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One of the best services a supermarket can have is: free-policy when you have to wait > 2 people. They do it with human cashier's and are insanely popular and

One of the best services a supermarket can have is: free-policy when you have to wait > 2 people. They do it with human cashier's and are insanely popular and low-cost. No one truelly cares about self-service, it's just hype. ( Personal opinion)

ceejayoz 7y ago
> No one truelly cares about self-service, it's just hype. My grocery store recently instituted scan-as-you-go via a smartphone app, and I love it. I bag as I go along, precisely the way I want everything bagged (no crushed bread, no meat juice dripping on the candy) and basically walk out the door.
- Xavdidtheshadow 7y ago
  What grocery store is that, and what region?
  - ceejayoz 7y ago
    Wegmans, in upstate NY. https://www.wegmans.com/service/wegmans-scan.html https://www.wegmans.com/service/wegmans-scan.html
  - Scoundreller 7y ago
    Walmart is trialling it in a location in Toronto. I wish they had a proper barcode scanner to carry around instead of using the phone to scan though.
- Scoundreller 7y ago
  Look into bags like this: https://www.amazon.com/Reusable-Organizer-Modern-Day-Living/dp/B07CVNCQ72 https://www.amazon.com/Reusable-Organizer-Modern-Day-Living/... What I also like is that it helps me keep the cold-chain better sustained.
- vkou 7y ago
  > precisely the way I want everything bagged (no crushed bread, no meat juice dripping on the candy) I'm not sure what stores you go to, but just about every (bagger/cashier who bags) that I have ever interacted with has done their job quite well, and much faster than I would. They have incentive to do so, because when they fuck up, or are too slow, they get chewed out by their manager. They also have 8 hours a day to practice. Combined with the shit-show[1] of the self-service checkout station UIs (I haven't memorized every one of the 50+ produce codes - the cashiers have), and there is no universe where I get a better service in the self-serve checkout aisle. Unfortunately, most of the full-service aisles have been eliminated, because it's cheaper to make customers waste their time struggling with the machines, than to employ cashiers. To the grocery, my time is free. [1] To add insult to injury, the bagging area for the self-service machines is tiny - you can barely fit two shopping bags on it, so you end up playing a game of Tetris, as you try to scan your items. F* everything about self-service checkout machines. I still use them, because, thanks to the shortages, the full-service aisle lines are always too long.
  - ceejayoz 7y ago
    You mention a variety of solvable (and in Wegmans' case, solved) issues. The system I'm talking about is scan-as-you-go. No issue with the size of the bagging area. You're just putting things into your reusable bags directly in the cart. Produce codes are simple - every produce display is labeled with a four or five digit code, and there are scales with label printers scattered throughout. These scales also display a bar code for use with the scanning app so you can forgo the label entirely. Even the folks going to a human cashier use these. I've also been fairly impressed with their self-service UI when my phone's been too low on battery. Several years ago when they tried it out the UI was abysmal - it's clear they've made serious improvements in that realm and I've found it fast and user-friendly. I like being able to decide how I organize my stuff. I can forgo bags for cases of soda, I can make the bags heavier than a cashier might, I can load them up based on how I'm going to unload at home. Wegmans has kept the human cashiers, incidentally, with no noticeable increase in lines. Self-service is thus far an option, but one I prefer.

ceejayoz 7y ago

> No one truelly cares about self-service, it's just hype. My grocery store recently instituted scan-as-you-go via a smartphone app, and I love it. I bag as I go along, precisely the way I want everything bagged (no crushed bread, no meat juice dripping on the candy) and basically walk out the door.

Xavdidtheshadow 7y ago
What grocery store is that, and what region?
- ceejayoz 7y ago
  Wegmans, in upstate NY. https://www.wegmans.com/service/wegmans-scan.html https://www.wegmans.com/service/wegmans-scan.html
- Scoundreller 7y ago
  Walmart is trialling it in a location in Toronto. I wish they had a proper barcode scanner to carry around instead of using the phone to scan though.
Scoundreller 7y ago
Look into bags like this: https://www.amazon.com/Reusable-Organizer-Modern-Day-Living/dp/B07CVNCQ72 https://www.amazon.com/Reusable-Organizer-Modern-Day-Living/... What I also like is that it helps me keep the cold-chain better sustained.
vkou 7y ago
> precisely the way I want everything bagged (no crushed bread, no meat juice dripping on the candy) I'm not sure what stores you go to, but just about every (bagger/cashier who bags) that I have ever interacted with has done their job quite well, and much faster than I would. They have incentive to do so, because when they fuck up, or are too slow, they get chewed out by their manager. They also have 8 hours a day to practice. Combined with the shit-show[1] of the self-service checkout station UIs (I haven't memorized every one of the 50+ produce codes - the cashiers have), and there is no universe where I get a better service in the self-serve checkout aisle. Unfortunately, most of the full-service aisles have been eliminated, because it's cheaper to make customers waste their time struggling with the machines, than to employ cashiers. To the grocery, my time is free. [1] To add insult to injury, the bagging area for the self-service machines is tiny - you can barely fit two shopping bags on it, so you end up playing a game of Tetris, as you try to scan your items. F* everything about self-service checkout machines. I still use them, because, thanks to the shortages, the full-service aisle lines are always too long.
- ceejayoz 7y ago
  You mention a variety of solvable (and in Wegmans' case, solved) issues. The system I'm talking about is scan-as-you-go. No issue with the size of the bagging area. You're just putting things into your reusable bags directly in the cart. Produce codes are simple - every produce display is labeled with a four or five digit code, and there are scales with label printers scattered throughout. These scales also display a bar code for use with the scanning app so you can forgo the label entirely. Even the folks going to a human cashier use these. I've also been fairly impressed with their self-service UI when my phone's been too low on battery. Several years ago when they tried it out the UI was abysmal - it's clear they've made serious improvements in that realm and I've found it fast and user-friendly. I like being able to decide how I organize my stuff. I can forgo bags for cases of soda, I can make the bags heavier than a cashier might, I can load them up based on how I'm going to unload at home. Wegmans has kept the human cashiers, incidentally, with no noticeable increase in lines. Self-service is thus far an option, but one I prefer.