Stories from an exchange in Switzerlands, the experience in the two largest grocery cooperatives/grocery stores is quite different: you have the option of using your own phone to scan things, carry a scanner gun with you, or use a scanning station at the exit, no scale, no bagging required, or you can go to a standard register. There might be a person standing around verifying things are scanned and checking on/helping you, but often enough, only one. I've backtracked after forgetting to pay multiple times because they basically trust you.
Living in a high trust society is nice. We should work on scaling this
UK Asda (owned by Walmart) does something similar - I can open the app on my phone, scan items using the camera, and just pay at the checkout by scanning a QR code the app generates.
Sometimes I might get randomly selected for a manual review by a staff member. But in general it's like they are interested in selling more than stoping thieves
So does Waitrose. You can either scan using your phone or one of their hand scanners (you get them when you come into the store by scanning your loyalty card).
My experience is that no society trust you to be old enough to buy a few beers.
So you have to stand there and wait until someone comes and look at you.
Stop & Shop (in northeast US) has had a scanner gun you carry with you for at least 10 years. Works great. Takes about 30 seconds to checkout. Also helps to verify you are getting the correct price.
I have some sympathy for the stores: they've obviously put in a lot of these features to keep people from scamming the self-checkout system.
But I also share the author's frustrations. I've had a number of times where it decides the weight of something is wrong or for some other reason stops functioning until a store employee intervenes. But sometimes there is no store employee there at all, and I'm standing there at the self-checkout with no way to resolve the situation.
In some of those cases, I've just left my groceries there at the machine and walked out the store. I tell myself "That'll show 'em, they'll have to put all that stuff back on the shelf!" But it obviously doesn't show them anything: they never fix the broken parts of the self-checkout and I end up having to return to that supermarket (or another) for the reason that brought me into the store in the first place.
>In some of those cases, I've just left my groceries there at the machine and walked out the store. I tell myself "That'll show 'em, they'll have to put all that stuff back on the shelf!" But it obviously doesn't show them anything: they never fix the broken parts of the self-checkout and I end up having to return to that supermarket (or another) for the reason that brought me into the store in the first place.
This seems... like a pretty lame take.
I bet in most cases the employees will never know why someone just left their stuff there. Some of it could be perishable so it'll need to be tossed rather than re-stocked onto the shelves.
And not only that, I doubt the people responsible for those machines at whatever corporate level are really checking metrics on why someone starts a checkout and then randomly stops. That's just too many steps removed.
However, there should definitely be a better way. I just don't think this is it.
> they've obviously put in a lot of these features to keep people from scamming the self-checkout system.
And these features, while understandable, make me despise using the self-checkout. I've always mused that we should have a TSA PreCheck for grocery store checkout. Do a background check on me, I promise I'm not going to steal your shit, now let me just check out without all the checks that constantly break and slow me down. But then I get annoyed at my own solution because of privacy concerns. And so I always just end up leaving the store in a bad mood.
> In some of those cases, I've just left my groceries there at the machine and walked out the store. I tell myself "That'll show 'em, they'll have to put all that stuff back on the shelf!" But it obviously doesn't show them anything: they never fix the broken parts of the self-checkout and I end up having to return to that supermarket (or another) for the reason that brought me into the store in the first place.
That's because corporate headquarters doesn't track how often stuff gets left where it doesn't belong, and the individuals employees have no way to make feature requests or report bugs that aren't severe. (I can report that the system chokes if a guest tries to pay with card, but I can't report that I have to kill the app every so often because it won't let me backstock(there's like 5 different ways it breaks backstocking))
Handheld scanners should displace both self-checkout kiosks and traditional kiosks.
I can scan things straight into the bag in my trolley. And if I've used my phone as the scanner, I can pay and leave without going anywhere near a physical terminal. If this could be the experience for the 90%, and you only needed a couple of tills open, supermarkets could reclaim 10% of their floorspace and several jobs.
When self-checkout kiosks came alone, there was an argument that the supermarket is making you do their job, but there's little I resent more than loading everything into a trolley, and then having to get it all out again before repacking it all in a massive hurry. I'd much sooner fight an awful app on my phone and do it once than do it all twice.
I can't believe I didn't even think of that as a solution. All the stores in my area already have an app. Allowing barcodes to be scanned would be a gamechanger.
Hell, I'd buy a barcode scanner that connects to your headphone jack, just for this (assuming it exists.)
A camera works fine, FWIW. It's all integrated at API level. Some supermarkets here let you use your phone (and could take payment further, to remove the physical checkout process), and others use handheld scanners which could also integrate with phones for checkout (direct NFC payment, or scan a barcode on your phone to upload your cart, pay for it).
The Dollarama a block from my house has only had self-checkout for almost three years now. There is a person there to help if you need it, and the stock people. That's it.
The Metro grocery store in the same mall also is half self-checkout, half human. The IKEA where I shop is also half-human and half-self checkout.
The drug store I go to has 1 human checkout, and a row of self-checkout systems. I don't spend a lot of time at the drug store, but so far, I've only ever seen the elderly prefer the human checkout there.
I don't see this ending soon. I'm getting very acquainted with not having to make small talk with someone who has already chatted about the weather 30 times in the past hour. And it is faster.
I've never had an issue with the scales or the scanners. They have always worked exactly like you'd expect them to. And if they don't, there's always at least one staff member nearby anyway. I've just never needed that service, I guess. Scanning things one at a time doesn't take any more time than pressing the * key and a multiplier. You have to pick everything up to put them into your bag anyway.
This is a fascinating read. It seems self-checkout works a little bit differently in Norway. We have self-checkout lanes in many (most?) stores in Norway. There is usually an employee nearby at all times (in case there's a problem, or when an employee must verify the age for alcohol beverages, and similar). For a regular trip by the store to shop groceries, most of the items can be scanned quickly and easily. A few items must be weighed manually (mostly various types of vegetables and fruits). There are some differences between stores on how well these systems work, but in my experience, most of them work very well.
I would still use the "old" checkout when I have a wagon full of wares, as that makes it easier to pack the bags. The self-checkout counters are quite small and so are inconvenient for large amounts of items.
I wonder if stores lose money on self checkout lanes. Just yesterday I witnessed something for the first time(for me) and I wonder how often this really happens. I was in line for the self checkout, there were about 6 machines and they were all being used. In one of them there was a guy with lots of groceries and he was slowly scanning everything. Then when he was done he pretended to pay and then just walked out. At first I didn't understand what happened but the machine he was using just remained there in non-ready state and nobody was touching it afterwards. After it was my turn I walked up by it and noticed that it still displayed "$220 due".
The guy went through the trouble of scanning every item he was going to steal and then just walked out.
Disclaimer: I'm in Germany and self-checkouts are still kinda rare where I live.
I have never seen such a system where you had to scan anything after the fact or there were even some bars/obstacles to be able to leave.
That said, I'm very indifferent. The one at IKEA seems to work fine, the one in the local hardware store I've had problems both times I tried to use it. First there was no barcode on some item I had (maybe if you do it more often and only have 4 things you will check beforehand?) and the second time it wouldn't accept my card, so maybe the latter doesn't necessarily count as "self-check out didn't work" but more 'register broken'.
And where it would totally help - my local grocery store where more often than not I only have a couple things in my hand and no trolley and the 1 or 2 lines are very long.. of course they don't have one :(
That would slow down the system too much. It'll probably work if self-checkout lanes were actual lanes that can have an individual gate at the end, but in most cases self-checkout is an open area with a single exit that everyone funnels into - putting a gate there would slow it down to a crawl.
I live in Berlin, and this is standard here. There are 6 self checkout stations with a single exit. Once you are done scanning items and have paid, your receipt has a barcode you have to scan to exit. It always takes longer to scan your items than get through the gate, so I’ve never had to wait.
> self-checkout systems seem to have slowed down immeasureably. Even simple things like seeing a number appear on screen when you press the number on the screen take 250ms, which just feels slow. Toggling between screens will take half a second
I wonder if there have been any implementations that allow people to scan their credit/debit card to enter and just detect what they take and create an automated charging system when they walk out.
Amazon stores do this. Also Uniqlo has a really cool approach where each item tag has an RFID chip and you just place your entire bag into the scanner and it automatically detects all your items.
'Amazon Fresh' in the UK have no scanning. They use cameras and AI to see what you pick up and you just walk out. You still have to scan your app when you walk in - face recognition would complete the experience.
I find it interesting that Kroger is high paranoia (weigh everything, etc.) and Walmart is low (scan what you like). Just given these comments about higher and lower trust areas.
I am not terribly fond of Kroger for that reason, among others. They also have installed obnoxious displays with flashing red lights in every aisle, but can't afford more than one security person who constantly looks like they are out of breath doing nothing but standing still.
I never use self-checkout machines. For one thing, it's a lot more work for me, scanning codes and packing items into my bags. For another, I enjoy the conversations I have with the tellers.
In the U.S., yes. If they don't have enough staff on hand to specifically bag, then the cashier will bag it. Some places (Meijer, for example) will have a carousel of bags, and the cashier bags things as they are scanned. When one bag is full, it is turned so you can pick it up and put it in your cart while the cashier continues scanning and bagging. The only place I know of that won't bag your items for you is Aldi, but I'm sure there are others; it's just not common to have to bag your own items, unless in self checkout.
In Texas at HEB, items can be scanned with the gun but the kiosk will tell you to bag the item, or leave in cart.
Even if you are scanning certain bulky or heavy items, if it wants you to bag it, you have to wait five seconds for a timeout to say "skip bagging".
No, I don't want to shove my six pack of triple mega toilet paper into a plastic bag.
Again, I know theft deterrence is a thing, but come on. Also in Texas at least, self checkout is for ten items or less, so any time optimization will add up to little.
BJ's Warehouse Club self checkouts used to weigh your purchase, but also had infrared sensors to ensure it went on the belt after scanning. The sensors could not detect anything shorter than about 3/4" of an inch (20mm), so if you bought something like an SD card it would yell at you to re-scan it. You might think you could hold it up as the belt moved but they knew how many infrared beams should be broken by it - and would yell at you. I solved the problem by not renewing my membership.
The Costco self checkouts (mentioned by the author) don't have hand-scanners like they do at Sam's Club. So if you buy something heavy like a case of drinks you have to either muscle it up onto the scanner or wait for the attendant. This is something they can improve.
Sam's now has an app that lets you scan and pay for your purchases through your phone. You will still get your cart looked over at the exit by an employee, but the experience has been very good. I think Walmart will be offering a branded version for their stores soon.
It's pretty ridiculous, at least here in the SF Bay that the self checkout lanes have these features that are meant to deter abuse of the system, when in fact the entire store runs on the honor system and has a policy to not stop anyone who simply walks in, grabs a bunch of stuff and yells "thank you" as they casually stroll out without paying.
Self checkout will always be slower than a human cashier unless it’s zero interaction like Amazon Go. People who use the machines optimized for high throughput all day long will always beat the casual person who rarely/never interacts with the self checkout machine… let alone know where UPC codes are to scan.
Yes it has. I order groceries from my couch and I pay 2€ extra for delivery and my door bell rings under 15 minutes 95% of the times, sometimes in under 7 minutes. I live in a major German city.
P.S. I have at least twice ordered missing ingredients mid cooking and luckily both those times, delivery was under 10 minutes.
Valid points but want to address some specific points:
2) Not entirely true. On average you may be right, but some specific items that I care about, like some good brands of milk, are actually cheaper on the app than at the store (my reference store is Rewe which is the closest to me and a bit on the expensive side).
3) If the price of items is higher as you say, then shouldn't that cover the salaries of the couriers? Also they have a guaranteed minimum wage and tips. They get a great workout since it's all based on bicycles.
4) The deliveries happen from a warehouse and not the grocery store. I assume the warehouse is optimized for deliveries and not foot fall.
On average I do pay more per week, maybe +10€, which is well worth it since I have a toddler at home and every hour is accounted for.
P.S. German cities are very compact and have decent bicycle lanes.
When I was a teenager bagging groceries, the self checkout was just entering the market. I thought what a revolutionary invention; why interact with humans when you can go much faster with a machine. Now that I'm older I must confess that I loathe the self checkout. I spend too much time waiting in line for one of the cashiers because I just don't like the self checkout experience.
Self introspectively I have a conflict: I don't like that self checkout takes jobs away, but there are some businesses where self-checkout is very helpful; McDonalds. I envision a future in which you place your order at the fast food place on a kiosk, and then someone hands you the food, three employees max while a computer makes the food.
Grocery stores...feel different, and perhaps it is the social aspect of it.
I think technology has whittled away any remaining mental effort required to be a cashier.
I remember growing up, cashiers needed to know the price of every single vegetable (no PLUs) and fruit. Prices were labelled on boxes, but otherwise memorization was required.
Then you had to make change, too, although by that point the amount was already calculated.
I love the app for our local burgerchain. I can choose and customize my order with it, pay for it and then just pick it up by showing code at till... Efficiency gains, sadly I can't get my lunch benefit as that payment method is not supported... So instead I have to make my order, line up and pay at till.
I love self-checkout and will do it every time it's available. Self-checkout was always a stupid idea.
1) We can barely train employees to operate POS machines consistently, without mistakes and frequent interventions by roving managers. Now every customer is supposed to learn your awful, shifting UI. Critiques of specific UI mistakes miss the forest for the trees - if they were going to be perfected, they would already have been; we've been trying to teach 16 year olds to use them for decades. Maybe it would work if all grocers settled on a single UI, never changed it, and everybody got a couple of hours of instruction and a quiz devoted to it in school.
2) Part of what cashiers do is block the exit doors so you can't just walk out with things.
This last part is the telling part. Many stores these days have permanent security staff at the exit - for what we assume is just this issue.
And no master how much you save by getting rid of cashiers and replacing shelf stackers, if there was no staff in the store at all, we would not call it looting, just high energy shopping
Note that the 4011 PLU is for bananas by weight, 8011 is the PLU for bananas by each, which the store uses will vary from store to store (my local Target sells bananas by each because the non-self-checkout registers don't have scales)
The gripe about being completely unable to enter a quantity of an item doesn't match my experience. But it isn't obvious how to use it - do you scan something, then enter the quantity, then put in the bagging area? Turns out no, you enter a quantity, scan one item, then put them all in the bagging area. But I discovered that if you enter a large quantity and can't put them all down in a certain time frame, it will complain the weight doesn't match and you have to wait for the supervisor... So I guess it works best with quantities of something you can fit in your hands.
If I were able to enter a quantity, that would be one thing, but the option for me simply isn't there.
So I have to do this awkward dance where I hold the jar of tomato sauce with one hand (for scanning) while the other moves the other jars from the cart to the bag (for the weight check.)
I literally checked out in 20 seconds today. The store has an app, you scan food with your phone as you put it in your cart, and then the only thing you need to do at the lane is pay (and show ID if you’re buying beer).
Presumably likelihood of prosecution depends on the actual value of the forgotten item, and since these systems are typically coupled to a loyalty card, they can also check history. They'll be much more lenient on a regular customer forgetting a 10$ item once than a brand new one forgetting a 200$ item.
I my country, it's been over for about 5 yrs. First I could get a battery hand-scanner when entering the shop, scan the items as I put them in my bag, and the just flash a barcode and pay at the self-checkout. Nowadays, I launch my store app, scan barcodes directly w/ my phone, and when I'm done just select "Pay" and walk out.
Occasional audits apply, about every 10-20 shopping trips I've got to let them check I indeed scanned 2-3 items. Total re-scan about twice a year.
In Israel there's a well known chain that caters to the ultra orthodox crowd that doesn't have traditional (what I'd call US style) self checkout.
you carry a scanner gun with you around the store scanning items as you put them in your cart. then it takes the guns results and weighs the cart, and assuming they are within tolerances, lets you bag, pack up and leave. of course, things aren't always within tolerances, but generally they seem to be.
store just happens to have such a process (but more stated as those who might be viewed as technophobes using technology that other stores aren't). though the ultra orthodox clientele might also be why they have it. Generally larger families and hence much bigger purchases so normal checkout takes longer.
What about a smart shopping cart that close a lid when you pass the checkout area and then somehow figure out whats inside. After you cross the pay area it will open if you paid for everything
Uniqlo does this - they have RFID tags embedded in their products so you can just dump all of it in a special basket at checkout and it autodetects everything. I suspect they also work for anti-theft as there are no separate, bulky anti-theft tags to remove.
One of my local grocery stores actually properly staffed the checkout. I virtually never have to wait in line more than for one other person. Needless to say they are always my first choice.
I've found this to be true as well. I will pay more to shop in a store that staffs adequately so that I don't waste time, and pays checkers enough that they can hire as needed.
15 or so years ago our local Walmart got a new location and store. They must have at least 40 checkout lanes, and when I first saw them I was surprised they would staff that many.
Of course, as far as I could tell they never even approached that. Maybe during Black Friday a but I’m not insane enough to go to a Walmart of all places on that day. Even before they had self checkouts put in the most I ever saw was perhaps 3 or 4 staffed. Now that they have (too few) self checkouts I think they often don’t even have a single one staffed.
Our local Target is a far smaller store, with maybe 8 checkout lanes. They’re usually all staffed, and by people who actually try to do a good job.
Self-checkouts and checkouts in general have gotten slow because they're increasingly dominated by elderly customers. At least that's my experience. Over the last 5 years, I've noticed way fewer young people shopping in person. I think a lot of those under 50 have switched to services like Instacart and Amazon Fresh. And I can't say I blame them. The checkout process has become excruciating. I love and respect my elders, but for some reason they collectively fail to check out in an appropriate amount of time without error.
I find checkout has gotten slow because a lack of staff. It never fails that there are lines out into the shopping aisles because a store can't staff more than two or three cashiers, even at their busiest times.
True, yes, and they fail to serve the needs of many.
I'm skeptical as to whether more tech is the right answer to serving the elderly. Self-checkouts are essentially saying "hey, you're as capable of scanning and bagging as the next person, so do it yourself with a small number of groceries." By definition, the elderly won't be as good of candidates for this on average because they will tend to be slower and not as fluent with tech that serves the majority.
A technological solution might be able to serve both if it could adjust to the user. Since these checkouts are hesitant to implement a more full-fledged user management system, I doubt we will see such a thing any time soon. With user accounts with profiles and settings (beyond just having a store card), the experience could be tailored to what is most useful to the user and make suggestions.
If we're not going to get that, then regular checkouts are the better answer for the elderly or anyone else who will be prone to issues with self-checkouts.
1. Enter the store and immediately present my loyalty barcode from my phone app to the scanner
2. Pickup a hand scanner which is now associated with me for this visit (I could even use my phone as a scanner, but I haven't tried it; I assume it wouldn't be as fast as the good laser hand scanner device).
3. Scan every item as I put it into my cart. If I buy multiples, I tap the + button on the scanner after I scan. If I buy produce that needs to be weighed, I go to the scale kiosk, put the thing on the scale, make no more than 3 taps of the screen, and then stick the printed label on my item and scan it.
4. To finish my shopping, I go to the checkout area and drop my scanner into a slot. Then I walk to the checkout kiosk of my choice and scan my loyalty barcode (from my phone app or from a plastic keyfob thing). The screen shows details of what I bought, but I ignore that and quickly pull up Apple pay with my bank card, move the phone near the card reader, and pay my bill.
5. Tap the screen to choose physical short receipt (just a barcode used to pass the exit gate), long receipt with barcode, or opt to use my loyalty barcode to exit.
All of this is so easy, and the experience is refined to the point where there's little left to improve.
No offense intended, but what you describe sounds pretty dismal to me. We have what you describe where I live (France), but I prefer to go to the markets where I know the butcher/green grocer/cheese person/dried fruits and nuts person/fish monger/etc. and they know me. I stand in a line, sometimes for a while, and finally they get to me and ask me how I've been doing recently. Then they ask me for my order and frequently tell me something interesting or useful about what I'm ordering (e.g. where it comes from, how it was grown, etc). They might tell me how to prepare something or offer a suggestion as to what I could buy that I don't usually buy. They might even tell me something about an event happening in the community soon. It's pretty rad.
The human operated lanes still exist in my store. Many people use them, and they do have chats at the checkout line.
And no offense :), but I don't go to the grocery store to make friends. I have much better or more interesting things to do. If I could get fast reliable delivery and not even have to go, I would choose that option.
The point relevant to the OP is that self-checkout systems can be implemented well.
I think the idea of making acquaintance with people in one's community is what has held society together historically, and the derision for human interaction with others (shopping, eating, pub, etc) is the downfall of civil society.
I chat with the cafe owner on my street fairly often.
My grocery store, however, is 20 minutes away in a neighboring town. They have a large staff which is in frequent rotation. The staff also is mostly early 20s or younger age. Add all these things up, and it just doesn't make much sense for me (or them) to go out of our way to socialize.
Yes same here. I really go crazy when technology that takes us further away from each other is presented as some sort of progress. Why don't we look around at how isolated we've become? Is it any wonder that our stupid little factions (right vs left, black vs white, etc) are pulling further and further away from each other when so much effort is being put into limiting our contact with one another?
To be fair, the self checkout are mostly replacing the cashiers in supermarkets that are lowly paid for a very though job, who probably don't know you and who would probably be fired if they "lost" one second saying something nice to you, not the friendly fruit producer from your local market.
You are describing a system which can only exist in a high trust environment with reasonably well compensated and motivated staff.
You fundamentally need to trust that your customers won’t try to steal from you, and that if they do they will be moderate enough that you can track it as a cost of business - or so extreme that your staff will catch it easily (and care enough to fix it).
Many people, unfortunately, do not live in such places.
This is the way we have it, too. I would like to add yet another advantage of this approach: You can designate bags in your cart to where the items go in your house, e.g. for fridge items, bathroom items, dry items, frozen items. When you're in the store, you sort things right then and there when you pick them of the shelf; when you get home you just drop the bag off in the right room, no more running back and forth.
The problem with this option is that it requires a loyalty card, sharing personal information and agreeing to a "privacy" policy (from experience, if a "privacy policy" is mentioned, your privacy is about to be violated).
If they could make this system work with anonymous accounts (walk up, swipe credit card and pick up scanner, put back scanner when done and the previously-authorized credit card is charged the appropriate amount) it would be lovely.
You can walk up to the info counter at the entrance on each visit and pickup a new loyalty card. There's no registration required. It would be a bit wasteful of plastic, but there are no privacy issues at all there.
Of course, when you checkout with a non-cash payment, they can keep records of what you bought based on your payment info.
I hate the stupid voice more than the actual errors which at least have plausible deniability as theft deterrence. The idle screen should have a big "fuck off and don't scream at me" button you can press before starting to immediately disable that at the start of the session (most have a tiny volume button but it just cycles through the levels so you have to press several times and go through louder levels before muting it).
Also, I wish it would display the actual (total) weight vs expected. If it's off by 1g I know it's just a measuring error and bumping the scale will fix it - if it's off by 100g I know I need to look further and there might actually be an unexpected item.
> I've got an item of produce without a barcode (places on scales)
>> Ok, I've clearly taken a picture and decided it's a banana because that's the only option I'm showing you
> Yes, it's a banana
>> That's x amount by weight, please bag it
> Ok
...
And then 2 minutes later when I try to pay, it summons the cashier and shows them the picture it took of the banana, because it no longer thinks it looks like a banana.
Living in a high trust society is nice. We should work on scaling this