Self-Serve Grocery Checkouts: Pro or Con?

I'd say that being chatty is an Ohio thing. Now, if i'm talking to someone whom i don't know well, especially when there's some appreciable level of background noise, i have to be able to see their faces when they talk. But that's not a problem for me, because i'm an incurable flirt, and i'm never in such a hurry that i don't have time to flirt.

I was going through the check-out at Kroger one day, and my friend was waiting on me (we were getting food for dinner). I immediately began flirting with the check-out clerk, of course. As i was leaving the store, Darrell says: "You made that woman's day, you know." I asked him what he was talking about, and he replied (roughly) "She's forty-something, she's probably married, and i'll bet nobody has flirted with her in 20 years." I like to think that was true, at least so far as having brightened her day. I made a point of going through her line and flirting up a storm after that.

I always compliment the cashiers on their body piercings.

They like that.

I ask them if they pay attention when people are buying a bunch of crap instead of good things to eat. Some do.

I don't like them, either.
For a couple of reasons.
First, as someone's already pointed out, it's unpaid work we're doing when we use those checkouts. We're saving the supermarket money, or increasing their profit margin via our efforts.... so yes, why not a cut in the cost of the groceries?

Other thing, I want to support the jobs of the workers in these supermarkets. I've noticed, in one of the (3) supermarkets I have access to locally, that the one which has most aggressively pushed the self-serve option now has far fewer staff on duty at the "peopled" check-outs .... which forces people to use the self-serve option if they don't want to spend extra time waiting to be served. I've switched to one of the other supermarkets.

I listened to a clerk ask a recent war vet what had happened to his face.

really...

he handled it very well. but I was floored.

chat ain't what it used to be...

Oh, look, Glitter's here..

They seemed a lot more popular when I lived in CA, you don’t see them in all the grocery stores here in Florida, very few actually have them.

Here (just to JC south) Super Target has them and so do/does Publix. Those are the only 2 markets I use except for Whole Foods. I don't recall if Whole Foods has them...I think not. Sad to say the closest Trader Joe's is in Atlanta.

That could be a function of the customers' age. My young employees use the self check out a lot and many of the people who use that option seem to be quite adept at it.

Many of you are familiar with Kroger (which operates under several other names). Here are some numbers associated with that company for the year ended 1/30/2011:

Total # of employees: 338,000

Sales: $82.2 BN
- Cost of the stuff: $63.9 BN (78% of sales)
- Operating costs (wages, rent, advertising etc): $17.2 BN
= Bottom line profit: $1.1 BN (= 1.3% of sales)

Tough business. Back when I was a CPA the bottom line was 1%, and that was before grocery stores also sold lawn chairs, greeting cards. Halloween costumes etc.

Thanks, interesting.

I'm overly fond of checking myself out.

The thread isn't about mirrors, though.

The two stores I frequent the most A&P and Wegman's, offer both self-check-out lanes and old-fashioned lanes. I use the old-fashioned ones because the self-check ones require a store card, and I don't do store cards for privacy reasons. If it wasn't for the store-card business, I'd use the self-sere ones, too.

Like Beth, I never had an issue with unwelcome smalltak. It's just a "how are you doing?" at the beginning and a "store card?" at the end. Is it possible that you're inadvertently inviting small talk? Like, I don't know, with a big smile that's intended to mask your impending discomfort, but makes the clerk think you want to chat?

I like them; they are fast. Yes, there is a learning curve to their interface, but after that it's quick.

Sorry, you are having trouble with clerks. Perhaps up front you can say or do something to let them know you are deaf. They can't respond to what they don't know.

To the person who said they are charging us enough for food, let um' bag it. The "they" you are talking about are NOT the clerks. The clerks are just everyday folks trying to make ends meet like the rest of us.

Pros and Cons.

They work great for small quantities. Quicker than the express lane.
The ones here have an option to tell it you are using your bags. That resets the weight so you don't have to deal with something on the scale that it doesn't recognize. It also allows you to not bag items so it won't look for the weight.

It's a pain when something doesn't scan.
I don't use it when buying produce.

Nope.... in subsequent posts I mention that when I look at the rest of the clerks, they're all chatting away, and Setanta confirms that it's a regional thing. Very chatty around here.

Also, again, I really don't mind chatting as a concept, it's just that clerks generally open with canned chat that is difficult, as a category, for me to understand. I always chat when I run into people I know at the store (which pretty much always happens, at least once, I think my record is five), and will sometimes chat with other customers in line. And every once in a while a clerk will break through, especially at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. The Kroger and Giant Eagle clerks are much harder.

Ah. Got it.

PS: Don't let ehBeth catch you shopping at Whole Foods. She thinks it's evil.

Yes, I call it Whole Paycheque in my head, complete with Canajun spelling, thanks to her.

Texans like to chat.

I like them - most though like some one here mentioned it is for 12 and under or some low number.

But what I really love is the self scanner - a grocery store I frequently go to has these scanners as you walk in. You scan your grocery card and viola - you pick up a self-scanner. I set all my bags (works great for those that have their own bags) in the grocery cart and as you shop, you scan the item and then plop them directly into your bag. For produce you weigh at the various scales throughout produce, print out a receipt and scan that. So the amount of groceries doesn't matter.

Then when you checkout - you scan the scanner at the checkout and then your card and it rings it all up. If you have coupons you then scan your coupon and drop in the slot. Often times you get bonus' off for shopping this way as well. So for those concerned they are not getting their money's worth by not using an employee, you get money back.

Saves time and money - love them.

Only con - sometimes there is a problem with the coupon slot - gets overfilled and crap so you need to call some one over just to save the damn 25 cents because the cash register won't let you go further.