# Self checkout at grocery store **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 11, 2022, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkout-at-grocery-store/957589 "2022-01-11T14:28:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkout-at-grocery-store/957589/21 "2022-01-11T16:36:30Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > The only safeguard I’m aware of is that now there is one employee monitoring four self-checkouts, and that employee is fairly close at hand the way it’s all set up. As a former self-checkout employee, yeah, we wouldn’t stop anyone from shoplifting. General policy for most place is not to confront a shoplifter. I think at this point stores are seeing that the increased speed and volume of self-checkout outweighs the potential theft. And really, if someone wanted to steal, having to weigh items wouldn’t really stop them. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkout-at-grocery-store/957589/22 "2022-01-11T16:39:06Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I cannot remember the last time I had a problem with self checkout. Now I remember! I was looking at “onions” and saw “onions, Spanish”, “onions, red”, “onions, white”. I couldn’t find “onions, green” because as I found out from the helper lady they were under “g”. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkout-at-grocery-store/957589/23 "2022-01-11T16:42:40Z")
When I was at Walmart, the employee called me over to an open checkout. As soon as I started my scan, a message came on saying the register was shutting down! Luckily, there was another check-out right next to it was open. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkout-at-grocery-store/957589/24 "2022-01-11T16:45:57Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > UNEXPECTED ITEM IN THE BAGGING AREA! Is usually me putting my empty bag on the stand/scale. 😖 I’ve found if I scan the first item, put it in the bag & then put the bag down it usually gets around that. Don’t forget the ITEM REMOVED FROM BAGGING AREA which is _always_ me removing my full bag & putting it back in the cart. @bordelond, where do you shop that you can fill five or six bags? Our local stores (two different chains) only have space for two bags. Let’s not forget the store that tells you everything about the product, including how much you saved when it’s on sale, which really sucks for something you buy multiples of because I have to wait for it to catch up to know how many I’ve scanned so that you can move on. “{Brand} Yogurt, Price $\_\_\_. \_\_¢ savings.” ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkout-at-grocery-store/957589/25 "2022-01-11T16:47:24Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > The biggest problem is produce items. Where I live in Europe, most stores have a weighing station in the produce section. There’s one or more scales, each with an integrated label printer. The station is usually self service, but it may be manned in the larger stores to accelerate the volume of shoppers. Having a scannable label on your sack of apples (or stuck directly to the mango or the chunk of ginger or whatever) definitely speeds up checkout at the register. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2022, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkout-at-grocery-store/957589/26 "2022-01-11T16:59:54Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > As a former self-checkout employee, yeah, we wouldn’t stop anyone from shoplifting. General policy for most place is not to confront a shoplifter. That makes sense. I get the impression that part of the overall self-checkout set up at this grocery is a bit of psychological engineering: People are more likely to shoplift when the nearest set of eyes is 20 feet away rather than 8 feet away. It’s not so much that they’d expect to get stopped at the door by an employee. I think the deterrent is more an aversion to simply being witnessed in the act. Also, the self-checkout area is kind of wide open and there are very few physical barriers to prevent passers-by from viewing your scanning-&-bagging if they were so inclined. Again, a determined thief could no doubt smuggle some stuff out of the store. But anyone not fully committed to the theft will likely have some environmental and psychological aspects of the self-checkout set-up to overcome mentally before doing the deed. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkout-at-grocery-store/957589/27 "2022-01-11T17:04:58Z")
New checkout systems have been installed at Walmart I go to, and I’m 99% sure the area with the plastic bags no longer weighs the items. Am guessing they did away with them because they were so unreliable. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2022, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkout-at-grocery-store/957589/28 "2022-01-11T17:05:02Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > @bordelond, where do you shop that you can fill five or six bags? Our local stores (two different chains) only have space for two bags. Winn Dixie. It’s a grocery chain in the southeastern U.S. Several other local groceries have self-checkout areas with somewhat varying set-ups. Our closest WalMart Neighborhood Market has almost exclusively self-checkout now, and they have mostly that two-bag set-up you’re talking about. But again … the system doesn’t weigh items, so it’s OK to bag something up and then immediately place the bag right into the cart. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkout-at-grocery-store/957589/29 "2022-01-11T17:53:06Z")
Profit margins for grocery stores are razor thin, and their biggest operating expense is labor – especially in the current economy. Some amount of “shrinkage” is an expense that’s already built into their budget. Employing more self-checkouts and removing scales may lead to some increase in shoplifting, but that has to be balanced against the savings from having fewer cashiers and turning over more customers. At my nearest grocery store, the self-checkout has more like an 8:1 ratio of checkouts to employees and is usually the fastest moving line. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkout-at-grocery-store/957589/30 "2022-01-11T18:06:08Z")
One of my local Costcos is experimenting with self-checkout. They have large disclaimer signs that items of more than a certain weight can be scanned by the machine (or by the Costco employee standing right behind you!) but not put on the bagging scale. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkout-at-grocery-store/957589/31 "2022-01-11T18:06:17Z")
Just doing a quick search, I found this study: [https://www.ecrloss.com/research/self-checkout-research](https://www.ecrloss.com/research/self-checkout-research) > [@](#): > > Developing a loss to use indicator, it suggests that for Fixed SCO systems retailers can expect that every 1% of transactional value will generate an additional 1 Basis Point of shrinkage (unknown stock loss). Given this, for a store with 50% of transactions being processed through Fixed SCO, it can expect its shrinkage losses to be 75% higher than the average rate found in Grocery retailing. For Scan and Go SCO the study found that the expected losses were likely to be much higher, in the region 10.4 Basis Points of additional loss for every 1% of transactional value. I would assume the store can calculate how the increase in losses compares to their decrease in labor costs and decide how much self-scan they should implement. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkout-at-grocery-store/957589/32 "2022-01-11T18:39:08Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I couldn’t find “onions, green” because as I found out from the helper lady they were under “g”. I’ve told this before but I got hung up at the self checkout buying zucchini. It was under ‘squash, zucchini.’ ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkout-at-grocery-store/957589/33 "2022-01-11T18:44:22Z")
Tangentially related - when I put produce on the scanner without entering a code, a choice of items too pick from comes up or I can type in the name of the item. Its not always the same choice of items but recently it seems to be getting uncannily accurate. I sometimes use a frequent shopper card but not always (or even most of the time). Its as if a camera can actually see the item. Is this a thing, now? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkout-at-grocery-store/957589/34 "2022-01-11T18:53:25Z")
The above is correct. Weigh it and check against price of weight of said item. Sure a different box of crackers will weigh the same, but that’s just a little bit of lose. What’s going on is food chains trying to minimize the number of workers they need. Fewer checkers and baggers to pay. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2022, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkout-at-grocery-store/957589/35 "2022-01-11T19:00:25Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > Tangentially related - when I put produce on the scanner without entering a code, a choice of items too pick from comes up or I can type in the name of the item. Its not always the same choice of items but recently it seems to be getting uncannily accurate. I sometimes use a frequent shopper card but not always (or even most of the time). Its as if a camera can actually see the item. Is this a thing, now ? The WalMart Neighborhood Market self-checkouts can do this. There is definitely a camera on the produce being weighed, and from what I can tell it picks up on the general shape and color of the item. It doesn’t usually exactly identify the item, though – it will give you a list of maybe 3-5 possibles to choose from, and maybe 2/3 of the time, the item is in that list. Some items consistently “fool” the camera (e.g. avocados that have ripened beyond dark green), and I think when setting down a produce bag full of, say, Roma tomatoes or avocados the items will spread out and occlude too much light for the scanner camera to get a good look. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkout-at-grocery-store/957589/36 "2022-01-11T19:23:59Z")
We have people on social media saying that EVERY time they use our self checkout they have to get a human to intervene because the machine is buggy. But we measure how many interventions there are. Either by someone watching and counting how often the clerk went to help a customer or by letting intelligent video software do it. We also measure checkout queue statistics with intelligent video. We know that more than 90% of SCO transactions do not have associate intervention. And in many of our stores, more than 95%. The higher end the area in income and education, the lower the intervention rate. There can be people who constantly have issues. People with large orders. People who are confused by promotions or signage in the aisle. People who are watching prices very carefully and spot when the price isn’t what they expected. People who buy a lot of loose produce. People are confused about things sold by weight vs count. So that 5-10% of problem transactions could be the same people again and again. While others can literally go 50 times in a year and not have a single problem. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkout-at-grocery-store/957589/37 "2022-01-11T19:25:04Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > We know that more than 90% of SCO transactions do not have associate intervention. And in many of our stores, more than 95%. The higher end the area in income and education, the lower the intervention rate. I need someone to verify my age every single time. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkout-at-grocery-store/957589/38 "2022-01-11T19:29:24Z")
What are you buying every single time at a grocery store that requires age verification? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkout-at-grocery-store/957589/39 "2022-01-11T19:41:51Z")
Wine, usually. (ok, always) ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkout-at-grocery-store/957589/40 "2022-01-11T20:02:51Z")
Like I said, that small percentage of the customers cause most of the problems. We do not allow alcohol purchases through self checkout. Some states don’t allow it, but even where it is legal, we don’t allow it. You will simply not be able to scan your beer or wine at the self checkout. No override will work (“department key”) and we have a strict policy not to allow any workarounds. The SCOs to not have the cameras to capture an image of your ID. And yes, we require ID if you are obviously a nonagenarian. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkout-at-grocery-store/957589.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/self-checkout-at-grocery-store/957589.md?page=3)