I went to Walmart today

[BR46]

Our Walmart has closed all the self checkouts and has real people working checkout lines. 

[Randomguy]

Yay!

[JerrySTL ★]

An experiment gone wrong.

There was so much theft that a local grocery chain made self checkout only for 10 items or less.

[Airehead]

Interesting

[Kzoo]

I like my self-checkout lanes.

[maddmaxx ★]

58 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

I like my self-checkout lanes.

So does RE

[maddmaxx ★]

59 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

I like my self-checkout lanes.

You are probably honest deep down.

[Razors Edge ★]

12 hours ago, maddmaxx said:

So does RE

I like USING them, as I am generally far more efficient at scanning & paying than your average Joe/Jane on the cash register.  And generally no lines in the self-serve lines.  I'll actually be happy once the "no checkout needed" concept arrives that was promised by Amazon stores almost a decade ago.  Damn Bezos slow rolling things!

[Randomguy]

14 hours ago, Kzoo said:

I like my self-checkout lanes.

Yeah, I hope they go away entirely, they objectively suck.

[PissedOffLaxDude]

16 hours ago, Randomguy said:

Yay!

Agreed.  Home Depot is reportedly closing all of their self-checkouts as well.

[Razors Edge ★]

7 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

Yeah, I hope they go away entirely, they objectively suck.

Cashier lanes? For sure.  Sort of one of those situations where technology is going to replace things, but the kinks are far from worked out.

Something like RFID would help across the board in a grocery story (or most stores) freeing up employees to wander the store and help customers rather than be planted in one place where there is no real need for them to be.

[Razors Edge ★]

11 minutes ago, PissedOffLaxDude said:

Agreed.  Home Depot is reportedly closing all of their self-checkouts as well.

This is how you come back??? Come on!  We want more and a quick recap of how things are.

[Randomguy]

22 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

This is how you come back??? Come on!  We want more and a quick recap of how things are.

No, let him slide back in on the down-low if he he likes, I am just happy he is saying hi!

Are you in the Paris of Ohio still?

[PissedOffLaxDude]

2 hours ago, Randomguy said:

No, let him slide back in on the down-low if he he likes, I am just happy he is saying hi!

Are you in the Paris of Ohio still?

It's good to see so many familiar names.  

I'm still in the Paris of Ohio.

@Razors Edge Well you know me, a good Wal Mart discussion seemed an appropriate way to say howdy.

Not too much to report, I'm older, kids are older and I'm still dumb enough to say my wife is older too; I've got one headed to college in the fall to play some lacrosse and study biology.  I'm still riding when I can, actually picked up a new Trek Fuel EX 7 a couple of years ago, still playing lacrosse, picked up playing guitar and much like with cycling, I'm suffering from Gear Addiction Syndrome (GAS).  

I hope y'all are doing well.

[Kzoo]

17 hours ago, maddmaxx said:

You are probably honest deep down.

The self-checkout at my LGS is pretty tough to steal from.  When you scan an item it knows the weight and if you put something on the shelf or in the bag without scanning, you get a warning message.  If you don't lift the item out of the bag and scan within a few seconds, your machine locks until help comes.  If you hit the pay button with something left in the cart (each has an overhead camera) a similar thing happens.  There are 12 machines in a coral with 3 'helpers' there.  My LGS has 2 corals of self-checkout machines on each end of about 24 most unused manned checkout lanes.

[Mr. Silly]

 

Self-checkout is great if you just have a couple items, or if you want to steal stuff.  Any other time, the cashier with a conveyor belt is the way to go.

My Kroger has added a 3rd option, it is a self-checkout with a conveyor belt.  The theory is that there isn't enough room to self-checkout a week’s worth of groceries.   Put the belt there then there is plenty of room.  The problem is that it takes twice as long to check yourself out with this setup.  First you have to scan everything then you have to bag.  With the traditional cashier, there is a bagger (or the customer) so the two activities can get done at the same time.  It really takes two people to efficiently check out a week’s worth of groceries.  The new fangled setup is the worst of both worlds.

 

[MickinMD ★]

21 hours ago, BR46 said:

Our Walmart has closed all the self checkouts and has real people working checkout lines. 

There are two large checkouts on each end of the checkout area.  It's faster because there are fewer live cashiers so I use them.

Additionally, now that we have to pay 20 cents per shopping bag, it's easier for me to check myself out.

[Razors Edge ★]

1 hour ago, Mr. Silly said:

if you want to steal stuff. 

A reason Walmart and others are reconsidering self-checkout.

[Randomguy]

21 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

A reason Walmart and others are reconsidering self-checkout.

Yeah, there is that.  

Also, when I went to a LGS a few nights back a bit later, only the self checkouts were open.  Mine required interaction for EACH item I scanned, it was a pain in the ass.  I only had like six items, I was feeling pretty pissy about the pain in the ass factor.

[jsharr ★]

I watched a documentary recently where two young men shoplifted a can of tuna and almost got the death penalty.  The Sack O Suds did not have self check out.  So neither system is perfect. 

[Mr. Silly]

27 minutes ago, jsharr said:

I watched a documentary recently where two young men shoplifted a can of tuna and almost got the death penalty.  The Sack O Suds did not have self check out.  So neither system is perfect. 

Wasn't a Frankenstein monster the judge in that case?  

[jsharr ★]

3 minutes ago, Mr. Silly said:

Wasn't a Frankenstein monster the judge in that case?  

I think he was just your average father / judge guy who happened to live in a haunted mansion and drove an old Packard that looks like a hearse.  

[Randomguy]

2 minutes ago, Mr. Silly said:

Wasn't a Frankenstein monster the judge in that case?  

I have to admit that I feel pretty bad when I read articles about people stealing diapers and formula.  How desperate do you have to be to try and shoplift unshopliftable items like diapers?   Rhetorical, but really frickin' desperate, like we are living in a third-world cesspool and nobody gives a damn.

[jsharr ★]

2 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

I have to admit that I feel pretty bad when I read articles about people stealing diapers and formula.  How desperate do you have to be to try and shoplift unshopliftable items like diapers?   Rhetorical, but really frickin' desperate, like we are living in a third-world cesspool and nobody gives a damn.

I just go there a change my depends in the dressing room several times per day.

[Longjohn ★]

23 hours ago, Kzoo said:

I like my self-checkout lanes.

Two for you and one for me.

[Razors Edge ★]

On 3/26/2024 at 9:49 AM, Razors Edge said:

I like USING them, as I am generally far more efficient at scanning & paying than your average Joe/Jane on the cash register.  And generally no lines in the self-serve lines.  I'll actually be happy once the "no checkout needed" concept arrives that was promised by Amazon stores almost a decade ago.  Damn Bezos slow rolling things!

And now an update! I liked it better when Bezos was CEO   Bigger and ballsier!

 

Amazon will remove its “Just Walk Out” technology at Amazon Fresh grocery stores in the U.S., which charged shoppers automatically without a cashier. 

Amazon Fresh stores will instead use Dash Carts, which allows customers to use their carts to scan items while shopping, according to a company spokesperson. The Dash Cart technology, which is already used in some Fresh stores, doesn’t require shoppers to interact with a cashier.  

Major retailers have been weighing how to best handle checkout at their stores. Some have adopted various forms of self-checkout—which can be unpopular among shoppers—only to ditch them years later. Last month, the discount retailer Five Below said it would limit self-checkouts to curb theft.

 

The “Just Walk Out” system, which relies on cameras and shelf sensors, was a major innovation in checkout technology when it made its debut years ago. The technology charges shoppers via a smartphone app once they leave the store, a method that was parodied in a 2022 “Saturday Night Live” sketch. 

There are currently 44 Amazon Fresh stores in the U.S., 27 of which use the “Just Walk Out” technology, the company said. The decision to remove the technology was earlier reported by The Information.

It will still be used at the convenience-store style Amazon Go locations, as well as at smaller Amazon Fresh stores in the U.K. and some third-party retailers. 

Amazon also said it would install self-checkout kiosks and continue to offer assisted checkout. 

In addition to its own bricks-and-mortar locations, the e-commerce giant owns the supermarket chain Whole Foods Market, which it bought for more than $13 billion in 2017.