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The failure of self-checkout technology

bbc.com

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Re: The failure of self-checkout technology

#61

Post by rimeice »

Faaak wrote: post #30

I really like those that you can find in Switzerland (either in Coop or Migros). The basic assumption is "trust the customer". Thus, the self-checkout devices don't have the annoying "you must weight the article you just scanned". You just scan them one by one, add them to your bag, pay at the end, and that's it. Sometimes (it happens to me around 1/year) you get a random search, which is not that bad as they just ra…

The funniest thing is that when you're stopped in the flow for some weight discrepency in the UK, the attendant will quickly type in their code and null the error without investigating it at all, move on to the next customer who's blocked with the same thing and repeat. Seems to totally void to point of having these anti-trust systems.

Re: The failure of self-checkout technology

#62

Post by soco »

dagw wrote: post #60

By far the best self-checkout systems are the ones where you scan your groceries as you go and just pay when you leave. Not only can you pack your stuff into bags directly in your shopping cart as go, but you also get a running tally of how much you everything in your cart will actually cost you. Also if something cannot be scanned or gets scanned at the wrong price you notice instantly and can deal with it right the…

And I'm not using on-the-spot-self-scanning because almost every time it tells me "go to the counter for randomized checks" which I can understand but is actually increasing the hassle for me. So I'll stick to the "normal" checkout where you scan the bunch at the exit, and sometimes even traditional where you can chat the cashier when there's no line.

Re: The failure of self-checkout technology

#63

Post by 6510 »

red_admiral wrote: post #23
garyclarke27 wrote: post #13

I'm surprised RFID hasn't taken over. Scanning the whole basket in one go is way more convenient and faster than fiddly labour intensive Barcode scanning of individual items. RFID is now very cheap and the benefits of saved: labour, time, theft prevention etc are huge. Decathlon is the only retailer I have seen use this.

My guess is the price of a RFID tag on every single product is still uneconomical. Decathlon can do it for clothes and sports equipment, but are you really going to stick a tag on every £0.27 can of baked beans?

In NL, for a long time, you get some money back when you return glass bottles and large plastic ones to the store. A few years ago they added small plastic bottles and after that all drinks in aluminum cans. The goal is to add more packaging. (Disposable plates, cups, forks, spoons and knifes are now banned.)

Checking out is much less dirty than checking the packaging back in.

It isn't unthinkable for all products/packaging to get an RFID tag. On that scale they will be cheaper and perhaps some can be reused. Passive tags cost only 8 cent atm.

Re: The failure of self-checkout technology

#64

Post by soco »

jdietrich wrote: post #34
kioleanu wrote: post #17

I’ll leave a comment I’ve made last time this came into discussion: Self-Checkouts have been really problematic in Germany with stores rushing to put them to use and namely: 1) they have very bad interfaces 2) they don’t trust customers at all 3) it’s easy to report cases to the police and 4) stores have people hired to catch thieves and their incentive is that they are paid 50 to 100 euros per report (paid by the pe…

I think that's a Germany problem rather than a self-checkout problem.

I tend to agree on this. I never heard such (horror) stories in Switzerland where self-scanning is also present for the two major retailers.

Re: The failure of self-checkout technology

#65

Post by rlkf »

In Norway, the trend is that shops that have a mix of both, now remove more and more of the cashiers and increase the number of self-checkouts. This wouldn't happen if the shops lost money and the customers hated it, so it's strange that this is the opposite of the U.K. Population more tuned to automation, perhaps?

Re: The failure of self-checkout technology

#66

Post by soco »

ssss11 wrote: post #48

Sorry I didn’t read the article. I will vent though. I’m not going to go on about the surveillance tech used in Australia as part of the self check outs but here are a few gripes, the problem is a lack of trust of the customers. 1. You have to tell it you have bags (fine) then it seems if you have lots of bags on the platform (or bags with items in them?) you have to wait for an attendant to check you’re not doing so…

I believe there are self-checkouts and self-checkouts. In some places they don't weigh the products just rely on you scanning the right label - much simpler for everybody (including thieves).

Re: The failure of self-checkout technology

#67

Post by agubelu »

I frequently hop between Spain and the UK. Self-checkout is ubiquitous in the UK and people seem to almost universally favor using it, manned tills are a minority and generally reserved for larger purchases. In Spain it's quite the opposite: manned tills are a majority and people _actively_ avoid using self-checkout, even when it means going through a much longer queue.

I found it an interesting cultural difference, and I can't help but wonder to which extent it's influenced by the preference for human interaction in both countries.

Re: The failure of self-checkout technology

#68

Post by gregoriol »

mbork_pl wrote: post #46
gregoriol wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This article looks like written by a 60+ years old: it's definitely not a failure for 30-something technology-able people. It may be complicated for people with habits of cashiers and non-techy, but the near-future is going to be self-checkout. The real future will be no-checkout though: just take the stuff you need and go, shops would be able to detect what you got there and bill you.

Where I often see these things, their UI/UX is horrible. I'm a bit of a gadget-geek and rather a tech-savvy person, and yet I did make mistakes with them and wasted time because of the UI/UX. > The real future will be no-checkout though: just take the stuff you need and go, shops would be able to detect what you got there and bill you. I really hope not. That would be a privacy nightmare. And how would I then pay in…

Well, maybe there will be some validation at the exit of the shop, maybe a message on the phone to check that you indeed bought those things. But cash is going to be gone too in the future-future.

Re: The failure of self-checkout technology

#69

Post by seszett »

pjmlp wrote: post #35
kioleanu wrote: post #17

I’ll leave a comment I’ve made last time this came into discussion: Self-Checkouts have been really problematic in Germany with stores rushing to put them to use and namely: 1) they have very bad interfaces 2) they don’t trust customers at all 3) it’s easy to report cases to the police and 4) stores have people hired to catch thieves and their incentive is that they are paid 50 to 100 euros per report (paid by the pe…

As someone living here, besides all those points, I have seen what these machines have made to employment in supermarket chains in Portugal, hence I tend not to be yet another statistic of people adopting them. Rather have my actions support the employees.

Cashiers in the age of self-checkout machines are IMO a good example of a useless job, I'd rather prefer these people do something else with their time.

I would even feel guilty to make them work when they aren't actually needed. Indeed, in the current system if they don't work they don't get money, but to me it's a wealth distribution problem. I'd rather have them get the same money and do whatever they like. It would be a net gain for society and a loss for nobody.

Re: The failure of self-checkout technology

#70

Post by ugjka »

rlkf wrote: post #65

In Norway, the trend is that shops that have a mix of both, now remove more and more of the cashiers and increase the number of self-checkouts. This wouldn't happen if the shops lost money and the customers hated it, so it's strange that this is the opposite of the U.K. Population more tuned to automation, perhaps?

Norway has much less crime!
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