6 ms·

I wanted to checkout at a Home Depot but there were no employees to be seen and only self-checkout lanes open. I had some items I wanted help with and in frustr

I wanted to checkout at a Home Depot but there were no employees to be seen and only self-checkout lanes open. I had some items I wanted help with and in frustration asked the customer next to me, "does anybody work here?" He said "I guess we do." I won't be the guy who causes shrinkage but it seems reasonable for the seller to pay something for the buyers' labor as cashier.

amayne 7y ago
I believe it's called lower prices – at least in theory. (My apologies for coming across as pedantic.) Physical stores use them to remain competitive in pricing. The lower price is your incentive for doing it yourself (again in theory.)
- LocalH 7y ago
  I'm not aware of any major stores that provide a self-checkout discount.
  - leetcrew 7y ago
    I've never been to a store that gives a discount for self-checkout, but it probably does lower the overall cost of shopping there. there's very little that Walmart can do to differentiate itself from Target, so I would at least expect these kinds of businesses to be forced to pass a lot of the labor savings on to their customers. if you really hate ringing up your own groceries, there are plenty of higher end grocery stores that have more cashiers (at least in my area). if you want better service, you might need to open up your wallet.
    - nickpsecurity 7y ago
      It doesn't. It just increases their profit. What they charge is determined by different people in those organizations. Most vendors have cashiers in Mid-South. Walmart and Kroger are the ones adding lots of self-checkouts with Walmart being about charging less with low service and Kroger charging more with a bit more service. Dollar General and Aldi are cheapest with no self-checkout, but less cashiers. So, there's your data points. Meanwhile, a lot of companies are getting rid of their self-checkouts since there's tons of theft. They've probably lost more at some places than they saved on laid-off cashiers.
      - leetcrew 7y ago
        > It doesn't. It just increases their profit. this isn't a self-evident claim. if you have other large competitors who operate in the same market space (for walmart and target, large stores selling a mix of well-known brands and discount store brands), and there is a cost-cutting technique that's available to all participants, it's really hard to employ it and keep all the surplus for yourself. this is especially true if the customers don't like it. I realize this is a naive econ 101 argument, but this particular market is about as close to "perfect competition" as it gets. I personally couldn't tell the difference between target and walmart if you removed all the signs, but if one were noticeably cheaper or more convenient, I would go to that one every time. cost comparisons between walmart and aldi is not particularly convincing; they sell different assortments of products. by not selling such a wide assortment of well-known brands, aldi probably has a significantly more efficient supply chain. > Meanwhile, a lot of companies are getting rid of their self-checkouts since there's tons of theft. They've probably lost more at some places than they saved on laid-off cashiers. well this is certainly a confounding factor to my argument. if true, there aren't really any savings to pass on in the first place. maybe it's just a lose-lose for everyone involved.
        nickpsecurity 7y ago
        Your argument makes the common mistake to look at these companies as abstract entities competing based on economic theory instead of groups of humans doing what humans do in businesses. In most cases, the decisions come from middle management that operate based on a mix of competition and what gets them a bonus. Cutting costs or increasing profit within a manager's personal area of responsibility is often a bonus (or promotion) metric. So, many of them keep damaging their own companies to try to get their bonus or promotion. Such companies usually have endless discussions, meetings, and politicking where they explain away their bullshit hoping it will work. This should be a factor in every discussion of why companies are doing what they're doing. Will the CEO or any managers doing it get an easier bonus or transition for it with minimal liability within whatever period they're working? Well, there you go. That's economic self-interest in the real world.
      - gizmo686 7y ago
  - michaelmrose 7y ago
    Probably because the labor cost involved in paying minimum wage employees is low and the cost of goods sold is high. If you buy a $500 TV maybe the store paid 300 or 400 for the TV 10-20c to check it out for you. How much discount do you expect to receive?
    - LocalH 7y ago
      I don't expect any discount. I was just stating that I don't know of any retailers who give you a self-checkout discount.
- dredmorbius 7y ago
  Higher profits, at least in theory. Price is set by market. Two stores should charge the same for equivalent goods, all told. Lower cost structure means greater profits at the same price.
eternauta3k 7y ago
> it seems reasonable for the seller to pay something for the buyers' labor as cashier. One argument against that is that if people are willing to provide that labor freely, it's worth nothing. Another argument: before supermarkets, you'd ask the clerk to get a list of things from the shelves (which customers couldn't access). Now this labor is done by customers. Self-checkout is just another change like that.
- mikeash 7y ago
  Extending this: there are services that will deliver your groceries to your house. If we go to a store and take things home ourselves, are we working for free? There’s no correct balance between customer labor and employee labor. Choose what suits you. If your chose store forces you into an arrangement you don’t like, choose a different one.
  - markovbot 7y ago
    That's not the same thing. Those services cost extra. If you go to the store and take home the things yourself, you're avoiding paying the extra fee for those services
    - mikeash 7y ago
      And if you use self checkout you’re avoiding waiting in a longer line for a cashier.
      - mamon 7y ago
        Only in the beginning, when self checkout stations are being introduced and most of the customers go to cashiers, out of habit. Thing is: even a person that does self-checkout quite often is still much slower than a cashier, who has 100x more practice. Also, when anything goes wrong with self-checkout you typically need to wait for someone to get to you and fix the issue - cashiers typically are able to fix their errors themselves. So, in the end the lines will be longer, because of less skilled people doing the work.
ben509 7y ago
> I won't be the guy who causes shrinkage but it seems reasonable for the seller to pay something for the buyers' labor as cashier. If it's reasonable, there's nothing stopping anyone from asking the store if they'd like to make that deal. I suspect they don't offer a discount for self-checkout because those lanes would be overwhelmed.
michaelmrose 7y ago
Home depot always has at least 3 people available to check you out no matter how late or dead it is. A service desk associate. A cashier at the self check. A cashier at the exit opposite the service desk. You ignored the actual cashier 30 seconds walk down towards either exit and didn't incline your head sufficiency to see the gal 30 feet away probably cleaning an adjacent checkout or stocking the adjacent cooler. The labor cost of the 2 minutes scanning items is between 26c and 40c Would you like that deducted from your bill? You aren't paid to check yourself out because your labor isn't in service of the businesses needs its servicing your own needs to check out quicker rather than walk slightly further down.

amayne 7y ago

I believe it's called lower prices – at least in theory. (My apologies for coming across as pedantic.) Physical stores use them to remain competitive in pricing. The lower price is your incentive for doing it yourself (again in theory.)

LocalH 7y ago
I'm not aware of any major stores that provide a self-checkout discount.
- leetcrew 7y ago
  I've never been to a store that gives a discount for self-checkout, but it probably does lower the overall cost of shopping there. there's very little that Walmart can do to differentiate itself from Target, so I would at least expect these kinds of businesses to be forced to pass a lot of the labor savings on to their customers. if you really hate ringing up your own groceries, there are plenty of higher end grocery stores that have more cashiers (at least in my area). if you want better service, you might need to open up your wallet.
  - nickpsecurity 7y ago
    It doesn't. It just increases their profit. What they charge is determined by different people in those organizations. Most vendors have cashiers in Mid-South. Walmart and Kroger are the ones adding lots of self-checkouts with Walmart being about charging less with low service and Kroger charging more with a bit more service. Dollar General and Aldi are cheapest with no self-checkout, but less cashiers. So, there's your data points. Meanwhile, a lot of companies are getting rid of their self-checkouts since there's tons of theft. They've probably lost more at some places than they saved on laid-off cashiers.
    - leetcrew 7y ago
      > It doesn't. It just increases their profit. this isn't a self-evident claim. if you have other large competitors who operate in the same market space (for walmart and target, large stores selling a mix of well-known brands and discount store brands), and there is a cost-cutting technique that's available to all participants, it's really hard to employ it and keep all the surplus for yourself. this is especially true if the customers don't like it. I realize this is a naive econ 101 argument, but this particular market is about as close to "perfect competition" as it gets. I personally couldn't tell the difference between target and walmart if you removed all the signs, but if one were noticeably cheaper or more convenient, I would go to that one every time. cost comparisons between walmart and aldi is not particularly convincing; they sell different assortments of products. by not selling such a wide assortment of well-known brands, aldi probably has a significantly more efficient supply chain. > Meanwhile, a lot of companies are getting rid of their self-checkouts since there's tons of theft. They've probably lost more at some places than they saved on laid-off cashiers. well this is certainly a confounding factor to my argument. if true, there aren't really any savings to pass on in the first place. maybe it's just a lose-lose for everyone involved.
      - nickpsecurity 7y ago
        Your argument makes the common mistake to look at these companies as abstract entities competing based on economic theory instead of groups of humans doing what humans do in businesses. In most cases, the decisions come from middle management that operate based on a mix of competition and what gets them a bonus. Cutting costs or increasing profit within a manager's personal area of responsibility is often a bonus (or promotion) metric. So, many of them keep damaging their own companies to try to get their bonus or promotion. Such companies usually have endless discussions, meetings, and politicking where they explain away their bullshit hoping it will work. This should be a factor in every discussion of why companies are doing what they're doing. Will the CEO or any managers doing it get an easier bonus or transition for it with minimal liability within whatever period they're working? Well, there you go. That's economic self-interest in the real world.
    - gizmo686 7y ago
- michaelmrose 7y ago
  Probably because the labor cost involved in paying minimum wage employees is low and the cost of goods sold is high. If you buy a $500 TV maybe the store paid 300 or 400 for the TV 10-20c to check it out for you. How much discount do you expect to receive?
  - LocalH 7y ago
    I don't expect any discount. I was just stating that I don't know of any retailers who give you a self-checkout discount.
dredmorbius 7y ago
Higher profits, at least in theory. Price is set by market. Two stores should charge the same for equivalent goods, all told. Lower cost structure means greater profits at the same price.

eternauta3k 7y ago

> it seems reasonable for the seller to pay something for the buyers' labor as cashier. One argument against that is that if people are willing to provide that labor freely, it's worth nothing. Another argument: before supermarkets, you'd ask the clerk to get a list of things from the shelves (which customers couldn't access). Now this labor is done by customers. Self-checkout is just another change like that.

mikeash 7y ago
Extending this: there are services that will deliver your groceries to your house. If we go to a store and take things home ourselves, are we working for free? There’s no correct balance between customer labor and employee labor. Choose what suits you. If your chose store forces you into an arrangement you don’t like, choose a different one.
- markovbot 7y ago
  That's not the same thing. Those services cost extra. If you go to the store and take home the things yourself, you're avoiding paying the extra fee for those services
  - mikeash 7y ago
    And if you use self checkout you’re avoiding waiting in a longer line for a cashier.
    - mamon 7y ago
      Only in the beginning, when self checkout stations are being introduced and most of the customers go to cashiers, out of habit. Thing is: even a person that does self-checkout quite often is still much slower than a cashier, who has 100x more practice. Also, when anything goes wrong with self-checkout you typically need to wait for someone to get to you and fix the issue - cashiers typically are able to fix their errors themselves. So, in the end the lines will be longer, because of less skilled people doing the work.

ben509 7y ago

> I won't be the guy who causes shrinkage but it seems reasonable for the seller to pay something for the buyers' labor as cashier. If it's reasonable, there's nothing stopping anyone from asking the store if they'd like to make that deal. I suspect they don't offer a discount for self-checkout because those lanes would be overwhelmed.

michaelmrose 7y ago

Home depot always has at least 3 people available to check you out no matter how late or dead it is. A service desk associate. A cashier at the self check. A cashier at the exit opposite the service desk. You ignored the actual cashier 30 seconds walk down towards either exit and didn't incline your head sufficiency to see the gal 30 feet away probably cleaning an adjacent checkout or stocking the adjacent cooler. The labor cost of the 2 minutes scanning items is between 26c and 40c Would you like that deducted from your bill? You aren't paid to check yourself out because your labor isn't in service of the businesses needs its servicing your own needs to check out quicker rather than walk slightly further down.