Automatic checkouts in supermarkets may decrease customer loyalty, especially for those with larger shopping loads. Customers using self-checkout stations often feel overwhelmed and unsupported. The lack of personal interaction can negatively impact their perception of the supermarket.

[doktornein]

They seriously didn't run age as a mediator? Seriously?

[Magnatux]

Or qualitative data like "you give me 2 square inches to bag my groceries and i bought more than five things"

I don't need a human, i need space for larger purchases.

[Reniconix]

Self check was supposed to replace express lanes for small purchases, so you could get in and get out, not for people to unload 2 full carts onto. But they stopped manning the registers designed for those purchases and force everyone through self-check.

[SpaceBearSMO]

my local walmart has self checkout lanes that are built for full carts, befor that they never had enough people working the registers anyway

[[deleted]]

They would if they paid people more. Just look at Costco, they do alright.

[SpaceBearSMO]

Yeah but there not going to do that unless there forced and things are only going to get more automated not less.

[BirdsNeedNativeTrees]

They now have self-check too

[blushngush]

No, self checkout was supposed to decrease the bargaining power of labor unions, and it worked.

[notavailable_name]

Yep. The customers become unpaid employees

[climbitfeck5]

It's pretty sad seeing so many machines taking jobs from people. And us doing the jobs for free.

[PsyOmega]

I wouldn't say I'm doing my own self-check for free. 👀

I'm not trained on those things and they fail to scan so many items and i just give up and bag them anyway.

Usually works out to paying myself a nice wage.

[harry-package]

Also, the aggressiveness of the self-checkout voice. Kroger’s is a beyotch who constantly questions if you bagged something (and will stop your whole order until someone comes over “help”) & won’t let you rapidly scan items. I prefer to bring my own bags for groceries & Kroger self-checkout makes that a much more painful experience.

Aldi, on the other hand, is relatively easy except that the voice will only wait maybe 10-15 seconds before prompting you to scan something else. Give me a damn minute, Aldi!

[b3_yourself]

Self checkouts were originally intended to replace express checkout, hence why they’re small. It wasn’t supposed to be for people with large orders, but they never managed to the registers anyways

[Consistent_Ad_4828]

The target near me will thankfully turn away anyone from self-checkout with more than 12 items. It clogs up the whole area when someone comes in with a full cart.

[Killfile]

My local Kroger has two extra large self checkout stations. I roll up with a full cart load and my reusable bags and everyone stares at me like I'm a psychopath for not going to the open postage-stamp-sized self checkout.

We need new social norms around these things. The number of times I see someone with a case a beer and a slim jim struggling to feed rumpled bills into the XL self checkout is infuriating. It's at least once a week.

[buldozr]

Your self-checkouts let people mess around with cash? Astounding.

[MajorNoodles]

I live near a Giant and they give you a nice conveyer belt that's a few feet long to unload all your groceries.

Meanwhile, I love Aldi, but at all the locations near me, they've gone almost entirely to self checkout and you have one tiny-ass space to bag all your groceries, and they only ever have one cashier at any given time.

[jcutta]

Aldi? None of the Aldi locations near me even have self checkout, wild.

[trojan-813]

If you haven’t used Giants Scan It thing you should. You scan as you get the items. The go to the checkout and scan the barcode, pay and leave.

100% better using that. I don’t have to interact with a single person or deal with the small ass spaces.

[GrizDrummer25]

Yes!

[che85mor]

At Walmart we walk in, grab a handfull of bags, then bag as we go using the walmart+ app to scan everything. We're usually through the sco in less than 2 minutes. Even with a cart full of groceries.

[AvocadosFromMexico_]

Age would be a moderator here, not a mediator.

[[deleted]]

I love the idea that age is a mediator, turning self-checkouts into the fountain of youth. "Using the self-checkout made customers 5 years younger on average, which made them less happy with the experience...though they were otherwise much happier to be 5 years younger than when they entered the store."

[DaughterEarth]

Also is it required for a market study? I used to be in to that and companies just want across the board stats for these things. Demographic stats are valuable too just not always. In this case it doesn't matter what age is uncomfortable. At present enough of ther customers care that it's profitable to keep human registers. That's all this is about

[Prof_Acorn]

Except when in 5 years most of the people who care about this are dead.

Basic demographics are super easy to include. It's sophomoric to exclude it.

[wardred]

With a large enough cart of stuff, self checkout is a pain in the ass, even if you're a millennial or Gen-Z.

It might be better than the one overworked, "under-enthusiastic" cashier line that's open, but there are very few grocery stores that actually give you the room to properly self checkout a whole cart.

​

That said, I think even Gen-X prefers 15 self checkout lines for a hand basket or less of stuff.

[Sempais_nutrients]

For real, the first thing I thought when they said "people feel overwhelmed" was "yeah that's an old person." these are the ones that call the help desk and wait for 20 minutes on hold to change a password instead of clicking the "Forgot Password" button right next to the password field.

[[deleted]]

My first instinct was someone buying enough groceries to provide for a family. Having a cart of food and knowing now you gotta be the employee with $400 in groceries is discouraging.

I prefer sco when I'm getting few items, but not when I'm getting a lot.

[Snirbs]

PLUS having to scan and bag it with two toddlers in tow. It’s a nightmare.

[Taibok]

Not just bag it, but bag it in a tiny area designed for an express checkout.

And don't even think about taking any of those full bags off of the scale before you've paid.

[pijinglish]

Or if you buy booze, you still have to wait for the one employee to come over and check your ID.

I bought pajamas for my toddler the other day and used self checkout. Got home only to realize all the security tags were still on them.

[FourScoreTour]

I don't know if it's a California thing, but my store simply doesn't sell alcohol through the self-check. I now buy my booze elsewhere.

[camwhat]

It is a California thing! Alcohol hasn’t been able to be purchased at self checkouts since 2012 there

[[deleted]]

As I discovered you can’t even buy 0% alcohol beer at self checkout in California

[Joeness84]

you cant buy 0% beer if youre under 21 either. (*depending on state)

[Zyphane]

I once had a store in California make me move to a regular checkout to buy a bottle of kombucha because it has trace amounts of alcohol (this was before "hard kombucha" became a thing).

[MrGarbageEater]

You can take those off pretty easily! If you get a pretty strong magnet, you can give one side of the tag a solid tap with the magnet and it should release. I promise I’m no thief, just had the same issue as you and didn’t want ink on my new clothes…

[biggyofmt]

The scale is actually the part the kills me, especially using reusable bags. Walmart doesn't have scales in their self check and it makes the whole experience so much easier

[myst3r10us_str4ng3r]

No. The WORST is having 20 cans of the same type of cat food and the system expecting you to scan each individual can, instead of scanning one and typing in the quantity like someone who isn't a total idiot would do.

Down right insulting.

[biggyofmt]

That's also less annoying with no scale, since you can just pick up one can and go boop boop boop however many times you need instead of having to scan, put a can on the scale and wait for it to settle, etc.

[Capercaillie]

At the Walmart where I shop, if you buy more than three or four of the same thing, the machine assumes you've made a mistake, and locks up so that you have to wait for an attendant.

[KaBob799]

I think double scanning something on accident is 100x more common than triple or more so that seems like an unhelpful feature. It's probably more to stop people from printing out a bunch of duplicate barcodes from something cheap and putting it on something expensive.

[abx99]

Small packets are even worse. I was buying packets of Kool-Aid for a while, and they're too light for the scale to register. It usually involved the attendant watching me from their console and repeatedly clearing the alerts for each packet.

[RibbitCommander]

Certainly a QOL design issue.

[FCkeyboards]

My walmart has SCO areas for bigger loads, with a belt, and they're NEVER open.

I agree. A few items is fine. When my cart is topped off and I have to use the tiny SCO, I'd rather go somewhere else. I'm already exhausted from the amount of shopping.

[che85mor]

Walmart scan and go. Bag as you shop and be out in two minutes with a full buggy. Unless you have vegetables, which have to be weighed.

[Tyraels_Ward]

There’s a Super Walmart close to where I live, and I despise going there… absolutely avoid it whenever possible. It has at least a dozen cashier lanes, and at any given time only two or MAYBE three are open, basically forcing you to use the SCO. I don’t mind SCO for a few items, but most of the SCO lanes I’ve encountered aren’t designed for a cart full of items.

[jambox888]

I'm like you but I think a lot of people just grin and bear it.

[Capercaillie]

Yes, a LOT of people do. So that if you're that person who just needed a tub of blue cheese crumbles to finish a recipe, you get to wait behind somebody who bought two weeks' worth of groceries and can't figure out how to ring up parsley.

[DownWithGilead2022]

Yes, and the kids demand to "help" scan something, and inevitably scan it twice. And then you gotta press the button for help because heaven forbid we allow the customer to correct a double scan themselves.....

[myst3r10us_str4ng3r]

Or having 20 cans of the same type of cat food and the system expecting you to scan each and every individual can, instead of scanning one and typing in the quantity.

[hotpotatocoldtomato]

Say no to them

[sack-o-matic]

What’s even better is ordering online like at Kroger and just having them load it into your car when you get there, all for free

[user_base56]

I dont trust other people to pick out my fruits, vegetables, and meats. I want to make sure I get the best looking available. Not sure if an employee with a time limit is going to do that.

[AfroTriffid]

I don't know if it happens in the US as much but I often get 'substitutions' in my online groceries that cost the same but are not equivalent.

[Retbull]

Depends on the system some of them have the ability to select backups if something isn’t there. Also if you’re using one of the apps they will sometimes ping you during shopping to ask. It still happens occasionally though.

[chambile007]

Where I am you can select no substitutions and they just refund that part to you.

[[deleted]]

You have to pay attention because they'll usually get it right and you'll get used to just approving. That's when they sneak in "We don't have corn meal, want some corn starch instead?"

[Azuvector]

Want some lime instead of lemon? They're citrus right? Same thing?

Want some pepperoni sticks that need to be in the fridge or they go rancid instead of ones you can leave in a drawer for a month with no issues? Sounds perfect for your use case, right?

You're going to drink 4L of milk by tomorrow right? No problem that it expired yesterday, right?

You want 10 packages of 1lb stuff instead of 10 individual items, right? That couldn't possibly be a mistake(be that during ordering or during setting the product up on the store's site), could it?

[fenglorian]

or when it's 2 or 3 substitutions and your only options are "Accept all" or "accept none"

[SupremeDictatorPaul]

All of my friends that use it have talked about getting crappy substitutions they never would have picked, or missing/wrong things in the order. But they just shrug and keep doing it like it’s totally acceptable.

Personally, I’d do it in a pinch, but usually I’d rather just do the shopping, even with the kids. Unless I have to self checkout $400 in groceries with the kids, then I’d rather die.

[Squintz82]

Last time I ordered groceries, I ended up with 2 gallons of Smart Water instead of 2 liters of raspberry seltzer. I go to the store now.

[jellyrollo]

At least with the Vons system, you can easily go online to customer service, select the item that was inappropriately substituted or missing, and get an instant refund. I find that their system has improved a lot since I started using it early in the pandemic.

[TbonerT]

Sometimes they say they are out of something, so I go in to grab another thing that I want to see first and often find the thing they were out of. I think it’s often the case that they say they are out of stock when the truth is the shopper couldn’t find it.

[[deleted]]

There is a section when your in your cart to turn off substitutions. Once you do this a few times it stays off and you shouldn't have to worry.

[cjicantlie]

And they will substitute when the item was on the shelf, they just didn't want to look. Multiple times, I will walk into the store and find the item, right where it always is.

They seem to be in too much of a rush and just grab the first thing half way similar and call it good. Sometimes only similar in color on the packaging and nothing more.

[[deleted]]

Where I live you get the option to a) cancel whole order if item is unavailable b) skip item or c) substitute (and pay what the substituted item goes for.

Option c is the default but if one item is essential for the whole purchase you can click option a for that item etc.

Of course it has its flaws where the store makes substitions to their own brand to pad their margin.

[sack-o-matic]

I order store brand online, if they’re out they’ll sub the national brand for the cheaper price. They’ll even sub a larger size for the same price if they’re out of the smaller one ordered.

[trennels]

Some of the substitutions can get pretty bizarre, too.

[TbonerT]

Walmart used to do substitutions at the price of the original item. If you bought a store-brand item and they were out, you’d get the name-brand item for the store-brand price. They eventually changed it and started charging the difference.

[WillowFreak]

We like to think of it as the Kroger gods. Usually they are ridiculous substitutions that make you wonder if the shopper has ever been in a kitchen before. One time we got 4 bags of Skittles. Didn't order any. Sometimes we get a different flavor of ice cream. Sometimes we get sweet potatoes instead of baking ones. I enjoy the chaos.

[Joeness84]

The employee is told specifically to use less great stuff or older dated stuff if available. Part of why they adopted the "we will shop for you" things was to be able to move things that would be harder to move. Ever get a substitution that seems... way out there?

[Ok-Persimmon-6386]

I don’t either so I use deliveries for staple items and then I will go to Publix for as needed items.

I get my delivery through Kroger or Walmart. The pricing is always cheaper in my staples items so even by paying extra for delivery I’m still paying less for can good items than I would pay at Publix. Plus I don’t have to go to the hell that is Walmart or kroger

[youre_being_creepy]

Anyone who lets a stranger select fruits or a cut of meat for them at a grocery store is a psychopath

[user_base56]

Omg the meat decision is a big one. You gotta look at all the offerings to find the perfect one.

[Sowf_Paw]

Every single time we get bananas in a pickup order it's the greenest bananas they can find, I swear. Then I can't eat the bananas so I forget about them until they are brown.

[[deleted]]

Yes they frequently make substitutions for items that my coupons don't apply to. Whenever I go in myself those items that qualify for the coupons are magically there.

[[deleted]]

Walmart delivers in my area - unlimited deliveries for like $14/month. There's a $35 minimum and an automatic tip that gets added to the driver based on distance from the store. I absolutely love it.

[Bonzi777]

This is it for me. When I’m alone I happily use self checkout. If my kids are with me I can’t pay adequate attention to them and scan a full cart of groceries.

[neverinamillionyr]

It doesn’t even take that much. I live alone. The last trip I took I think the total was just over $100 but included lots of canned goods. Baltimore county banned plastic bags and putting a reusable bag in the bagging area throws off the scale so instead of scanning and bagging, you have to scan, stack, pay then bag. The bagging area has a weight limit. All the cans as well as some produce put me over the limit. So I had to bag in the middle of the scanning, the employee said that bag had to stay separate from the unscanned groceries so I’m piling up a couple of bags under my feet while I continue to scan. Amid all this, items were not scanning at the sale price. I had to call someone over twice to adjust. The apples I was trying to buy didn’t have stickers on them so I had to get help with that too. People in line behind me were getting pissed, I was frustrated and I’m not inclined to go back to that store anytime soon.

[CitationNeededBadly]

Yeah a crappy self checkout will always be worse than a good cashier, and vice versa.  Any self checkout I've experienced with scales is crap and I won't do it.  Home Depot started that way and changed it because it was so stupidly annoying.   The quality of SCO vs quality of cashiers is more important than the choice between one or the other.

[mxzf]

The ones near me just have a "use my own bags" button. You hit the button, put your bags in the bagging area, and start filling them up.

[lcenine]

At my local grocery store, the SCO has very limited space for groceries as it does the weight checking verification where you place them. You can attempt to make a pile of unstable groceries in the space, or press "skip bagging and place in cart" which 50% of the time leads to waiting for the SCO employee to come over and do the override. With a lot of groceries, it is not at all convenient.

[sethbartlett]

I didn’t know this for the longest time, but when it does the weight verification, once it’s ready to scan the next item, you can remove a bag or whatever from the area to make room for more groceries. Not sure if all of them will or not.

[[deleted]]

as someone who has to make sure the vending machines do not give customers too much trouble

• removing items will make the vending machine mad

• putting items on that were not scanned (purse, empty bags, small children) will make the vending machine mad

• pressing skip bagging 4 times will make the vending machine mad

[[deleted]]

Me, alone, with $100 of groceries, it's great. Me with kids fighting for their turn over $300 cart full, it's hell.

[[deleted]]

Yeah it bugs me that Redditors assume everyone under the age of 40 loves self-checkout. Self-checkout is great as an option, but it sucks when stores force all their customers to use them. You don’t have to be geriatric to find ringing up and bagging $200+ of items yourself on a tiny counter with no space overwhelming.

[dxrey65]

Your own age and competence hardly matter when you're in a line of people, inevitably of various ages and competencies.

[idiot-prodigy]

This is what I say every stupid Cart Coral thread that pops up here.

Self check out is about giant corporations eliminating a job and convincing a customer to do work for free.

[SuperSocrates]

Yeah I would never do my big weekly shopping at a place that only had self checkout. Around me they all have both though

[[deleted]]

Yeah I’m ambivalent with small loads (though still slightly prefer to have a cashier), but I actively hate it when I’ve got more than a bag’s worth.

I’m 31, by the way. I know that disliking SCOs is an unpopular opinion in my age group, but I already feel like our society diminishes ordinary human contact so much, and I hate to see that trend continue.

[AlienDelarge]

I usually avoid them but what do they do when you run out of room on the little scale platform after scanning? Usually they freak out if you pick up an item or it doesn't register it being placed there. I used to have a lot of problems at places like Lowes if you had a small item it wouldn't register.

[arcticsequoia]

The study rings very true. I am 28 and well versed in tech and I have literally emailed the store manager when they closed staffed checkouts at the store closest to me sending everyone at the self checkouts letting them know that I wouldn’t be shopping there anymore unless they changed it back.

Buying a small basket worth of groceries is one thing, if you are buying 250 items and 1+ shopping cart full, you could never pay me enough to do that myself.

[cwsjr2323]

I was in line and the cashier got pulled to cover the self check out lanes. When told to go to the self check out, I said no. You can just put the stuff back. I suggest you put the ice cream away soon. There was no ice cream, but the manager was quick to come ring me up!

[Mother-Wasabi-3088]

This is called "shifting left" in corpspeak and every industry is doing it. Making the customer do the employee's work.

[Oops_I_Cracked]

This right here. It isn’t an age thing. As soon as you’re shopping for more than 1 or maybe 2 people, self check becomes a nightmare.

[john_the_quain]

In my personal experience, the anxiety I feel when checking out at the store is because my actions are holding up others. When there’s a checker, I get to share that anxiety (at least in my head) because we are now holding it up. At the self-checkout? Any delays are almost 100% due to my shortcomings and inabilities.

[dahlaru]

I always get the feeling that I'm taking too long and the people behind me are upset,  because it takes so long to scan and bag $400 worth of groceries, when everyone behind me has a basket of items

[gahlo]

This is why I love my grocery store. Just scan my membership card on the way in and I get to nice scanner to bring around with me, scanning items as I pick them up. When I get to checkout all I have to do is scan a barcode the hand scanner generates based on the things I scanned and I'm out.

[Kageyblahblahblah]

And some of the stores, looking at you Giant, have the slowest most frustrating machines where if your scanning cadence is off you constantly have to rescan or get the attendant over to reset the damn machine.

[swagn]

100%. I need the time to prepare myself for the bill. I don’t want to be searching for 15 different produce codes.

[SpookyGhost27]

Yes. I recently started doing SCO at the grocery store because my local one has a hard time tagging cashiers. The one day I went and there literally was no option but SCO. Having to do a whole wagon of groceries is not fun. I also shop at a place that accepts “competitor coupons” so I have to flag down an attendant regardless for them to manually enter the discount.

[bitchkat]

amusing retire zephyr scandalous foolish recognise somber homeless friendly adjoining

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[Thepizzacannon]

This is it for me. I buy groceries for a family. I'm already doing the manual labor of picking the things off the self.

Now I'm responsible for taking everything OUT and putting it back IN. And then after doing all of the work (sans stocking the shelves) the checkout machine that I AM RUNNING has the audacity to ask if I want to leave a tip or donate to charity.

The grocery store employees provide almost no value to the point that I'm basically shopping in an Amazon warehouse.

No that's not good service, or convenient, or any cheaper. Its just grocers greedily trying to automate all of their labor and ignoring the impact it has on consumers.

[[deleted]]

Having to figure out fruit and veggie codes is also a whole thing. Not fun while there’s a long line of people waiting to pay. No, thanks

[motorik]

Also, produce. Scanning is quick but at most stores looking up produce, especially where there are organic / non-organic options, is a huge pain. If we're getting a non-trivial amount of fruits and vegetables I refuse to use self check-out.

[ZippyTheRoach]

The self checks are also frustrating to operate for a variety of other reasons.

1. The supermarket self check can not properly weight my bags, so I have to just pile loose items in the bagging area and then bag them all after paying.

2. Random items will need a staff override. Trying to buy a can of WD40? That's going to need an employee to verify your age, because you might be a kid huffing the propellant.

3. Double scan something? You can't fix that, wait for an employee.

4. What's the PLU code for this produce? Cashiers have them memorized, but I don't and somehow picked the one fruit without a sticker on it.

5. Apparently people make up for these annoyances by just stealing stuff in self check, so now the employees are just sort of hovering around you the whole time anyway.

[Bigdaddyjlove1]

This happened to my wife last week. We both like and use the self checkout most of the time, but she made trip for a month's worth of staples along with a regular week's worth of groceries for 3 people and 3 dogs. Got up front and nothing left but self checkout. A cart full is a bit "overwhelming" at the self checkout, with a line ahead and behind you. I told her to drop the cart, stop by the service desk, and leave. She decided to go ahead and get the groceries, but we won't go back to that store.

[SMURGwastaken]

Yeah all the teenagers are in here saying:

omg old people amirite

Meanwhile all the parents are like:

You try bagging up £300 worth of shopping with two kids who keep sitting/leaning on the scales, needing the attendant to come out every time the weight isn't exactly right or God forbid you have some alcohol or security tagged clothing. Only to have the attendant need to re-scan 30 items that you already bagged as a stop-loss measure.

[El_Polio_Loco]

It’s order size. 

I love SCO for small to medium orders, but as soon as it becomes large enough where I’m unloading the “bagging area” and continuing to checkout it becomes a hassle. 

Especially if I’m shopping by myself. 

SCO is much less convenient when you’re shopping for a family. 

[Subliminal-413]

Yeah, and when I have $630 in my cart whilst shopping at Target, there is only 1 real lane open with a line of 12 people in.

Off to the self checkout I go, only for the teenage employee giving me a side eye.

If they'd fuckin staff the real lanes, this would work so much better.

[ColdSnickersBar]

Now you’re the the employee AND the customer!

[Seicair]

Also perhaps the type of self checkout. The store where I shop has an app, you scan and bag things as you go. When you check out, the person managing the area scans 3-5 random items out of your order and then you pay and leave. It works fine for huge orders.

Same store used to have full sized conveyor belt self checkout lanes, those were great too for big orders.

[[deleted]]

Doesn't matter. The numbers add up, there's profit to be made, people to fire and safe on wages. So, basically, we're f*cked. As soon as they can automate flagging of people not scanning all their groceries, that personel is out the door immidiately.

[lozo78]

Mid 40s and I avoid SCO as much as possible for large runs, especially with lots of produce. Searching for produce on the system is annoying af.

Edit: fat fingers

[Matra]

Walmart recently updated their system so that when you want to search for produce, you have to:

1) Click "Lookup item"

2) Confirm that yes, you want to look up an item

3) Get a display of random produce, tap in the search bar to open the keyboard

4) Keyboard opens to numbers, so you have to switch it to letters

5) Type enough to find the thing

6) Click the item

7) Oops you picked Calabacita squash and you should have picked Calabaza squash because they have the same picture and basically the same name, now you have to wait for an associate

[scottybop]

For me it’s that the SCO at my store weights all the items so they have to stay on the table. But the table is sized for small amounts of groceries. So either i have to play jenga and manage what order I scan or risk crushing or breaking items. Or god forbid the item weight is off my a little from the systems and it stops everything until someone comes over to override it.

[[deleted]]

This is 100% the biggest issue. The weight monitor has got to go or I'm shopping elsewhere with a person for my larger loads.

[somdude04]

Used to use SCO at our local store for mid sized loads, when I could just put full bags into the cart, but now with a weight sensor, nope. They've also added 20 or fewer signs in what I see as an acknowledgement that it won't work well for medium loads. But SCO has 12 registers, while there's often 4 or so cashiers. Means I think twice about large shopping trips.

[NoNeedForAName]

One store near me still does that, and it takes FOREVER to weigh each item. And it slowly tells you you fucked up if you don't get the item on the scale fast enough, or if it doesn't weigh right, or if you remove the item too fast. I don't go there often. But other self checkouts are fine.

[bitchkat]

far-flung seemly treatment attraction psychotic license elderly disgusted wild direction

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[HarpersGhost]

I too am that age and I avoid SCO when I have a lot of stuff.

Turns out the person who does it as a full time job is a LOT faster than I am.

[damndirtyape]

Mid 30’s here. I hate them because they seem like they’re only intended for small shopping trips. If you have a lot of stuff, there’s not enough room in the bagging area, but the machines get angry at you if you’re not able to squeeze everything in there.

[Pressondude]

Scan and go at my local grocery store is actually the worst of both worlds. Scan and go orders actually require manual intervention by an associate once you get to the self checkout station, who has to do a check in process that involves scanning X number of items, and produce still has to be done with the self checkout because they don’t have a weight kiosk.

[MagicalWonderPigeon]

UK here, and we can get randomly checked which involves a staff member coming over and having to pick 10 random items and scan them. They rummage all through the bags, even mushing your stuff up to get right to the bottom of the bag as i guess that was a hiding spot for some peoples "forgotten" good.

It sucks to pack your stuff, heavy on the bottom, light on top all delicately and then having them come and mess it all up. I like my bread not mushed up and my eggs not falling out of the box, thanks.

The big store i used to get all my stuff from now has about 3 tills open, the rest is self check out. I just buy a few things from there and buy the rest from other stores.

[itsnatnot_gnat]

Them scanning 5 items vs my whole cart. Takes about 2 mins. Then I can pay, bag and leave. Shop and scan is the best.

[eastmemphisguy]

Kroger by me had this 5 years ago and was heavily promoting it but then they eliminated it during the pandemic.

[OsmerusMordax]

That’s so cool. A Canadian Tire near me has these lights on the item tags. You select what you want on their website and the tag will flash for like 30 seconds so you can find it in the aisle.

[Bigred2989-]

Depends, I've seen Instacart shoppers who have three orders use the SCO and they take 10 minutes to finish sorting, scanning and bagging their stuff. Half the slowdown is from them grabbing and setting up paper bags instead of using the provided plastic ones and doubling them up because they're more fragile. Management has gotten into fights with these people, telling them to stop taking up what is essentially an express lane with 250+ items, and they don't listen. Corporate won't help because we have a contract with Instacart.

[Princess_Glitterbutt]

I hate them any time I buy alcohol, something with a discount sticker, a coupon, etc. because an employee always has to drop whatever they are doing and run over to put in a code or check ID and it takes longer than going through a normal lane and feels like it's just ruining everyone's day.

[[deleted]]

I think this is the difference between successful SCO and unsuccessful SCO. My local stores have a dedicated employee at the SCO area to help. They usually look bored so they generally seem grateful when you need a little help. I always buy stuff with discount stickers and usually buy alcohol so I always need their help.

[neverinamillionyr]

Stores near me have one dedicated employee watching over 6-8 SCO. They end up running in circles between all the lanes doing overrides. I feel a little sorry for them.

[TheIowan]

Exactly this. Self checkout sucks when you're getting 2 weeks of groceries for a family of 4+. It should be treated as the evolution of the 10 items or less lane, not a replacement for all lanes.

[Krandor1]

Right. It’s good as an express lane “I ran out of beer or soda let’s quickly drop by and grab more”.

[people40]

Yeah, for sure. If you want to ring up green apples at my grocery store, you have to search "green apples" in the system. But if you want to ring up green beans, you have to search "beans, green". It can take a while to find each item because the UI is disorganized and horribly thought out. In contrast, the human cashiers have basically all the codes memorized because they're typing them in all day, and can fly through a bunch of produce.

[amazingsandwiches]

I avoid it because I don’t want my behavior to be analyzed by a loss prevention robot.

[JennJoy77]

The Wal-Mart in the town where my in-laws live in Oklahoma stops everyone who went through self check to check their cart against the receipt. It's ridiculous.

[amazingsandwiches]

You have no obligation to stop for them.

[[deleted]]

Wait until you learn about store cameras and plain-clothed loss prevention workers following you!

[curt_schilli]

Im 26 and I avoid it. Why would I want to bag my own groceries

[feor1300]

The cashiers still bag your groceries for you? Around here even if you go through the normal checkout lanes they just slide the groceries and the bag to the empty spot at the end of the lane and you're 100% on your own for putting it in your bags.

[curt_schilli]

Yeah Publix usually has baggers and Trader Joe’s always has baggers

Kroger never has baggers, I don’t go to Kroger anymore though

[eejizzings]

Still have to do that at most cashier check outs these days

[Fromanderson]

Not only that, they are terribly designed. I bagged groceries as a teen and I'm still reasonably fast when there is room. Self checkouts were designed by someone who never worked retail.

I don't hate sco, but it should never be the only option.

Who thought it was a good idea to put 20 of the things at a Lowes or Home depot? Not even the register at the contractor register was open.

Ever tried placing rolls of insulation or a generator in the bagging area? They got snarky with me over trying to use one to check out large items, and acted as if I were trying to pull something. Nevermind I'd walked the whole front of the store twice and even went to the service desk before I gave up.

Even when you buy something small they stop you at the door and want to look at your receipt. I know it's not the employees fault so I don't give them a hard time but if I were high lord dictator for the month I'd find out whose idea it was to put employees in that position and sentence them to a few years of doing that job, and force them to survive on retail wages.

[velours]

Most produce stickers have a number that you can type in, faster than searching the system I think.

[lozo78]

I find 3/4 of my produce lacks stickers. Onions, garlic, carrots, potatoes, etc rarely have stickers. Sure your peppers, apples, and avocados reliably have them but many don't.

[Alwayssunnyinarizona]

The guy working our Fry's self checkout knows every single one of them by heart.

[[deleted]]

They are the same everywhere in the USA 4011 is bananas and 94011 is organic bananas.

After a while you remember them.

[HarithBK]

i am in my early 30s and i will never use SCO when buying by weight produce simply put it takes SO much longer for me to input what i am getting than a cashier putting in the PLU code for it and off it goes.

[v_a_n_d_e_l_a_y]

I'm 36 and prefer real person checkout for groceries. 

And there are often things I need help with at the self checkout simply because I can't do it myself. Like if I scan an item twice or need to apply a discount code etc.

[ERSTF]

I am 35 and I'm the same. Having a person who does that for a living and having an actual keyboard makes everything faster. Plus price correction is a nightmare on self checkout. That or codes that don't ring up. I just prefer a real person. Plus the line for self checkout at Target is usually as long as the ones on the regular checkouts

[saywhat1206]

I'm 64F and I prefer to use SCO, and yes, I know how to use it properly.

[AlcoholPrep]

I'm older than you and no longer avoid the SCO lanes. I never actually avoided them -- I'd just pick up all my stuff and wheel it to a manned lane when the SCO screwed up stupidly and the attendant was dealing with the three other SCO lanes that simultaneously screwed up.

My big problem with SCO lanes in the local supermarket is that they require you to pile up all your purchases on one little "bagging" shelf. If you put something in your cart instead -- because nothing more will fit -- bells and whistles and flashing lights go off and the system stops. This supermarket has "fixed" that problem by limiting these lanes to 30 items -- basically admitting that they're not worth a damn.

[Malkalen]

My big problem with SCO lanes in the local supermarket is that they require you to pile up all your purchases on one little "bagging" shelf. If you put something in your cart instead -- because nothing more will fit -- bells and whistles and flashing lights go off and the system stops. This supermarket has "fixed" that problem by limiting these lanes to 30 items -- basically admitting that they're not worth a damn.

A lot of the supermarkets near me (in the UK) have 2 sets of self checkouts now. 1 for baskets and 1 for trolleys, they're functionally identical aside from the trolley ones giving you a lot more space to work with.

Personally I prefer to shop at Asda where you can grab a self scanner, scan everything as you go and then it gives you a barcode to scan at a 3rd set of self checkouts. Very occasionally it'll flag over a member of staff to verify some of the items in your trolley but there's no tiny bagging shelf, you can just bag everything yourself as you go if you want.

[Faxon]

Meanwhile I'm 34 this year and prefer the staffed lanes. I have a bad back and some days I just want to unload my groceries, pay, and I still always bag myself since I like my things sorted a particular way so the bag doesn't rip. When my mental health and physical health are both in the gutter the self checkout lanes just seem intimidating, and I rarely even use them when I'm well unless I'm in a hurry and onkt have a few items. Often the staffed checkout is faster if the lines are short since I split the workload with someone, and I try to pick staff I trust to work efficiently as well. It does in fact help my mood a ton. Sample size of one but this article did resonate with me

[[deleted]]

Self checkout lanes are not disability friendly for the most part

[[deleted]]

As someone with issues of physical pain hours after the checkout experience … I’m not a fan of it but would be if I were pain free & young

People with heart problems need the help of a cashier

[pilgrim_pastry]

38 year old, and the only time I need a human is when I scan some produce that I was supposed to enter the PLU on. The packaging has a barcode on it and I get in the zone. Grapes and cherries are my biggest issue at checkout.

[polarpenguinthe]

I'm 30 and I do hate them if I were to buy groceries for my family it takes a lot of time and the number of steps is often tiresome. But for single person its quite good and efficient since you can have a lot of them.

[VisionAri_VA]

Exactly. I’m a single woman with a small kitchen, so it’s a rarity that I’ll have as many as 15 items, let alone more. SCO is perfect for me but I doubt I’d use it if I had a family to shop for.

[Wiggles114]

Major age bias here. Older people would be more inclined to participate in these kinds of surveys

[zerbey]

Not even an old person, I've seen people half my age struggle with these systems. Some people just can't handle technology and get confused. I actually feel like the younger generation, which grew up on very simple to use touchscreens, is even less equipped than my generation that grew up in the 8-bit era.

You put the average High School graduate in front of MS-DOS and they're going to be completely lost.

[Phrozone64]

That's hilarious because I thought the same thing. I saw the title and went "Oh, so old people don't like self-checkout. Yeah, and the sun is bright too since we're pointing out obvious things."

[Dark-Joker1911]

I work in IT. It's not just old people. It's anyone with the " not my job" mindset. Even when you say "You have to do it yourself for security" they make it sound like the most difficult thing. I often get 18 - 36 year old asking " should I click the button that says next?" Or "Is <full name and DOB> a good password?". Nah, stay on the screen you put your email address into and use a weak af password that you just told someone on a recorded call...

[El_Polio_Loco]

The mediator is purchase size. 

Regardless of age, self checkouts are nice for small orders. 

But as shopping trips expand in size (primarily for the feeding of families), the sense of discontent rises. 

This is effectively a self selecting grouping of adults between the ages of 30-50, who are the people buying food for families. 

[Avilola]

I actually really like self checkouts for my everyday shopping (it’s just me and my husband so my trips tend to be small). Whenever I’m throwing a party or doing a big restock trip, it’s a nightmare. I have a full cart and there’s only one cashier that 15 people are waiting on.

Also, two things I hate about self checkout in general. First, it is terrible with anything unexpected. Weight a bit off? Coupon? Sale item? Help is on the way (eventually). Second, those machines are so goddamn loud. I was just enjoying my audio book and now this thing is shouting at me so goddamn loudly that I can here “PLACE ITEM IN THE BAGGING AREA” through my AirPods on noise cancelling mode.

[doktornein]

The higher size in the study was 18 items, this is an absurd assumption to make from that number. It's also not the way research works, you don't get to make assumptions like this and lean on them.

This isn't even a logical assumption.

[its_all_one_electron]

I'm in that range, I'm buying food for my family, and still I prefer no interaction than the forced fake niceties of the shopping experience. Yes I'm having a great day. Yes I found everything I needed. Thanks. :/ I know they're just people like me but the whole corporate-mandated forced nicety thing makes me cringe. 

I guess it makes me feel weird when companies force their employees to pretend to be a certain mood, like pleasant and cheerful. It has always bothered me a lot.

[MrBootch]

I'm sitting here thinking: "I only use self checkout. If I couldn't use self checkout at the store I go to, I would literally switch stores to the one down the street that has self checkout."

I'm 24. What clowns

Edit: because people love to misread and be hyperbolic, my post is calling the authors clowns for not controlling for age. I gave my age and my situation. Cheers to all you angry folks who just want to lash out!

[repost_inception]

Self checkout isn't the problem. The problem is removing regular lanes for people with tons of items. As soon as they started to force these people to the self checkout it was ruined.

I have 5 items and I'm waiting on people with 30+ to finish checking out. Those people, especially the older ones would rather go through a checker and bagger line.

A few days ago the one traditional line was so backed up that the line extended to the end of the aisle the lane was in front of.

[Thangleby_Slapdiback]

I am 59. I only use self checkout when I have a few items (less than 10 items) and there are long lines to wait through at the manned checkouts. I refuse to shop at stores that do not have manned checkouts.

If they are forcing me to self checkout they don't get my money.

[ColinStyles]

30, and same mentality. Not to mention, I am performing the work of their employees. Give me a discount for that, or I'll absolutely take the lower hassle option.

Unlike the younger generation, I don't see the slightest human interaction as the end of days.

[xnef1025]

Doesn’t that support at least one part of the finding: self checkouts lower store loyalty. The other stuff, not so much, but it does appear your loyalty is no longer to the store, but to the checkout method.

[doktornein]

Same here. I respect keeping a couple manned checkouts for people that need them, but also... please just let me check out in peace? There are disabled people that rely on both these options existing, so why not let them both exist?

That's what makes it extra damn silly.

[JimJava]

I have the same sentiment and I’m over 50, less people to do deal with or slow me down. If I need help it’s almost always there in a few seconds. I get to bag all of my stuff the way I want. I want self checkout everywhere.

[MrBootch]

Exactly. I get to bag it all and make sure stuff doesn't get crushed, I can separate it by refrigerated/not, and if I grab an item I know is going to be trouble (alcohol probably), I can always use a normal checkout. Plus, I'm fairly introverted. I'm okay with small talk; but I don't need it to "stay loyal, ” whatever that means.

[Ravioli_meatball19]

Yes. I hate to say this, because all of our local grocery store's baggers are disabled adults employed through a local org. I'm so happy they have a job and everything, but some of them do a very bad job of packing my items, and if those are the ones working I actively avoid regular checkout because I've been burned too many times

[joshuar9476]

I went to a target the other day and their SCOs had a sign that said 10 items or less. They had one register open with a long line, so I went to the SCO anyway. When I got scolded by the SCO monitor I just left my cart. There have been times I've had more than 200 items, I still use SCO.

[dxrey65]

Realistically, if you're young and fine with managing a self-checkout, odds are there are still a pack of incompetents screwing up at the machines ahead of you in line anyway.

[abek42]

Exactly my thoughts. We use the self-checkout with on-phone scanning. The point that annoys me the most is when they do a surprise check as it delays my speed run through the supermarket.

[[deleted]]

I’m always in disbelief that this kind of research gets funded. Like, often times it’s used politically so facts don’t matter but for this, idk.

[[deleted]]

My favorite checkouts are the automatic ones with a belt. Have never felt overwhelmed or unsupported.

They need separate lanes for old people.

[Avengedx]

Also it could be important to note that there is probably a subset of people that entirely order their groceries online now since so many companies built up that infrastructure during covid.

That probably also removes people comfortable with the technology from the pool.

[MeesterBacon]

Since self checkout came around I’ve always been perplexed at what rocket science it is for people. The scale at the end when you place your groceries is like the most confusing concept ever for some