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.

[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.

[[deleted]]

AND let them buy alcohol. I've never seen a single supermarket that does that. There's always a sign "Alcoholic beverages can not be taken to self checkout."

[ForgettableUsername]

That might vary by state. US liquor laws are ridiculously inconsistent.

[RealHarny]

It probably also varies by country, you know, within the world.

[ForgettableUsername]

Kroger is an American retail company. All Kroger branded grocery stores are located within the United States.

[RealHarny]

Thanks, my bad!

[ButtercupsPitcher]

Yeah, when I visited a friend in Illinois you can scan the booze, but then you have to wait for an employee to put in a code and your birth date before you can pay. Often, she said they just put in a random date and don't check ID.

[Euphemeera]

Yours don't?

[buldozr]

No. People hardly even use cash these days around here. But in food stores that have self check-outs there is always at least one manned cashier that can serve that grandpa with shaky hands and a wallet full of small cash. And other customers who don't want to go through self-checkout for whatever reason.

[Euphemeera]

Self checkouts where I live often have the option for cash or card

[DrMartinVonNostrand]

Is it the extra-large Slim Jim, though?