Supermarket self-checkout lines

Factual Questions
21

[QUOTE=Eureka]
Every place I’ve used a self-checkout lane, as soon as you scan the item, you place it in the bag, which is on a scale. There is no conveyor belt after the scanner. The amount of space available to put your stuff on the scale varies depending on whether it is an express 15 items or less, or unlimited line.
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I’ve never seen a self-checkout lane, and the way technology appears around here, it’ll take 20 years before I see one locally.

So I can’t envision why the grocery bag is on a scale. As you fill it up with scanned items, wouldn’t the scale register higher? And what purpose is there to weigh your aggregate groceries? I can see how that might work for the first item, but after that…?

Educate me.

22

[QUOTE=Musicat]
I can’t envision why the grocery bag is on a scale. As you fill it up with scanned items, wouldn’t the scale register higher? And what purpose is there to weigh your aggregate groceries? I can see how that might work for the first item, but after that…?
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The machine compares the additional weight against the known weight for the item you just scanned. If it doesn’t match the machine barks “unexpected item” at you, klaxons go off etc. Well, not quite. If you don’t put anything in the bag pretty damn quick it starts pestering you “Please place the item in the bag. Please place the item in the bag.”

23

http://www.hamiltonpost.com/default.php?article=1386

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2006/09/27/AM200609272.html (interesting article that doesn’t answer the OP)

24

Those hand-held scanners are surely quicker though, because you just scan your items as you walk around the store, and then just pay and go at the machine. I’ve very rarely had to queue to pay, either. The downside is you have to have an account with the store.

25

[QUOTE=rocksolid]
I wondered about that when they first installed them here. But then i realised that it isn’t really any different to regular shoplifting. You still need to use a bit of sleight of hand or something. You can’t just pass two things through and only scan one because it all gets weighed. To do this you’d need to take an item directly from your basket and place it in your bags *beyond * the weighing conveyor belt.

Now if you are willing to do this and hope nobody notices i don’t see how different that is from just picking things off the shelf and sticking them in your pocket.
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That and the way they worked when I used to work at Kmart is that you had someone there supervising them, and to help with any problems that came up. (Whew, holy run-on sentence, Batman!)

What bothered me is when people would come up to me and say, “I hate those machines, why did you have to put them in?” Well, dude, it’s not like I personally had anything to do with the decision. :rolleyes: And it’s not like anyone’s forcing you to use them, either. You can always go to a regular old cashier.

Personally, I liked them, because I was always a lot faster than most people, and I could usually just zip right through.

26

I like them because I don’t have to have the cashier ask me “did you find everything okay?” That is quickly becoming THE most irritating attempt at customer service ever developed.

I think they’re great and use them at every opportunity. Less human contact the better.

27

Thanks for the explanations, guys. I didn’t realise there was a weighing counter-check mechanism involved. On the other hand, I still can’t help feeling the visual check of one set of a traditional cashier’s eyes isn’t the same as the 20% check of the eyes of a guy monitoring five lanes (for example) if I just choose to bypass my can of tuna from the system entirely. I might not walk out with a full cart for two bucks, but a ten dollar shaving here and there adds up over the months or years, and must be tempting for some.

As for this particular 300lb gorilla, he’s a pussycat, and a fairly honest one at that, but the dodgy yet prim shoplifting grandma in the next aisle might well take notice of the fact that the attendants are watching me.

I must admit I’m interested to try this system. Whether or not I’ll like it is another thing.

28

I hate those damn things. They are way too slow and are constantly whining about some damn thing or another. There is always some moron in front of you that can’t figure out how to use the stupid thing. Another reason not to use them is that if you walk around the store eating out of a bag of chips and swigging a coke, the self-check will complain that the empty coke bottle and empty bag the chips used to be in don’t weigh what they should. Shut up and finish the forkin’ transaction!

29

I can’t believe they are that much faster. There are more of them since only one person is needed to monitor.

However, the damn machines freeze up from time to time, requiring the monitoring cashier to clear it. Most of the time, there is some boob with a full cart of groceries trying it out for the first time. Then you inevitably have some person who let’s their kids scan some items to help.

But I think there is the illusion that it goes faster. That and it reduces my interaction with people.

30

If you consider an 8th grade science project a “study,” then I’ve seen one done. (and done rather well for that age group, IMHO) The conclusion was that the self scan lanes were considerably slower when accounting for amount of time to check out per amount of groceries. The student observed that much of the slowness arose from the customer’s lack of familiarity with the scanning equipment, so I suppose if you’re a whiz-bang with a bar code reader, it might not be quite as bad.

The speed comes in not having to stand in line with your bread and milk behind the family of six with two weeks worth of groceries in the store that can’t be bothered to open more than two regular lanes at a time.

31

[QUOTE=Kalhoun]
For starters, I always pay by check …
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So, you’re that person, huh?

Why pray tell?

32

[QUOTE=Gfactor]
Many of the people who use self-checkout machines say they do so because they perceive it as being faster than a clerk. Not so, says the IHL study. If there is no line, the clerk is much faster at it because they know what they are doing. The normal lanes are also unburdened by the security systems that trip up self-checkout lines.

The study hypothesizes that people believe it is faster because their attention is being occupied. They are actively scanning groceries rather than standing idly looking at Soap Opera Digest.
http://www.hamiltonpost.com/default.php?article=1386

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2006/09/27/AM200609272.html (interesting article that doesn’t answer the OP)
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bolding mine.

Well, sure. There’s your problem right there. If there’s no line, of course the person who does this 10 hours a day is faster, and she doesn’t have to worry about the scale and she’s probably got someone else to pack for her. It’s going to be faster to go to her. If there’s a line, I think it’s more of a toss-up, but of course that depends on the size of the line and the orders and the people in front of you.

At store A near us, they have huge vast arrays of check out lanes, of which a maximum of 4 are ever open. On a busy Saturday morning, 4 lanes will be open, and 2 of them are “Express” lanes. They don’t have self-checkout there. As a result, I hardly ever go there. At store B, there are small lines - no more than two people in front of you, and no self-checkout. Store C has varying lines, and a self-checkout. If there are long lines, I’ll do self-checkout (if I have 25 items or less), if there are no lines, I’ll let the professionals take care of it. I’m sort of ambivalent about Store B and Store C, and generally choose because of price and which one I happen to be near. But I definitely avoid Store A because of the long lines. If they put a self-checkout in, I’d go back, because I prefer it as a store - better selection and layout.

Also, “it just feels shorter” is okay by me. It’s really not that I don’t have 15 minutes to spare, it’s that standing in a line is BORING! I’d much rather play with the touch screen and the laser reader and scale with my time. :smiley:

33

[QUOTE=Solfy]
I suppose if you’re a whiz-bang with a bar code reader, it might not be quite as bad.
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For me, this is the most frustrating part. I can get the machine to scan but then you have to put the item on the scale and the machine has to ‘settle’ ( for lack of a better word ) before you can scan anything else. I guess another way to put is that it is not possble to scan at high speed. It aggravates me in the same way that a poorly implemented user interface on a slow computer does. It aggravates me in a way such that I know better than to try to use the self scan lane when I am out buying a hammer.

And, who’s bright idea was it to have the damn things speak? Part of my brain knows that it does no good to reply out loud to an inanimate object, but that does not seem to impede me from telling the stupid thing to STFU.

34

[QUOTE=WhyNot]
bolding mine.

Well, sure. There’s your problem right there. If there’s no line, of course the person who does this 10 hours a day is faster, and she doesn’t have to worry about the scale and she’s probably got someone else to pack for her. It’s going to be faster to go to her. If there’s a line, I think it’s more of a toss-up, but of course that depends on the size of the line and the orders and the people in front of you.
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I agree, except I’ll point out that many stores seem to put their slowest cashier on the express checkout. At the place across the street, I can beat the express person every time. :smiley: Since I’m usually there picking up two or three items for immediate consumption, I never waste my time with a cashier.

Right. What’s more important? Being faster, or being less bored? Not to mention the feeling of empowerment–to some extent, you’ve got control over how fast your checkout experience goes. If you’re in line waiting for a cashier, you’re subject to someone else’s inefficiencies (Bob, how do I ring ______ again?) and equipment failures–instead of your own.

35

We had two stores in our town, pretty much next door to eachother.

One had the “full service” types of self checkouts, with a conveyor. Three lanes of them open, all the time.

The other had 4 of the “weigh station” types.

The “weigh station” store closed down shortly after implementing this new “fast service” (which really is a joke. total pain in the butt!)

The other one, with the conveyors, did so well with the self checkout that they scrapped 2 more of their traditional lanes and installed 4 “weigh station” self checkouts. These are the super-extra-fast express lanes because they are only handy if you actually DO have 12 items or less and are paying with cash or CC.

So now the store has 4 lane options for you: traditional express, 12 items or less with a cashier; regular everyday checkout; self checkout with conveyor; and super express self checkout.

I love it.

36

[QUOTE=Uncommon Sense]
So, you’re that person, huh?

Why pray tell?
[/QUOTE]

It’s easier for me to manage my books. I need the physical process of writing checks to keep me from forgetting to enter stuff. I know…everyone in line hates it, but I have most of my check written out before my turn, so it’s really not as bad as they think it is.

37

[QUOTE=Usram]
The machine compares the additional weight against the known weight for the item you just scanned. If it doesn’t match the machine barks “unexpected item” at you, klaxons go off etc. Well, not quite. If you don’t put anything in the bag pretty damn quick it starts pestering you “Please place the item in the bag. Please place the item in the bag.”
[/QUOTE]
Maybe I’m missing something, but this seems really strange, unnecessary and subject to errors. Is this how it works?

Next item: can of beans. Scan, put in bag on scale, wait for scale to register and record an additional weight equal to the particular can of beans. Next: box of crackers. Scan, put in bag on scale, wait for scale to register and record an additional weight equal to the particular box of crackers. Box weighs too heavy because you were leaning against the scale a bit, so you remove the box, scan again, put in bag, wait for it to register…

Really? This sounds like the world’s worst idea for checkout. Is the bag weighing intended to eliminate shoplifting? What if you decide to put some items in another bag? Or use 2 bags? No bags? Do you start all over again?

38

[QUOTE=Musicat]
Next item: can of beans. Scan, put in bag on scale, wait for scale to register and record an additional weight equal to the particular can of beans. Next: box of crackers. Scan, put in bag on scale, wait for scale to register and record an additional weight equal to the particular box of crackers. Box weighs too heavy because you were leaning against the scale a bit, so you remove the box, scan again, put in bag, wait for it to register…

Really? This sounds like the world’s worst idea for checkout. Is the bag weighing intended to eliminate shoplifting? What if you decide to put some items in another bag? Or use 2 bags? No bags? Do you start all over again?
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That’s pretty much it. It’s not a tiny scale though. The whole unit with the bags in this picture http://www.gadgetspage.com/wp-content/P1020351.jpg is the scale. So it doesn’t matter which bag you use, and you have to work a little to lean on the scale. Nevertheless, it ain’t perfect.

39

[QUOTE=Drum God]
I don’t see why the stores would particularly care if you are getting out faster. What you are, however, is getting out of the store cheaper. At the stores that I have been to, one employee monitors four to six check stands. So, they are employing one person instead of four (or six). How long the line is is utterly irrelevant.
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And this is why I hate those self-checkout machines. I have reluctantly used them on the rare occasion (usually if I’m picking up one or two items and am running late for an appointment), but by doing it I feel a bit complicit in what I perceive to be a company’s downsizing policy. I just don’t want to buy in on that. Those are relatively low paying positions, and I figure that these people need their jobs more than I need to get home five minutes earlier.

40

I love them and I avoid the damn annoying chatty cashiers whenever I can.

That "study’ presumes the cashiers are any good at what they do. Which they are not. They suck, most of the time, and I can and do go faster on my own.

And I pay with debit.