Last week I went to Kroger and was surprised to see that they had cash registers set up where you could check out your own groceries! You pulled up your cart, scanned the item, bagged the item, and then scanned the next one. At the end it prompted you for coupons and then it let you pay. There was one clerk there to watch over the four “self-checkout” machines. I wonder if this will be the way of the future? It was sort of cool, but I’m not sure how much I liked it. I guess once you got used to it it would be fine. Maybe Wal-Mart could set these up so that they could have more check-outs open? Then the lines wouldn’t be so long. Now that would be nice!
Categories
Check It Out…
19 replies on “Check It Out…”
The one in Humble has been like that for a while (Jeanna and I went in there once on the way to Galveston), but I’m with you – I’m not sure if it’s a good idea or not. I have always thought, though, that the stores that have price scanners on the aisles so you can do your own price checks were a good idea.
Our walmart and Kmart have those I have been using it the past year or so way better and faster especially at Christmas time 🙂
They’ve had those at my local Stop & Shop, and I hate them. They are okay if you are only getting a few thing that already have UPC’s on them, but I have had problems when trying to buy fresh produce…most of it has those PLU mubers stuck on it, but I ALWAYS have a problem when punching them in.
Also, sometimes they won’t accept the scan of the UPC thing, and it takes forever to get someone to come and help. After a few times of having such problems, I decided that it was easier just to wait in line.
And I also feel that the stores are using this as a way to save having to pay employees…but they don’t give us any kind of discount for using these self-serve things. I think we should get some kind of a break for being unpaid store employees!
But I agree with Kymberlie about the price scanners in stores…I like Target because they have these…no surprises at the check out!
Some newer Boston-area Stop&Shop stores have already moved on to a second-generation version of the technology that has a better UI.
I don’t mind using it, but my very impatient wife gets mad if she has problems with the scanner or if the bag sensor doesn’t detect that you’ve put your item in the bag already.
Coming next — RFID tags on everything, so you won’t need to use the unreliable optical barcode scanners.
i’ve been using them at the local A&P for like the past year and a half. those things are a godsend! though the funny thing now is that more people wait to use the self service scanners than at the regular checkout area.
i think ours have the new systems integrated because they hardly ever miss a scan and they are so much faster then the first set they had in the store.
personally i hate the idea of some lame brained teen placing my eggs with the bleach and then slapping my bread in there to boot. i used to be a cashier and i had enough common sense to separate the different stuff.
also, with the lack of accessories like gum and candies in the self-serve area i don’t have to wait behind the slow parent paying by check with a whiny brat who doesn’t take no for an aswer when asking for candy. *grumble*
They had that here at a couple of stores in St. Pete a few years back — but it took longer to stand in the damn “pay” line with your receipt (since you couldn’t pay at the check-out register itself) than it did to stand in the regular line with a checker and bagger. The program vanished a couple of months later.
The Kroger lets you pay with cash or a debit card right there at the machine. If you want to use a credit card then you have to go sign it in front of the cashier guy. I paid at the machine though, so at least that allowed me to move through a little faster.
Our Wal-Mart doesn’t have them, and I normally do all of my shopping there. It’s not too often that I go over to Kroger because it’s nowhere near home – but I was on a hunt for my Protein bars!
that’s hilarious – i just went to a pathmark yesterday that had self check-out! i was stunned. what a great idea.
quick, too.
they’ve had those at Kmart here for a while… I used to love those things. they made getting outta there soooo much faster. i’m using the past tense because…
…more and more people are using them, which means there’s always some dumbass techno-phobe holding up the line. don’t get me wrong; i wasn’t too confident my first time either. i’m talking about your typical damsel in distress, “oh, phooey, whyyyyy won’t this woooooork” in a whiny voice, or your “confounded newfangled machinery” old farts. i liked it better when people in general were scared to use ’em, so that the rest of us with average to above-average intelligence could speed thru.
The way I see it – it’s fine as long as the prices go down to compensate for the fact that you’re now doing the work you were “paying” for someone else to do. Otherwise….:(
We have these in our City Market store (Kroeger in Western Colorado is called City Market). They rule! I always use them when I run in to get just a few items. I agree that it sucks waiting behind the technophobes, and that’s happening more often now, but with 4 registers I can usually grab a different one. I always pay with debit, so I have to sign the slip. When the employee is busy with someone else I just grab my receipt off the machine, sign it, and leave it sitting there!
The A&P’s around here – including the one I used to work at – have had them for a couple of years now, and the K-mart got it about a year ago. They are very convenient for a few items, but I don’t think they’re the right thing for a large order.
Christine – where have you been the last two and a half years? They have been in Houston at least that long.
We have them at Fred Meyers (our big everything-store), and it really goes faster. I don’t mind doing my own work because I don’t have to put up with some of the slowpokes who they employee to scan my groceries. 🙂 Ours have a debit/credit machine right on them, too, and its really nice and convenient 🙂
now I just need to get well enough to actually walk through the store so I can go and enjoy this again!!!!
I love ’em. All the techno-challenged people stay out of the way and I get out of the store quicker! 🙂
You should move out to Ontario, Spring. We have a Wal Mart with those self check out thingies, and a Zehrs. They have special ways of making sure that you don’t shoplift, and they can be really annoying. But then Wal Mart is really annoying, and very anal about shop lifters, and their stores are way too crowded and not well organised. And brownii’s is working at one. Poor brownii’s. We should save her.
The past two and a half years I’ve been right here in Houston. I’m on the Northwest side of town, and like I said – the only Kroger is almost 15 minutes away and I pass 3 other grocery stores to get there (Not to mention the fact that Super-Wal-Mart is across the street!) So I don’t normally shop there. I probably haven’t been there for 3-4 months actually, and the last time I was there they didn’t have them. So they’re new to me!
Saw my first one of those just a few weeks ago at Home Depot! At first I thought it was cool (no snotty sales clerk to deal with. It’s faster, etc. etc.) But I didn’t even think about the fact that I AM doing the work that other people are getting PAID for. DUH! Yeah, don’t think I’ll see the price go down for it. But, if it means a faster path to the exit, I guess it’s okay.
I use them all the time down here… sometimes the lines are longer at the self scanners than at the human-run lines.