4 ms·

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 pricin

by 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
      Source? Grocery stores are a notoriously low-margin business. When only one uses self checkout, that one sees increase profit. When everyone uses self-checkout, they lower prices to compete with each other; and not using self checkout becomes economically unviable unless you have something else to distinguish you from your competition.
      - nickpsecurity 7y ago
        Do you have a source that retail companies follow economic theory versus profit maximization? In a capitalist system, companies try to maximize profit. They usually go into cartel or copycat mode doing the least they can to compete and increase profit. One thing many do is have a self-checkout to cut labor while otherwise running the same way. In the real world, that means the prices and level of service will be the same except for your bad, checkout experience you get so somebody might make a bonus for cutting staff or increasing profit. Capitalism 101. The funny thing is you all come up with all this stuff that has no connection to what the companies offering self-checkout think. For them, it's much more local kind of reasoning featuring middle managers with incentives to think about.
        gizmo686 7y ago
        These are publicly traded companies. We do not need to guess what they are doing. Walmart has a profit margin of 1.62% https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/WMT/walmart/net-profit-margin https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/WMT/walmart/net-pr... Target: 3.96% https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/TGT/target/net-profit-margin https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/TGT/target/net-pro... BJs: 1.13% https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/BJ/bjs-wholesale-club-holdings/net-profit-margin https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/BJ/bjs-wholesale-c... For reference: Alphabet: 19.71% https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/GOOG/alphabet/net-profit-margin https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/GOOG/alphabet/net-... Microsoft: 31.18% https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/MSFT/microsoft/net-profit-margin https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/MSFT/microsoft/net... McDonalds: 28.19% https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/MCD/mcdonalds/net-profit-margin https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/MCD/mcdonalds/net-...
- 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.

by amayne 7y ago

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
    Source? Grocery stores are a notoriously low-margin business. When only one uses self checkout, that one sees increase profit. When everyone uses self-checkout, they lower prices to compete with each other; and not using self checkout becomes economically unviable unless you have something else to distinguish you from your competition.
    - nickpsecurity 7y ago
      Do you have a source that retail companies follow economic theory versus profit maximization? In a capitalist system, companies try to maximize profit. They usually go into cartel or copycat mode doing the least they can to compete and increase profit. One thing many do is have a self-checkout to cut labor while otherwise running the same way. In the real world, that means the prices and level of service will be the same except for your bad, checkout experience you get so somebody might make a bonus for cutting staff or increasing profit. Capitalism 101. The funny thing is you all come up with all this stuff that has no connection to what the companies offering self-checkout think. For them, it's much more local kind of reasoning featuring middle managers with incentives to think about.
      - gizmo686 7y ago
        These are publicly traded companies. We do not need to guess what they are doing. Walmart has a profit margin of 1.62% https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/WMT/walmart/net-profit-margin https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/WMT/walmart/net-pr... Target: 3.96% https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/TGT/target/net-profit-margin https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/TGT/target/net-pro... BJs: 1.13% https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/BJ/bjs-wholesale-club-holdings/net-profit-margin https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/BJ/bjs-wholesale-c... For reference: Alphabet: 19.71% https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/GOOG/alphabet/net-profit-margin https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/GOOG/alphabet/net-... Microsoft: 31.18% https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/MSFT/microsoft/net-profit-margin https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/MSFT/microsoft/net... McDonalds: 28.19% https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/MCD/mcdonalds/net-profit-margin https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/MCD/mcdonalds/net-...
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.