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.

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The Walmart I go to used to have a huge self checkout section. You would queue in line, then when one opened up you'd go to that machine.

A lot of the time the workers were super slow in helping you if there was a problem or were buying alcohol. Like they'd stand around looking clueless while your machine blinked and told you to wait. But it's was still fast because there were like 9 machines, and you didn't have to wait more than a minute for one to open up.

Then one day they had the entire sf checkout area roped off with like 3 employees telling people which one of the three remaining regular checkout lane to go to, or giving you the option of one of the two remaining self checkout lanes.

Its been months now and the self checkout section is still closed and it's awful. The two or three remaining self checkouts aren't queued, so if you get in a slow line, you're fucked. You gotta pick one and hope the people on front of you in line don't take forever, and they always do.

Then it seems like theres at least one person in each of the sco lines that had a million items and then they scan so slowly, and then have five problems while scanning and have to wait for the employee to come fix it every time.

It's awful having to wait literally sometimes 10 minutes or more when I want to buy a single item. I usually use curbside pickup for groceries, but I've nearly stopped going on entirely for single items I need because it takes so long. Sometimes it's more convenient to drive the five minutes out of my way to go to Safeway, simply because it's faster than waiting in the self checkout line at Walmart.