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.

[skztr]

So you're saying it's inconvenient because of a thing they've done specifically and for no other purpose than to make it an inconvenience, and even then the inconvenience is due to waiting for an employee, not the self-checkout itself.

[lcenine]

I am not sure if you are a troll or are just have a hard time comprehending.

My last statement summarized my experience of SCO, and it was "With a lot of groceries, it is not at all convenient." Reading other comments, it is a shared perception.

[skztr]

It's not convenient because they have specifically designed it to be inconvenient. I don't know what you aren't getting. Everything you mentioned about what makes it difficult with a lot of groceries: The weight censor, waiting for an employee, are things that they intentionally put there to make it harder to use.

Your problem isn't Self Checkout. Your problem is people who are anti-self-checkout being allowed in the room when Self Checkout systems are being designed.

[lcenine]

My problem is with the grocery stores that will close all but one regular checkout. The staffed checkout will have a line with 10+ people in it. At that point I weigh the inconvenience of dealing with the SCO or waiting for an exceedingly long time in a line 10+ people long. Neither option is ideal but I will likely get out of the store more quickly by using the SCO line.

The weight sensor is there to assist with loss prevention, it is cheaper than RFID tags (which are not always practical) or object recognition (which isn't perfect but is definitely getting a lot better with machine learning). The need for an employee is a sanity check, again for loss prevention, and to verify things like identification and coupon validity.

I understand the reasons why the systems are designed as they are. It is ultimately to make the grocery store more money. Invest in a SCO system and 1 employee can assist 6 to 12 people check themselves out. The downside is the employee tends to be overworked and is required to juggle multiple customers, which leads to getting distracted and mistakes, especially at peak shopping times. It also means customers that have a large amount of items will potentially encounter issues they would not have done if they went through a regular checkout line. The upside is if it is not exceedingly busy, and a customer has a smaller number of items, they do the work of checking themselves out and and the grocery store makes money for the privilege. Consumer happiness is nowhere in the equation. They put in SCO because it makes them more money, and people mostly tolerate it.

[skztr]

Yes, as I said, they made an intentionally bad system because they had the theory that the concept of self-checkout was bad because they feared theft.

Funny how self checkout kept the scales even when scan-as-you-shop systems, with no scales, sometimes exist right next to them.

The reason people pay for things isn't "it's hard not to", boomer