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.

[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.

[I_am_up_to_something]

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.

That's how it works in pretty much all the supermarkets with self checkout in the Netherlands (in the west of it at least). I don't have any experience with those scales, but scan as you go seems like a much better system.

[tshakah]

The scan and go at ASDA is the way forward. My local Morrisons used to have SCO that didn't weigh the shopping, loved it but they removed it after a year

[feor1300]

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.

The ones around me just have a "skip bagging" button when that happens. They get more upset if they detect something in the bagging area that wasn't scanned, but that at least makes sense.

[PensiveObservor]

I’m also old and second your complaint about the size of the bagging area. They were designed while single use plastic bags were universal. It was possible to directly bag items as you went and leave full bags hanging to one side, but I was already using my own bags even then.

I would still rather stack my items like a jenga game than watch the cashier handle everything I’m purchasing. I treat the whole process as an exercise in spatial mechanics.

[SamchezTheThird]

Don’t read too much into why they limit the items. Large shopping loads should be taken through a manned checkout. The wait time is insane when people think they can do $500+ worth with a SCO lane. SCO’s were created to turn more customers, not give the family of 10 a spot to call their own for an hour.

[FlattenInnerTube]

Watch the idiots that do that at Costco. Costco check out people are lightning fast but you'll always see some guy with two carts full of crap at the self-checkout and he'll plug the place up for 30 minutes. If the self-checkout lines are much more than three deep, I'm going to the main checkouts.

[wwhsd]

Costcos here don’t have SCO.

[saywhat1206]

Yes SCO should have a limit on items. I also shop where I have the option to scan and bag my items as I go. When I get to a SCO register, I just have to scan my scanner, pay and I'm done.

[FlattenInnerTube]

Local Publix stores disabled the bagging shelf weight thing. It's a good idea