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Nobody Likes Self-Checkout

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Re: Nobody Likes Self-Checkout

#21

Post by chrisdhal »

cinntaile wrote: post #20
navjack27 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Two items at once? Scan and put one in the weight checking section. Is that hard? ID check? Buying cough medicine? Booze. It's law. Lol Stop confusing the system dude!

I pick up two items at once to make it go faster, but the UX is dumb and throws an error of course. Weight doesn't match haha... Yes it will you dumb machine! So let me scan my ID instead of wasting my time! Horrible UX, I wait in line.

You know it's not meant to work with 2 items, yet you still try it and then complain. Do you ever see the regular cashiers doing 2 at a time? I don't, because they know it's overall faster to do one at a time quickly.

They need a person to verify the ID to make sure things like the picture matches who is scanning it.

Re: Nobody Likes Self-Checkout

#22

Post by cinntaile »

chrisdhal wrote: post #21
cinntaile wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I pick up two items at once to make it go faster, but the UX is dumb and throws an error of course. Weight doesn't match haha... Yes it will you dumb machine! So let me scan my ID instead of wasting my time! Horrible UX, I wait in line.

You know it's not meant to work with 2 items, yet you still try it and then complain. Do you ever see the regular cashiers doing 2 at a time? I don't, because they know it's overall faster to do one at a time quickly. They need a person to verify the ID to make sure things like the picture matches who is scanning it.

No I didn't know when I tried it, I assume the best (which you should too ;)) but unfortunately it let me down. I often see regular cashiers preparing the next article, while having the previous one in their hand. I don't get why that matters though because it's a new system. It doesn't work like the old one, that's the entire point so why provide an inferior UX if you want people to use it?

Thanks, I was confused as to what the purpose was. If I can open a bank account by showing my ID and my face at the same time, it should be pretty trivial to implement the same system.

Re: Nobody Likes Self-Checkout

#23

Post by stu2b50 »

c22 wrote: post #11
tunap wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The removal of the cash option is a hard nope for me. I don't always use cash, but if it's not an option, I vote with my feet, regardless if paying with cash or plastic.

Last time I went to the self-checkout lane I dutifully scanned all my items and clicked "Pay" and it brought me to a list of payment options with cash all grayed out. There was only one real cashier working that day with a long line stretching back into the aisle. I left the stuff I picked out right there and just walked away, so I guess they had to pay someone to put my stuff back anyway. Not sure what these compani…

Cash is a hassle to process, and includes fixed costs, while use of cash declines every year since the advent of payment cards.

So it's expensive to support and has little traffic. It's not exactly surprising more and more stores, especially high volume ones, let their cash payment processing decline.

Re: Nobody Likes Self-Checkout

#25

Post by bluefirebrand »

You can always tell the people who have had jobs where they learned how to run a cash register versus the ones who haven't.

I love self checkout. If there's no line at either the cashier or the self checkout, I'll take the self checkout every time. It's way faster, I don't have to make chit chat, and I don't get cashiers trying to upsell me or ask me for donations or whatever else.

Way better experience for me. I don't care if I'm saving the company money by doing the labor for them. It's still a better experience for me so who cares.

Re: Nobody Likes Self-Checkout

#26

Post by bluefirebrand »

sacrosanct wrote: post #6
the_only_law wrote: post #4

As long as it works right, it's great. Especially with a small amount of items, I can get checkout out and on my way quickly.

Spot on. Self checkout shines when it’s for 2-3 items. I wouldn’t pass a huge haul of groceries through it. The more things you buy with self checkout the greater chance of some weird bug like missing barcode, not knowing where to select esoteric non-scan items etc

Also the self checkout areas are never designed to haul a cart through. It's stupid to haul a ton of stuff through there.

Re: Nobody Likes Self-Checkout

#27

Post by bedast »

I enjoy the concept. I don't enjoy the implementations.

Many have these plastic bag hanger things similar to what's been used at checkout for decades. They make using your own reusable bags awkward if they're a bit on the large side (many are). Kroger is notorious for this. Some Target self checkout as well (but not all).

Home Depot seems to be the best implemented, but man, they have to put a lot of trust into their customers. There's no verification scale, probably because many items are just too large. The wireless scanner is great, though, as I can just go through my cart and zap everything without removing them. Not sure how Home Depot might feel about doing that, but eh, it works, and personally, I'm not looking to rip them off.

Kroger has, by far, at least in my own experience, the worst experience. Their system assumes everyone is a criminal and any small discrepancy must be verified by a clerk. There was a time where they had to have 2 clerks per pod of stations because they were constantly bouncing from station to station, causing delays, and frustrated customers waiting in line. In the previous city I lived in, the Kroger there had a scale that would trip issues when the doors opened and it was a breezy day, so a bit of wind would hit it. Kroger has improved more recently, but still, by far, the worst. I tend to avoid it as much as I can.

Re: Nobody Likes Self-Checkout

#28

Post by aaaaaaaaata »

h2odragon wrote: post #3

"unexpected item in bagging area" ... haven't heard that for years . The new hotness is the camera replaying your last scan while flashing a red light for clerk help because you were holding the item wrong and it thinks you're trying to sneak something past. They also seem to be confused if you're using both arms to scan things, it beeps but it asks for help often as not. Apparently ambidexterousness is rare enough t…

Even if there's some delay, almost all self checkouts are roughly trying to square what you just scanned, with the weight of the stuff in the "already scanned" area, and optionally throwing errors after some threshold (the worst offenders turning off the scanner altogether until the last scanned item is weighed/validated).

Re: Nobody Likes Self-Checkout

#29

Post by MivLives »

hunglee2 wrote: post #2

....apart from the rest of the civilised world. Self check out has teething problems mainly because users need get trained on how to do it but once you grok it, you never go back - its simply faster, more efficient experience.

Not sure it's faster. I worked as a cashier for awhile at a grocery store. A 2 person team, one scanning/keying in items and one bagging, is a ton faster then you doing it all yourself. Customers who would do this were great. The worst ones were the ones who just sorta stared at you as you rang up then bagged their groceries for them while complaining about long lines.

The other big speed enhancement is memorization of common PLUs. Seeing bananas and just knowing the code (4011 or 94011 for non organic/ organic respectively) Is a lot faster than trying to navigate through the menus. It's on the label but most people don't seem to realize that.

That said I still think it should be self check out all the way, letting one person run 6 self checkouts at midnight so I don't get caught behind the person buying two shopping carts of misc stuff while I'm just trying to grab an orange juice is miserable.

Re: Nobody Likes Self-Checkout

#30

Post by MivLives »

bluefirebrand wrote: post #26
sacrosanct wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spot on. Self checkout shines when it’s for 2-3 items. I wouldn’t pass a huge haul of groceries through it. The more things you buy with self checkout the greater chance of some weird bug like missing barcode, not knowing where to select esoteric non-scan items etc

Also the self checkout areas are never designed to haul a cart through. It's stupid to haul a ton of stuff through there.

There's a few in the store near me that are basically just normal lanes with the cashier area flipped around. They're great other then the fact you just halved the amount of scanning/bagging work power you have.
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