How do self checkouts at stores save money?

[Chris Rosenberger]

We were at a Sams Club today. They had 4 self checkouts. There were 4 employees there to help if someone had a problem. I have used self checkout at Lowe's a few time. Half the time I had a problem & needed help, so I do not use self checkouts anymore. In the 15 minutes we were in line to get checked out, I watched the self checkouts. Almost everyone had problems. The only people that did not have problems were ones that only had a few items.

So most of the time there was an employee at each self checkout helping. It seemed to take longer for people to checkout themselves than if there was a full time cashier.

To me it appears that the store is paying the same number of employees, but getting less for it. What am I missing?

[Mike Henderson]

I don't know if it saves the store money but in many instances, you can checkout faster by using the self checkout than by going to a regular checkout. Part of this is the line. For the self checkout, there is usually one line for about four stations. For the clerk checkout, there's usually one line for each checkout. And if you're like me, you always get in the line that moves the slowest.

In the stores I go to, there's only one clerk for the four self checkout stations so that certainly saves the store money. I've never seen a self checkout system with one clerk per station.

I MUCH prefer to self checkout and avoid stores without self checkout. I can almost always get through the checkout process faster with self checkout. As you can tell, the thing that's important to me is getting in, getting the shopping done, and getting out as quickly as possible.

Mike

[Vons - a while back - said they were not going to put in self checkout so that the clerks could "form a relationship with the customer". Well, if I want a relationship, I'd go to match.com. What I want in a grocery store is (1) a good selection, (2) good pricing, and (3) fast checkout. Self checkout gives me the fast checkout.

My major experience with self checkout has been with Ralphs Grocery Store and Home Depot. Both have good systems and people do not seem to have any problems. The self checkout moves very fast.]

[Mel Fulks]

Saw something in news recently about some stores declaring them a flop and pulling them out .Guess they work ,but nothing magic about them ,it's done with electronics!

[George Bokros]

I avoid the self checkouts. If they are saving money by not having clerks at the checkout then they need to give me a discount for doing the work myself. The self checkouts that really do nothing are the ones that have someone to take the money but I haven't seen those kind recently.

The self checkout is the reason I usually avoid Home Depot because the ones by me that is all they have.

[Jay Jolliffe]

One large food store near me took them out because they were loosing to much food...Not everyone is honest....

[Brian Elfert]

The local Sam' Club only had employees monitoring them when self checkout was new. No employees on more recent visits. It seems like the self checkouts are as busy as the regular checkouts at Sam's Club now. The receipts are blue I suppose so the door checkers can check a little closer.

I try to avoid stores that don't have self checkout. One local grocery store has six self checkouts. The same store had one express lane before they got self checkout. I try to avoid a different local grocery store of the same chain that has no self checkout and no express lane.

[charlie knighton]

we still have 15% unemployment down from 20+, i do not use self checkout

[Larry Frank]

I love the self checkout at a couple of the large grocery stores. I would rather bag my own groceries than watch someone slam dunk my oranges or apples into a bag. I also use the cloth bags which I bring. I do not really use them because of ecology but rather they are stronger and will not break spilling my food.

Groceries are getting real expensive and I want to have undamaged food when I get home. I will grant that there are a couple of grocery stores where they checkout people are nice and they do a good job bagging the groceries. However, these places tend to be more expensive.

I guess I would rather checkout and bag my own stuff rather that get real upset at the way my food is handled.

[Stephen Cherry]

I'd take a shot and say that it's related to loss prevention. It looks like the systems have some sort of identification for the product other than just the bar code, so it would need to match up the bar code, and some other characteristic (weight??). Plus it would reduce employee interaction with the dinero, and they will steal also.

I like the self checkout because you can unload all your coins first.

[ray hampton]

I will walk a mile if I need to so that I can talk to the cashier,
if a dishonest person remove the barcode and use a code from something much cheaply, WILL THE SELF-CHECKOUT CATCH THIS THIEF

[Stephen Cherry]

if a dishonest person remove the barcode and use a code from something much cheaply, WILL THE SELF-CHECKOUT CATCH THIS THIEF

I think that the machine weighs the product, so that the weight and barcode need to match up.

[Myk Rian]

Chris;
I think you just caught a bad day at the self checkout. Maybe computer problems. It happens.

[Paul McGaha]

I don't like self checkouts. Try my best not to use them. I hope they take them out of the stores.

PHM

[Brian Elfert]

Should we all be driving horses and buggies to keep farriers in business? Just because unemployment is high isn't a reason to keep cashiers employed. Many jobs have been eliminated over the years due to advances in technology.

I noticed that a number of new Walmart stores did not have self checkouts. The local Walmart store was remodeled and expanded last year and they installed self checkouts so apparently Walmart is still doing self checkouts.

[Brian Elfert]

I think that the machine weighs the product, so that the weight and barcode need to match up.

Yes, the machine weighs the items. Customers can still steal items by simply never removing them from their cart. A human cashier would make sure everything in the cart got paid for.

Most grocery stores locally do not bag groceries so that isn't a problem for me.