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What self checkouts give you is single queue multiple servers. That hasn't been implemented on cash registers in my experience. We tend to buy just a few items

What self checkouts give you is single queue multiple servers. That hasn't been implemented on cash registers in my experience. We tend to buy just a few items at a time so self checkouts work well since I am pathalogicly impatient.

c22 3y ago
I've seen this implemented at several places. Usually it takes the form of a long serpentine line stretching through a bunch of racks of impulse buys with a "wait here for next available cashier" sign at the front and a long bank of registers leading towards the exit. It's more common at hardware or big box retail stores, but I have seen it at grocers as well.
- Tmpod 3y ago
  Yeah, one of the big chains here implemented that a few years ago and it's quite nice. You get all the benefits of human cashiers while eliminating the multiple queue issue. A lot of people still prefer the old way, maybe because the line does seem a lot longer (though it moves a lot faster as well).
jihadjihad 3y ago
The main reason why you don't see it everywhere is due to psychology: customers perceive a long, single-file line (one queue) as taking longer, even when, mathematically speaking, it will on average be quicker due to multiple workers servicing the queue.
- OfSanguineFire 3y ago
  There are no longer even "multiple workers" servicing the queue necessarily. All Lidl locations in my vicinity in Europe have only a single human cashier operating alongside the self-service kiosks. When these shops were built, six different human-cashier lanes were created, but today only one ever operates even at rush hours. And indeed, it is often faster to go through the queue feeding into the self-service kiosks than to stand in the human-cashier queue.
  - pests 3y ago
    My local Meijer has 30 unused lines maybe only one or two being staffed. The two self checkout stations each have 20+ stations but they use the single line system which seems to always have 10+ people waiting. The line does move quickly. Then they have 3 super-quick self checkouts. These are labeled 5 items or less and don't include any shelf (direct into a single bag) and no weighing functionality (provided by a nearby machine that prints a barcode you scan).
xboxnolifes 3y ago
I've only been in a Costco once, but I recall them using one queue multiple registers.

c22 3y ago

I've seen this implemented at several places. Usually it takes the form of a long serpentine line stretching through a bunch of racks of impulse buys with a "wait here for next available cashier" sign at the front and a long bank of registers leading towards the exit. It's more common at hardware or big box retail stores, but I have seen it at grocers as well.

Tmpod 3y ago
Yeah, one of the big chains here implemented that a few years ago and it's quite nice. You get all the benefits of human cashiers while eliminating the multiple queue issue. A lot of people still prefer the old way, maybe because the line does seem a lot longer (though it moves a lot faster as well).

jihadjihad 3y ago

The main reason why you don't see it everywhere is due to psychology: customers perceive a long, single-file line (one queue) as taking longer, even when, mathematically speaking, it will on average be quicker due to multiple workers servicing the queue.

OfSanguineFire 3y ago
There are no longer even "multiple workers" servicing the queue necessarily. All Lidl locations in my vicinity in Europe have only a single human cashier operating alongside the self-service kiosks. When these shops were built, six different human-cashier lanes were created, but today only one ever operates even at rush hours. And indeed, it is often faster to go through the queue feeding into the self-service kiosks than to stand in the human-cashier queue.
- pests 3y ago
  My local Meijer has 30 unused lines maybe only one or two being staffed. The two self checkout stations each have 20+ stations but they use the single line system which seems to always have 10+ people waiting. The line does move quickly. Then they have 3 super-quick self checkouts. These are labeled 5 items or less and don't include any shelf (direct into a single bag) and no weighing functionality (provided by a nearby machine that prints a barcode you scan).

xboxnolifes 3y ago

I've only been in a Costco once, but I recall them using one queue multiple registers.