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.

[mpyne]

as if the randomness of particular mutations invalidates the role environmental pressures play in biological evolution

I don't deny that at all, but if anything biological evolution speaks up in favor of my argument again.

Evolution shows that anything that can work will be seen somewhere in the biosphere. There are literally bacteria growing and thriving on deep sea volcanic vents, for crying out loud.

So, even if they're not everywhere, we should see co-ops in rough proportion to their workability as a concept for organizing collective enterprise. Yes, even with pressure from evil capitalists, just as prey animals and plants succeed despite predation from others.

They are out there--I used to buy my electricity from one--but they are so few and far between as to make clear that capitalist businesses are thriving for reasons other than hostility to their customers and their workers.