4 ms·

> employee that's willing to show up to work and service you So you tip the cashier at the supermarket? They bag your groceries for you

no_wizard 4y ago
I've noticed quite recently in the last 4-5 years that this isn't true anymore. More and more grocery stores I shop at expect you to bag your own groceries. Its been a wild shift in labor there to me. When I was growing up I worked at a big box retail grocery and I don't remember ever having customers bag their own items unless it was self checkout (which was barely a thing and truly seemed relegated to simple checkouts). Now the only place I don't have to actively bag my own things is Costco, which recently started heavily pushing their own self checkout (which, due to how items are sized there to be in bulk, makes things slow and awkward for the general public IMO). This luxury is dying.
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  I would expect more of that as the population pyramid skews older and older and supply of lower price labor decreases.
- gs17 4y ago
  I even remeber being scolded sometimes years ago for bagging my own stuff when there wasn't a second worker to do it. At some point in COVID, Trader Joe's got extra strict about it, even as I pointed out it meant more people touching my groceries "for my safety". Now they really don't seem to care. > Now the only place I don't have to actively bag my own things is Costco, which recently started heavily pushing their own self checkout (which, due to how items are sized there to be in bulk, makes things slow and awkward for the general public IMO). At my local Costco, the "self-checkout" is really more like 6 cashier lines manned by one cashier. We have to wait for the employee to do everything and it's really bizarre to me, and either type of checkout just leaves things sitting in your cart in the end unless you manually box/bag them after. People seem to prefer it to the normal lanes, though. Is yours more like the self checkout at a normal grocer?
  - no_wizard 4y ago
    Mine appears to be similar to that of grocery stores. I also happen to have a Sam's Club membership (for now, really weighing whether its worth having since Costco has become even better in my area in terms of what they stock) and they have a nifty thing I actually like, which is you can check out via your phone, so you just scan the items as you put them in the cart, and then pay at the end. The only thing you have to do is show the generated QR code receipt to the door person. Since I have been bringing my own bags / storage to stores like this for years anyway, its perfect for me, I just scan and bag as I go, and its bagged how I like it to be (IE, cold things are actually in my cold bag, and I have this accordion fold out I can put everything else in, its super nice when I get home) and genuinely faster. It lets me optimize the experience for me without bogging anyone else down either. This kind of self-checkout I like, the app driven version. I hate all other versions for any other shopping. I really hope Costco adopts this in their app. Honestly, grocery stores would do well to adopt something similar IMO
- ghaff 4y ago
  Baggers were common at one point. Then there was a period when they were uncommon. And they came back in again at some point for the most part. (Except for self-checkout.) In general, assuming that minimum wage-ish jobs have a continued labor shortage, I'd expect that we'll see more self-service and automation going forward.
- FalconSensei 4y ago
  At least here in Vancouver, if I have my own reusable bag, I have to bag it. But if I ask them for a bag, they'll bag the items for me

no_wizard 4y ago

I've noticed quite recently in the last 4-5 years that this isn't true anymore. More and more grocery stores I shop at expect you to bag your own groceries. Its been a wild shift in labor there to me. When I was growing up I worked at a big box retail grocery and I don't remember ever having customers bag their own items unless it was self checkout (which was barely a thing and truly seemed relegated to simple checkouts). Now the only place I don't have to actively bag my own things is Costco, which recently started heavily pushing their own self checkout (which, due to how items are sized there to be in bulk, makes things slow and awkward for the general public IMO). This luxury is dying.

lotsofpulp 4y ago
I would expect more of that as the population pyramid skews older and older and supply of lower price labor decreases.
gs17 4y ago
I even remeber being scolded sometimes years ago for bagging my own stuff when there wasn't a second worker to do it. At some point in COVID, Trader Joe's got extra strict about it, even as I pointed out it meant more people touching my groceries "for my safety". Now they really don't seem to care. > Now the only place I don't have to actively bag my own things is Costco, which recently started heavily pushing their own self checkout (which, due to how items are sized there to be in bulk, makes things slow and awkward for the general public IMO). At my local Costco, the "self-checkout" is really more like 6 cashier lines manned by one cashier. We have to wait for the employee to do everything and it's really bizarre to me, and either type of checkout just leaves things sitting in your cart in the end unless you manually box/bag them after. People seem to prefer it to the normal lanes, though. Is yours more like the self checkout at a normal grocer?
- no_wizard 4y ago
  Mine appears to be similar to that of grocery stores. I also happen to have a Sam's Club membership (for now, really weighing whether its worth having since Costco has become even better in my area in terms of what they stock) and they have a nifty thing I actually like, which is you can check out via your phone, so you just scan the items as you put them in the cart, and then pay at the end. The only thing you have to do is show the generated QR code receipt to the door person. Since I have been bringing my own bags / storage to stores like this for years anyway, its perfect for me, I just scan and bag as I go, and its bagged how I like it to be (IE, cold things are actually in my cold bag, and I have this accordion fold out I can put everything else in, its super nice when I get home) and genuinely faster. It lets me optimize the experience for me without bogging anyone else down either. This kind of self-checkout I like, the app driven version. I hate all other versions for any other shopping. I really hope Costco adopts this in their app. Honestly, grocery stores would do well to adopt something similar IMO
ghaff 4y ago
Baggers were common at one point. Then there was a period when they were uncommon. And they came back in again at some point for the most part. (Except for self-checkout.) In general, assuming that minimum wage-ish jobs have a continued labor shortage, I'd expect that we'll see more self-service and automation going forward.
FalconSensei 4y ago
At least here in Vancouver, if I have my own reusable bag, I have to bag it. But if I ask them for a bag, they'll bag the items for me