Posted on 03/18/2024 8:17:28 PM PDT by Morgana
They were introduced as a way to cut lines, boost efficiency in store and reduce staffing numbers - and boomed in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic.
But is the self checkout falling out of favor with big-name retailers?
In recent weeks, Dollar General, Target and Walmart have all announced sweeping changes to automated registers in stores across the US.
Experts say the rollback is linked, mostly, to fears around theft - as it is much easier for customers to shoplift items at the self checkout rather than a checkout with a cashier.
But retailers say they are also trying to provide a better shopping experience for customers by imposing limits on self checkout, making the process quicker and easier.
ast week, Dollar General announced it was pulling self checkout stands entirely from 300 of its stores with the highest level of shoplifting and mis-scanned items.
In 9,000 other locations it said it is converting some of its self checkout registers to regular cashier checkouts, and limiting self checkout purchases to five items or less in a further 4,500 stores.
The company said the changes would help reduce 'shrink'. This is the retail industry jargon for merchandise losses due to theft, damaged items and administrative errors.
'We believe these actions have the potential to have a material and positive impact on shrink,' Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos said on a call with analysts Thursday.
According to a study of retailers in the US, UK and other European countries, stores that had self checkouts had a loss rate of about 4 percent more than the industry average.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Interesting but my local Walmart Neighborhood just remodelled the check out area roughly tripling the self-check out stations. I have noticed an increase in walmart staff in the self check out area.
It’s what happens when you have MBA’s running a company rather than someone who know f—k all about retail.
They probably figure if they leave the shelves empty for a while, then restock them with the same product, but with a higher price, that most people won't remember how much they payed for the stuff previously.
Several years ago, even before the scamdemic, my local Walmart stopped carrying some of the items that I used to be able to buy off their shelves...like the small DAK canned hams. You could then only buy them if you ordered them through their online site, and you had to order them in a 4-pack, not a single item.
I also used to buy Walmart's maple-flavored sausage patties. Then last fall, they disappeared in all the stores, and were gone for at least 2-3 months. When they showed back up, they were in a different colored package. I figured they'd just changed the package design so I bought a bag. How wrong I was. They must have also changed suppliers, because the new patties had no maple flavor whatsoever, and tasted more like cardboard and sawdust. I threw the bag away, and left a bad review on their store site. That's when I checked out all the other reviews, and found all the negative comments about the change in the patties.
I have to tell you that Walmart does an EXCELLENT job at curbside pickup, I started ordering ALL of my groceries on line I can sit in comfort of my home at do my shopping on Walmart’s website I do this over a few days if I see I am out of something I add it to the cart!! I started doing this BECAUSE if I go into the store I start throwing unnecessary items into my cart and I can’t afford to do that anymore!! When I am ready to get my order I just push what time on that day I would like to pick it up, they notify me of any substitutions and I can reject them if I don’t want the substitutions!! I have been doing this now for about 6 months every 2 weeks I have NEVER had ONE mistake the produce has always been GREAT, meats chosen have ALWAYS been great, they bring the bagged groceries out to the car load them up and off I go!! I have saved a TON of money by not going into the store and spending unnecessary dollars!! Walmart has curbside pickup MASTERED and I thank them for it!!!
Costco is not thinking about what products you buy when they check your cart at the exit door. All they want is the count of the products. If they want to get an itemized look at what you buy, that is done when they scan you membership card and the barcodes on your purchases at the check stand. I am sure they will keep a file on what you purchase. That file will help them detect a product that you try to return with no history of your purchase—like something that was shop-lifted. Members are receptive to helping Costco make things work.
Costco has managed to keep a lid on the worsening nationwide theft issue. According to the CFO, shrinkage was between “0.1% and 0.2%,” during the most recent quarter. That’s significantly lower than the nationwide average of 1.44%, as reported by the NRF.
My local Target is awful. The self checkout is all by hand scanners with no place to sack your items.
Agree. Depends on how much I have though.
I prefer self checkout because the staff who do the checkout tend to be very sloppy in packing.
One case I remember is where the checker put a lot of cold items into one bag, and when it became full, put the small ice cream into the next bag with nothing cold near it — on a hot day.
Another time, I explained to the checker how I wanted things packed, and she did it that way — until the kid came over and took over the packing — doing it randomly, of course.
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