Thoughts On Self Checkouts
By paigea
@paigea (36316)
Canada
January 4, 2019 4:58pm CST
My husband is quite happy to go to the self checkout at a grocery store if he can avoid lining up.
We rarely shop together but last week we did and he "showed" me how easy it is to use the self checkout. I had to explain I wasn't worried about finding it hard. I just don't want to do it.
Yesterday I was at Superstore (big grocery store here). Only two tills were open and had long lines. Two staff were trying to assist people and encouraged them to use self checkout.
Everyone stubbornly stayed in line, me included.
One customer was loudly exclaiming, "I support workers not robots!"
One of those 2 staff plus 2 more staff came and opened 3 more tills.
Everyone was happy. But it got me wondering:
-Did those 2 staff, who weren't on the floor have to come back early from their lunch break?
- Maybe the jobs building the technology are better than the cashier jobs we were stubbornly "saving"
-There has to be a lucrative job, requiring a high levek of skill, keeping those machines maintained.
-My husband asked and was told noone lost their job when they put in the automatic tills.
-We have been using automatic tellers at the bank for 40+ years now. There are still tellers in the bank.
-The grocery store has a lot of staff always doing the shopping for people who order online.
I will keep going to the cashier, just preference, but I am not sure it matters.
36 people like this
40 responses
@DianneN (247186)
• United States
4 Jan 19
There are some things I won't do - pump my own gas, go to a self checkout, or use ATMs. I heard that the workers aren't losing jobs either, but like you, it's what I prefer to do. P.S. Glad to see a new discussion and hope you made your airline and hotel reservations.
4 people like this
@PainsOnSlate (21852)
• Canada
5 Jan 19
I do use the self checkout when its busy, I do pump my own gas and I use the ATMs. I noticed @DianneN 
. I do enjoy talking with real people too so its a matter of being in a hurry or taking the time to wait.
. I do enjoy talking with real people too so its a matter of being in a hurry or taking the time to wait.3 people like this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104628)
• United States
4 Jan 19
Let me tell you a secret. When you go to those self checkout things? A cashier sighs in relief. Their feet hurt, they are so tired, and they may be late for a break because the store is busy. They may have three other people ahead of them that have to take their break first. They want the store to slow down a bit, they want to have time to talk to each other or tend to the other responsibilities they have at the front end.
Sometimes, depending on the hour, your cashier is actually a stock clerk. They just clocked in to work and it was so busy they had to tend to the front end before they could go back and do their actual job.
I don't believe that a cashier's job is ever threatened, and honestly, if it is? The store has more things a cashier could be doing. Cashiers often have several different responsibilities besides ringing your purchases up. The stock department can often use their assistance.
I've been both a cashier and a stock clerk at a grocery store.
2 people like this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104628)
• United States
4 Jan 19
@paigea Perhaps? They also could have been pulled from different departments. The grocery store I worked for often had people in other departments train to use the register. That way if it was busy they could pull them over to help. Of course that causes backup in the other departments too..
Each store has a different policy. I used to break down the truck as a stock clerk this meant that I'd come in around 7 pm. If it was rather busy (a coupon week) I'd get a call "Amber to the front please" and be made to either open a register or bag groceries. It was frustrating as it pulled me from my department.
I no longer work for a grocery store, they can be more stressful than people realize. Especially if they are mismanaged.
2 people like this
@antonbunot (11093)
• Calgary, Alberta
5 Jan 19
I retired from my job in the casino.. but still work part-time in superstore. Just like you I prefer the cashiers to do the scanning. To avoid long lines, my wife and I buy groceries in the morning between 7 a.m. and 9
2 people like this
@antonbunot (11093)
• Calgary, Alberta
10 Jan 19
@paigea Yup, superstore opens at 7 a.m. . . Coop opens at 8 a.m. . . No Frills opens at 9 a.m. . . Superstore and No Frills are sister-companies owned by Loblaw.
1 person likes this
@paigea (36316)
• Canada
10 Jan 19
@antonbunot I wonder if they open that early in Camrose. I never get to town that early.
@MarshaMusselman (38865)
• Midland, Michigan
5 Jan 19
We have self-checkouts and even then we use our thirty regular lanes and have all of them open between the hours of 11am to 7pm Fri-Sunday, which is our busiest times. I doubt that any store will ever totally eliminate cash lanes that take a real person to run.
The problem with those making out the schedule is that everyone doesn't always shop exactly the same time or day of the week and it's hard to figure out when it will be busy and when it will be slow.
Our store, some years back, incorporated something Target has been doing for some years. And that is train everyone except those stocking groceries on running a lane and that way when it's busy those working in other departments can come up and help when needed. It's not a perfect system, but it does help.
The worse part about it is that then there is less staff in the departments to help those needing help.
I've worked retail most of my life and also I've waitress-ed and when it's slow it's silly to have too many people just standing around waiting in case it ever gets busy.
The areas in my store where there are uscans didn't even have regular registers there before. The shopping carts were stored there. Using the uscans won't put anyone out of work.
2 people like this
@shaggin (72184)
• United States
5 Jan 19
@MarshaMusselman I understand that man's way of thinking but I always return my cart and if I see any left out there when I am going in I take it in (places that don't have cart return ports).
2 people like this
@MarshaMusselman (38865)
• Midland, Michigan
5 Jan 19
@paigea Unemployment right now is pretty low, that means that people can work just about anywhere and most places have a hard time keeping newly hired people. If they don't want to work they keep trying out other places looking for the perfect job. The perfect job for many of this generation is to get paid without having to perform.
I knew someone that his dad told him to always take a shopping basket outside even when one wasn't used while shopping. They then would leave it outside with the idea of helping the cart pushers keep their jobs.
Most bigger stores would never be without someone bringing the carts in any more than they'd be without any cashiers working inside.
2 people like this
@NJChicaa (120066)
• United States
4 Jan 19
@paigea that is true. I am a hypocrite in that respect. I have a young coworker (27) who won't do direct deposit because he wants to go to the bank and use a teller to support their jobs. I've had direct deposit for like 15 years. I also use ATMs to avoid the long lines in the branches. Maybe if they had 20 lines available like Home Depot or the grocery store, then I'd be willing to go inside? 
1 person likes this
@shaggin (72184)
• United States
5 Jan 19
Yes they now have jobs for people who fill orders for people who have shopped online.
Cashier's may not have lost their jobs but they may have had their hours cut!
I have used the self checkouts in the past and they area pain as they mess up and are slow to use.
I have not used a self checkout in a very long time. I am not in a hurry as my kids are no longer crying babies so I can wait patiently for the cashier to ring up my items and know that no machine is taking there job for my sake!
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (472004)
• Switzerland
5 Jan 19
I always use the self checkout. None lost their job at our grocery store, the employees are doing other things that are surely more useful. People are so happy to have the choice not to stand in line when you only have 1 or 2 things to buy. The grocery store got more customers thanks to this facility. The one that is refusing to install self checkout is losing customers. I only go there if I have to buy many things, I do not want to stand in life for 1 item.
1 person likes this
@xFiacre (13122)
• Ireland
5 Jan 19
@paigea When I’m encouraged to use a self service checkout I resist, often saying that’s the human checkout girl is much prettier. Sometimes it’s a man and I get confused. I confuse easily. I like having someone to saw hello and thank you to and used to thank the machine. The machine was programmed to wish me happy Christmas last time I was there. I objected and told it to shut up. It wouldn’t, but at least it didn’t report me for being verbally abusive to a staff member.
2 people like this
@TheHorse (220116)
• Walnut Creek, California
5 Jan 19
You ask many good questions. I like the way your brain works. I still use regular check out at the grocery store, partially because I resent technology and LIKE the social interaction with the checker. But at Home Depot, I generally get two or three things only and use automatic check out.
1 person likes this
@paigea (36316)
• Canada
11 Jan 19
@TheHorse I am given a specific list of observations to make. Then I fill out a report on their website. For the most part, it is things you would expect, but it varies from one client to another. Most chains are mystery shopped, so the work varies a lot and keeps me interested.
1 person likes this
@Namelesss (3365)
• United States
5 Jan 19
WOW, this was interesting, including all the comments. I like having a friendly cashier and one of the ladies that monitors the self-checkout at Walmart told me it was the most boring job on the planet EXCEPT when the machines malfunctioned or some idiot (me) couldn't figure out how to use them, lol.
Ah hell, maybe one day we'll all just go to school or pamper ourselves as the machines take over.
2 people like this
@kobesbuddy (78871)
• East Tawas, Michigan
5 Jan 19
I like the personal contact, with a friendly cashier. Doing my own order, I'm not getting paid a check, to work for that store!
1 person likes this
@kobesbuddy (78871)
• East Tawas, Michigan
6 Jan 19
@paigea And I get to know some of those checkers, from frequenting the local stores.
1 person likes this
@porwest (92463)
• United States
5 Jan 19
Statistically there are many less tellers actually in the banks. BUT, the automatic tellers DID create new jobs. You have to have people to manufacture the machines, people to fill the machines and process the transactions, people to maintain the machines. Same applies to self checkouts. That being said, I will still go through the regular check out lane to support at least that person's job.
1 person likes this
@porwest (92463)
• United States
5 Jan 19
@paigea Me too. Just in case. It's NOT like they are going to reduce my costs because there is one less worker. They will always find another reason to raise prices, and so...I'm like...whatever. I want to see people working. I am an investor. And being that I am an investor, people need to buy stuff so that I can make money. If people aren't working and making money, they have less money to spend on the things I am invested in...and so I support workers at every turn.
1 person likes this
