# How do you feel about self-checkout now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 10, 2022, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725 "2022-07-10T20:24:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/361 "2023-10-19T14:13:08Z")
One thing I’m getting out of this thread is that no one self-checkout user can generalize their experience in any way to what their experience would be in another store or locale. For those that have tried self-checkout in the past, and won’t try it again: If you tried self-checkout more than 18-24 months ago … you’re unlikely to have the exact same experience with it today. Most especially if you try a different store from where you were let down. Not supposed to use self-checkout for cartloads? Not around here. Our WalMart Neighborhood Market groceries never has a cashier lane open. There’s a huge corral with 12 self-checkout stations, one lonely use-in-case-of-irate customer cash register (unmanned), and a barely-occupied customer service area. And half of the self-checkout stations have huge bagging areas – no problems with full cartloads. Speaking of “bagging areas” though … you know, bagging and the related issues are kind of a thing of the past around here. Our local Winn-Dixie grocery (and the aforementioned WalMart Neighborhood Market) has scales underneath their bagging platform, but they are intentionally either disabled or unmonitored (I think the software is set to ignore scale input). So you don’t get anymore “unscanned item in the bagging area” alerts. And you for sure don’t get that old “place your item in the bagging area!” alert anymore. Want to scan items straight back into your basket? Bypass the bagging area and scale thing altogether? Knock yourself out. There are some new minor snafus that pop up with more recent self-checkout systems, but hardly to the level of rejecting self-checkout altogether. An example is the camera-monitoring AI with WalMart Neighborhood Market’s self-checkout (which is _de reigeur_ in newer systems). Recently, I was trying to get two new bags separated from each other and fluffed open. I pulled the two bags up to my body and started shaking them with some vigor. The AI caught this motion, halted the transaction, and hailed one of the checkout staffers to view a few seconds of footage to make sure I didn’t pilfer something. All was good, and the time from my bag-shaking to the resumption of the transaction was maybe 20-30 seconds. I don’t blame self-checkout for that. For better or worse, there are small things about self-checkout that I, the customer, have to learn and adjust to. And I do so with a good attitude, and thus find that self-checkout almost invariably goes smoothly for me. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/362 "2023-10-19T14:19:08Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > The store I go to had a thing going where you would take a handheld scanner and scan things as you put them in your basket. It was a real freaking pain for produce. If the bar code was on the supporting shelf and not the item itself if often would not scan. Once you get that sorted out, you had to go to a scale and weigh it and scan the scale. > > Then, you went to a self check out and weighed your bags (you remembered to put all your stuff in bags, right?) I think I mentioned earlier in this thread that Scan N Go is my jam. Sounds like yours is too complicated! They have 3 produce scanning stations in our produce section so the way to do it is get all your produce, go to the station, get all your weights and prices on to your scanning gun, and be done with it, well before you actually go to check out. Most of our produce has ID stickers on it but even if not, there is a lookup just like the cashiers (or self checkouts) would use. Scan N Go is a brilliant invention. The looks on people’s faces when they’ve been in line for 20 minutes and I’m sashaying out the door! Woohoo! ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/363 "2023-10-19T14:21:07Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Our local Wal Mart opened up huge banks of self checkouts. More than half of the self-checkout registers have bagging areas with 3 bag hangers ([like this](https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:720/format:webp/1*98ytcozKNyVb5Dhl_2kT1w.jpeg)). Our WalMart Neighborhood Markets have checkout areas like this. I looked for a closer picture, but you can see the huge bagging areas – full carts area a breeze. [![](https://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/d64l8y/picture239116898/alternates/FREE_1140/MIA_0095Walmart010720) ](https://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/d64l8y/picture239116898/alternates/FREE_1140/MIA_0095Walmart010720) ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/364 "2023-10-19T14:23:34Z")
Oooh that’s even bigger than ours! (but I like ours because there’s a TON of stations and we all zip right through) ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/365 "2023-10-19T14:24:44Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > And this store actually exemplifies the problem mentioned, of not having enough room. It’s a smaller store, and they replaced 2 traditional checkouts with 6 self checkouts crammed into the same space - so the surface area of the bagging area with the scale is too small on all of them. Even just the moderate amount of groceries I buy as a single guy often take up too much room. **I end up constructing an elaborate pyramid of groceries to try to get it all on there.** Try to see if this is still necessary – you may be able to scan directly to your cart, or remove items from the bagging area as you go. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/366 "2023-10-19T14:26:45Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > you may be able to scan directly to your cart, That just feels like a recipe for inadvertently shoplifting something when I lose track of what I’ve scanned and what I haven’t… ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/367 "2023-10-19T14:27:37Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Oooh that’s even bigger than ours! (but I like ours because there’s a TON of stations and we all zip right through) Yeah, that’s not my actual local WalMart Neighborhood market … that photo is of one in the Miami area. I was trying to find a close-up photo of the large cart-worthy bagging area – all the stations in the photo along the far wall are of that variety. Our self-checkout corral is maybe 2/3 the width of that one … though it looks to be about the same number of stations. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/368 "2023-10-19T14:29:56Z")
The Atlantic seems to think self checkout is now a failed experiement: > **[Self-Checkout Is a Failed Experiment](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/10/self-checkout-kiosks-grocery-retail-stores/675676/)** > > Please, not another “unexpected item in the bagging area.” ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/369 "2023-10-19T14:32:14Z")
Oh we have nothing like that. There are three grocery stores, a Walmart and a Target in the entire county. Oh and there is a Whole Foods. The self check outs are the small ones. The store that had the Scan & Go dropped it. It was Scan and wait for a self checkout to open up. Was pointless. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/370 "2023-10-19T14:33:52Z")
Probably not failed. It did what corporate wanted them to do. Decrease the number of needed employees. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/371 "2023-10-19T14:35:41Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > > [@bordelond](#): > > > > you may be able to scan directly to your cart, > > That just feels like a recipe for inadvertently shoplifting something when I lose track of what I’ve scanned and what I haven’t… Yeah, you do learn a new set of small skills when you deep-dive into self-checkout. Avoiding this issue is one of them. For large bulky items (cat litter, cases of water, etc.), the item never does leave the cart. I just hit it with the scanning gun. I don’t checkout small items that way (common exception: eggs, because the main reader sometimes has trouble with the wonky smudgy bar codes printed on the cartons). Anything non-bulky absolutely does leave the cart for scanning. Almost invariably bagging, as well – but then they can be summarily placed backed into the cart. The scale remains silent. No pyramids necessary. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/372 "2023-10-19T14:39:55Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > The Atlantic seems to think self checkout is now a failed experiement: > [Self-Checkout Is a Failed Experiment - The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/10/self-checkout-kiosks-grocery-retail-stores/675676/) The subtitle of that piece makes me doubt the writer’s conclusions from jump. Come with me, Atlantic writer, for my next dozen grocery shopping trips. Observe as I breeze through the self-checkout every time. Be amazed that when something does pop up, it gets resolved in no time. And then, after that, write about how self-checkout is a failed experiment. Now, if the writer is talking more from an econmic or sociological angle, that might be a different story. But the tired “_bagging area!_” issue? Please. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/373 "2023-10-19T14:40:23Z")
Yes, that’s where this 14-months-later bump started, with this post from @Dr_Paprika. > [@How do you feel about self-checkout now?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/338): > > It has become much more common in Canada. I find it slightly annoying. Maybe 20% of the time there is an unexpected item in the bagging area or some other thing requiring slow, unnecessary assistance from a harried cashier. I don’t mind things like produce codes, and I’m sure it saves the store money, but it is not generally quicker or more convenient for me. It lacks a personal touch and probably makes it less fun to work there. I see I’m not alone here. @Riemann astutely pointed out that the headline and tag sounded like it was an article recycled from 5 years ago. I agree, the mechanics of it are definitely not as finicky as they were at the beginning. Many of us quite enjoy self checkout and, at least in my city, stores have expanded it within the last year or two. It doesn’t seem to have failed for them. I went to a store the other day that I hadn’t been to in a while. Marc’s, which is local to Northeast Ohio. This store didn’t even have BARCODE SCANNERS until the early 2000s, and didn’t take credit cards either. Yes, the cashiers typed in every price. Anyway, even Marc’s has self checkout now. I couldn’t believe it! (And I used it) ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/374 "2023-10-19T14:52:51Z")
It is not a uniform thing. At Wal-Mart they use new machines and there are people nearby watching you who would resolve problems if they occurred, but so have never had any problem there. At Dollarama, there is less supervision and more glitches. Supermarkets vary but I’d say 80% easy is fair. But I tend not to use it given the option and if other lines are reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/375 "2023-10-19T15:19:55Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > For large bulky items (cat litter, cases of water, etc.), the item never does leave the cart. I just hit it with the scanning gun. Well, there’s another factor. I’m not aware of any places near me that have a “scanning gun”, they’re all fixed in place scanners you have to wave things over. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/376 "2023-10-19T15:25:48Z")
I see. Scanning guns are also virtually omnipresent at more recent self-checkout stations. It’s a real shame the overall concept of “self checkout” has manifest in so many different ways, and at so many different stages, across the U.S. I wonder if there actually have recently been _new_ installations of vintage 2010-2015 self-checkout stations (+ software) in some areas of the U.S.? Or maybe even older systems? ---
**Author:** ![Digger11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@Digger11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digger11)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/377 "2023-10-19T15:31:51Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > The only self checkouts I’ve used lately have been Wal-mart’s, and they don’t care what you do with your items after you scan them—none of that “bagging area” business that seemed to be a source of much of the frustration involved in using self-checkouts when they first started appearing. It’s been my experience that Walmart has better-operating self-checkouts than most other places. I have no idea why, or what makes the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Digger11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@Digger11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digger11)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/378 "2023-10-19T15:33:49Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > It’s a real shame the overall concept of “self checkout” has manifest in so many different ways, and at so many different stages, across the U.S. How else would anybody be able to determine what sort of system actually works the best? All the lab testing in the world simply cannot replicate the messiness of actual, live use “in the wild.” ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/379 "2023-10-19T15:44:32Z")
> [@Digger11](#): > > How else would anybody be able to determine what sort of system actually works the best? All the lab testing in the world simply cannot replicate the messiness of actual, live use “in the wild.” I hear you. A lot of the problems reported in this thread were more or less solved no later than ~5 years ago. The “in the wild” testing _started_, in many areas (maybe not all that many, it seems) at the dawn of the millennium. In some cases, people are in this thread reporting self-checkout problems from circa 2005. And by no means do I live in a place that latches onto the cutting edge of anything early. Heck, the first store I went to with self-checkout stations was a Kroger grocery in Ridgeland, Mississippi (suburban Jackson). A.D. 2001. It was the old “precisely weigh every item” systems. Rife with issues, but still manageable with patience. In the end, though, that “precise weight” system lost out to better, more user-friendly systems. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725/380 "2023-10-19T15:52:21Z")
The place i use self-checkout most often is an unmanned farmer’s market that’s open 24/7 and expects you to deal. I started shopping there during the pandemic, when, “i can go to a well ventilated place with literally no other people there” was a big draw. I still buy their expensive-but-excellent pastured chicken. They have no security measures at all, except for cameras. I have made mistakes in both directions (missing an item, and paying for an item i didn’t have) and nothing has ever come of that. Their current machines have better software than the old ones, and i haven’t made a mistake in a while. They are also harder to leave behind your credit card. (A common enough problem that they have instructions on the wall about what to do if you find someone’s card in the machine, and a box to put those in.) The other place is my local CVS, which often doesn’t bother to staff the checkout area, except for one employee, who will help you with the self checkout if you are clueless enough. My supermarket is clearly on the “for small purchases” bandwagon, and has replaced the express lanes (there were 3) with self checkout booths. They also have an employee dedicated to watching/helping that area. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-self-checkout-now/967725.md?page=20)