it usually feeds many machines, rather than being 1-1. Not only that but I can do self checkout in about half the time it takes any normal cashier to check me out. I know exactly the stuff I picked up, exactly the way I want it in bags, and exactly the order I need to do things in.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (4 children)

But you get lines with self checkout. Longer often because customers are slower than clerks.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago (1 children)

But statistically, there will still be a shorter average wait. If there's a slow customer on one machine, the line only slows slightly as the other five machines are still moving along as usual. And people tend to use the self-checkout when they have fewer items (generally), which means less wait per person.

Even if you have lots of slow customers, the wait will generally not be any longer. If the wait is longer than the staffed checkout, some people will move over and the line self-regulates. And even if it doesn't, there are still lots of slow/chatty checkout staff (at least where I live), so I don't think they're any faster.

Unless you go to Aldi. Those people mean business.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Last time I was at a store there wasn't even a staffed checkout. Unsure what they do if someone needs one.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

In my case they end up paying several employees to put the stuff back on the shelf from the cart I left behind and probably throw out some meat/frozen products.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

That may be the case, but how often before self checkout became available did you go to the store and of the 15 check out lanes there were maybe one or two open.

That's the massive difference. With self checkout there will be as many as 12 machines running simultaneously which means that everybody gets out of there so much faster

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

These are just my personal observations, but I hardly ever see staffed checkout without a line. I hardly ever see self checkout with a line.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

you get shorter lines with self-checkout. 2 cashiers can checkout 2 people at a time, while 2 self-checkout attendants can oversee a dozen checkout stations

[–] [email protected] 10 points 7 months ago (4 children)

I have a strong dislike for self checkout. I don’t want to figure out the code for the onions I am trying to buy and weigh them out or the type of apple or carrots. It’s fine if it’s just scan items but anytime I have something without a barcode I stand in line and wait for a cashier. I feel like they are trying to get me to do the work of staff without any discount on price for doing it.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago

Easy, unless an employee is actively hovering over you, everything is bananas. The code is 4011.

[–] xenspidey 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Really? All the produce I deal with have a numerical code, or you can search by picture, or search by keyword. pretty simple. Self checkout is so much more efficient. I hate it when i have a full cart and can't justify the self-checkout line. We need phone barcode checkout like Sam's club for everything.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (2 children)

I always just pick up the portable self scanner and scan items as I put them in my cart. By the time I get to self checkout everything is scanned and I just pay. Pretty much every major grocery chain in my area (Netherlands) does that, it's not common where you live?

[–] xenspidey 2 points 7 months ago

The only self scanning store I know of is Sam's club (large bulk type store). I also believe Walmart is changing to that as well (same parent company). Unions here in the US are trying to stop self-checkout wherever they can.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Different cultures, different features. Some places in Denmark have that, where you can just scan and pay with your phone and just leave. Never seen security in a supermarket and the most you have to do is show the cashier that the phone screen is green (meaning you paid).

In Romania, there are the cart & self scan checkouts, but there are also checkouts where you put your stuff in the cart, then an employee scans them like usual, then you go and pay for your stuff at a machine. Both are watched, with security.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago

I hate that attitude of "trying to get the customer to do the employee's work".

But, then my perception of self checkout machines is the same as speedy checkout/X# items or less checkouts. If I have a handful of items, like one large reusable grocery bag or so, I much prefer to check myself out. (Even if I have items with a code or a coupon that needs employee verification.)

If I have a large shopping trip, I'll use the checkout lanes with a cashier.

Though I do find it aggrevating when a company tries to replace all checkout lanes with self checkout (I've been on both sides of that, as a customer and as a front end supervisor, and it sucks). Self checkout should be an option for customers, and they can choose between a speedier experience "doing the work" themself, or waiting in line for a cashier.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

I don’t want to figure out the code for the onions I am trying to buy and weigh them out or the type of apple or carrots. It’s fine if it’s just scan items but anytime I have something without a barcode I stand in line and wait for a cashier.

I won't change your preferences, but for me it seems more natural for buying stuff in bulk, like vegs, candies.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Yay! We do the labor but don't get a discount for doing so. I love free market economy!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

I mean, I don't think staffed checkout is going anywhere either.

This article feels like shareholders complaining that they have to provide both options to customers. Boo hoo for them, haha.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

It's not an all or nothing proposition. Self checkout has it's place and I prefer it if I've got an armload of stuff and I want to get out quick. I refused to go through a self checkout if I've got a grocery cart full of stuff. I have walked out of the store leaving a cart full of $400 worth of groceries due to them having no manned checkout stations before and I will do it again in the same situation.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Maybe you can take a peek at the checkout situation before you fill up your cart

[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I don't mind self checkout. I like that it's usually one line that feeds into all the machines instead of one line per machine.

I'm really not a fan of groceries that have one line per register. I don't want to eyeball 10 registers and try to figure out which one is faster. I don't want to be stuck behind the guy arguing over the price. Just have one line that feeds into all the registers. Trader Joe's does it and it's fine. The self checkouts do it and it's fine.

I think some people see one big line going into many registers and think it's much slower than many small lines. Those people probably think the tall glass has more water in it, too.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago

Just have one line that feeds into all the registers. Trader Joe’s does it and it’s fine. The self checkouts do it and it’s fine.

Agree

[–] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago

It's a common sight at many retail stores: a queue of people, waiting to use a self-checkout kiosk, doing their best to remain patient as a lone store worker attends to multiple malfunctioning machines. The frustration mounts while a dozen darkened, roped-off and cashier-less tills sit in the background.

But is it really?

In a 2021 survey of 1,000 American shoppers, 60% of consumers said they prefer to use self-checkout over a staffed checkout aisle when given the choice, yet 67% of consumers have had the technology fail while trying to use it.

So this data is already 3 years old? Also, what percentage of consumers have had other tech failures while trying to checkout with a human? I don't know how many times I've had credit card readers not work for a variety of reasons....

However ubiquitous the technology is, and however much consumers get used to using the kiosks, shoppers are likely to find themselves disappointed and frustrated most of the time.

Most of the time? And this is backed up with...what?

This "article" cites a lot of "expert" opinions without much data to corroborate.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

if self checkout wasn't shit and required a balance just to prove that i'm not gonna rob or any justification i could totally use

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago

Self check out isn't going anywhere.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

bad article written by inept radlib PMC karen. this reads like it could have been written by any short-fused, airheaded american who yells at the self-checkout attendant bc they dont understand technology. they blame the machine or the employees for something 90%+ of the customers are able to figure out. this vocal minority of abusive customers should be shot and their small businesses should be redistributed to their employees who also suffer their entitled tantrums

the real reason this article was written is this line:

retailers utilising self-checkout technology have loss rates more than twice the industry average

its easier to steal when using these machines. and even tho retailers are probably saving money by hiring less employees despite increased shrinkage, they hate that people are getting stuff for free. they hate that app slaves and other downtrodden workers can get their ketchup for free instead of working 15 minutes to be able to afford sugared tomato paste.

these machines are easy to use. nobody but the most inept (who are also wealthy and have a sociopathic sense of entitlement) complain abt this. and dont try to claim its harder for ppl with disabilities, bc its not. its easier for ppl w disabilities bc there are less ppl in the cashier lines

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

I love self checkout. The fewer people I have to interact with, the better. I only wish the landing areas were larger so I could use them with a full cart.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

If we're doing the work of checking things out we should get a discount for the purchases

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Or just enjoy the faster check out process

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (2 children)

It’s not faster. I don’t know the numbers for every single vegetable I buy, and even if they’re on the sticker, looking at them and using the touchscreen is slow. When the clerk does it, they know all the numbers and it’s way faster.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

I bet in 5 next years, self-checkout registers will be equipped with neural networks allowing them to recognize product standing on it based on camera input and weight, either allowing you to pick between items it thinks it is, or entering it manually. There is already technology allowing for that, it just needs time to be developed into it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

That's a problem with the specific machines you have access to. Where I live, I just pick the vegetable/fruit/whatever by picture. I don't have to put any number in, other than how many of that item I bought.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

By picture? Dude you have to scroll through like 10 pages of produce where I live, and there’s organic/regular varieties for each, or regular broccoli vs fractal whatever broccoli vs broccolini etc etc etc. that takes even longer than putting in the number.

A professional cashier is faster because they know the codes. I’m happy to pay them for their skill and professionalism. It’s skilled labor and nobody will convince me otherwise.