Grocery stores and self check-out

sarahpanda · ‎03-11-2010

I know I don't get out much - but ....are grocery store 'self check outs' going to take over? I was in a major chain type grocery store this morning around 10 a.m., haven't been there in a long time to that particular store - and I had about 10 or 12 things in my cart . When I got up front to pay, I looked around and there was no cashier ! The only way to purchase your items was by the 'self check out'. I asked the attendant close by if there was a register open somewhere, maybe I'd just missed seeing it...but she said no, we don't have a register running right now, just self check out. Well,the devil got in me, I know ! I just smiled and told her I wouldn't be purchasing anything, left the buggy with her and went on my merry way. Is this the way of the world now?

Love my grandkids · ‎11-24-2013

@sarahpanda My local Safeway always has 1 or 2 registers open, more if busy. They have 6 self checks and if someone needs help there is an employee right there who will assist the person and do it for them or help them with it.

Your store may differ.

Group 5 minus 1 · ‎03-11-2010

We used to hate those,but now we love them. Always someone to help if there is an error and it goes quickly.

Sage04 · ‎07-10-2011

@sarahpanda you did what was best for you, but at the same time you could have asked her to help you.

I heard that a few supermarkets are planning to use self check outs only. But that does not mean that anyone will lose there jobs. Those that I frequent always have employees hanging around in case they are needed.

I prefer self checkout. Two less people handling my groceries. The Checker and the bagger.

docsgirl · ‎03-09-2010

Our local grocery stores have both. We have a small family owned chain and they refuse to have self check-out. They said they want to keep people employed. Also, they want their customers to continue to experience face to face contact when they shop and check out. I will now only shop there.

Love my grandkids · ‎11-24-2013

@sarahpanda Your behavior remids me of the saying "Cut off your nose to spite your face." So you left without your items. Why not just ASK for assistance instead of behaving like that?

on the bay · ‎03-09-2010

I like them now more than a cashier checking out.

I can take my time and pack things like I want. I like that they won't be too heavy as when I say don't pack too heavy to a cashier that can mean many different things to many people.

There is always someone to help and once you get used to it, it is pretty nice.

The only time I would rather have a cashier is if I'm super tired and there is no butler to put the groceries away lol!!

"If you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you'll learn things you never knew. Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains? can you paint with all the colors of the wind?"

781Florist · ‎10-16-2021

@sarahpanda I would have done the exact same thing. I left a Home Depot once (was only impulse buying a door mat they were featuring) and there were no cashiers at all. Just some self checkouts.

There is a supermarket in my town that reduced the number of cashiered checkouts by half and expanded the self checkouts.

This does seem to be the way it is eventually going to be.

millieshops · ‎03-09-2010

@sarahpanda It feels as if the answer is yes and no! In some chains or even in some stores within a chain, there are very few cashiers. What those stores have done in my arrea is station someone in the self-serve area to help and to quickly solve problems.

I'm not optimistic we're going back to total cashier checkout in our area. We're already at what is called full employment, so there are more jobs available than there are people to fill them. Supermarkets have always run on one of the lowest profit margins in business, and cashiers earn more than minimum wage, I think. I don't love self checkout, but as long as there are helpers nearby I manage.

The Publix closest to my home, carrently the oldest and smallest of the six easiest to get to, is going to close down after the New Year to enlarge and remodel. That makes me more unhappy than doing self-checkout. I'll miss being able to stop in for a very few items, something I've gone back to now that Covid seems to be more under control.