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My grocery store has a self-scan and checkout that works on trust basis with random audits. Some stores had to get rid of it because of stealing, but thankfull
by dhimes 6y ago
My grocery store has a self-scan and checkout that works on trust basis with random audits. Some stores had to get rid of it because of stealing, but thankfully mine has kept it. I find it very fast and don't mind the occasional audits at all. Small price to pay, and still faster than if I had stayed in line.
- tasogare 6y agoThe value the self-scan systems have for the shop owners is not in automation but the fact the work is reported on customer, with of course no price reduction. That should be forbidden. I boycott those systems and wait for the human clerk to do his job, this way a little of the money made by the shop is redistributed.
- msh 6y agoI would rather do it my self for very little extra time use, rather than waste even more time waiting in line.
- ghaff 6y agoFor me it depends. If I have a shopping cart full, including typically, a bunch of produce, I'll go to a cashier. If I've got a half dozen bar coded items to scan, I'll probably just do self-checkout.
- msh 6y agoSome shops have scan yourself where you scan things with your phone when putting them in your basket, even produce then have a barcode, maybe not on the item but then at a sign at their location.
- ghaff 6y agoI've never seen that in the US and produce isn't barcoded unless it's shrink-wrapped--which it isn't in most stores. And I'm not sure that seems any easier than a normal self-checkout in any case.
- dhimes 6y agoThere are scales and look-up tables for the produce out in the produce area (the look-up tables are also programmed into the scales but the UI is slow and tedious). So you gather your, say broccoli, look up the PLU code (it also might be on a sticker affixed to the item), put it on the scale, enter the code, and the scale prints out your bar code that you scan. I'm a dozen miles north of Boston, MA.
- dhimes 6y agoMine you get a little "zapper" to scan the bar codes with. I select, scan, and bag into my cart. When I get to checkout everything is bagged, so I save that time as well. The only "pain" is having to look up the produce and weigh it, but with a little practice I got to be pretty fast at that too.
- sokoloff 6y agoNo price reduction as compared to what? Maybe all the prices would be 0.5% higher if all the checkout was human-only? At the end of the day, the customer is paying for most everything in the shop. (They're the one bringing the money into the system. There may be a small amount of payment for placement or other advertising, or financing via invoices, but the vast majority of money coming into the shop is coming from customers.) I can't see a reason why self-checkouts should be forbidden. If people don't like them, don't use them. Why should people who do like them be forbidden from shopping in a way that they prefer?
- tasogare 6y agoIt should be forbidden because it makes people work illegally (because of a lack of contract and pay). In France a restaurant was fined by the work inspection because they asked their customers to give plates back. Using the same logic and existing laws, a shop shouldn’t be allowed to make its customers work for it.
- kalleboo 6y agoShould flat-pack furniture that you have to assemble yourself also be forbidden? Should Gentoo Linux that you have to compile the kernel yourself also be forbidden? Should cooking at home also be forbidden? Where does the line go where you have to pay someone to do something for you instead of doing it yourself?