How do self checkouts at stores save money?

[paul cottingham]

I'm not a big fan of them at all. But that is my choice, and my choice not to shop there. To each his own, and if I have ever sounded like I am criticizing anyone who does, my apologies. I do shop at Home Depot. And I don't like it.

[John C Lawson]

I used to work for a grocery store chain, and the double-check is indeed the weight, which why self-checkout stations insist you bag the item. The issue with self-check is indeed shrinkage, because the scale can't tell if you are ringing "gold-fruit" at "lead-fruit" prices, for instance.
I will not use self-checkout except in the direst of circumstances. I feel like they are stealing my labor. The chain I shop in the most always has baggers, which makes it very quick, since I also refuse to bag my own groceries. The chains here will generally open more checkstands if there are more than three people on line at any register.

[Brian Elfert]

For some reason the Minneapolis grocery market has traditionally not done bagging at grocery stores. The luxury grocery stores do bag groceries, but the two mainstream grocery chains here do not bag your groceries. People who live in other states are shocked that they have to bag their own groceries.

I've never seen the two mainstream grocery chains here open more lanes when it is busy either. Target is taking away a lot of the grocery business because they both bag groceries and open more lanes as needed, plus the prices are less.

[Paul McGaha]

As far as I can tell, from the people I've talked to about it, the best grocery store in our area is Wegman's. I don't think I've seen any self check cash registers in their stores. One more thing to like about them to me. Maybe I'm just old school but I think it's the stores job to do that work.

PHM

[Curt Harms]

Lowes, Home Depot, and Safeway (my local grocery) all have self-checkout and all of them work very well and I use them in most cases. Further, each bank of 4 has 1 employee most of the time. Often, there isn't anyone around. I like 'em! Just make sure your items have a bar code on them!!

I wonder if the self checkout lines are as much for customer convenience as store cost savings. Our local grocery store has 6 self checkout stations and one cashier. Pretty clearly anytime anyone is using a station that cashier is supposed to be at their post to 'monitor' the customer(s). They do have a reasonable means to deal with produce or items without bar codes, cascading menus of pictures. I only use the self checkout for 1 or 2 items. I hate standing behind someone with a full cart when all I'm buying is a jug of milk and express lines don't see all that 'express'.

[Joe Angrisani]

Kroger's profit margin is flat, and both Kroger and Safeway's profit margins are LESS than the average grocery store. Whatever they're doing, they're not doing it right.....

Kroger reported yesterday. Earnings are up 22% over the year-ago quarter. Profits are up 10% over the year-ago quarter. Full year 2012 profits are up 16% over 2011.

Not bad for being "flat" and "less than the average grocery store" that's "not doing it right".



Something's working right.....

[John Coloccia]

Kroger reported yesterday. Earnings are up 22% over the year-ago quarter. Profits are up 10% over the year-ago quarter. Full year 2012 profits are up 16% over 2011.

Not bad for being "flat" and "less than the average grocery store" that's "not doing it right".



Something's working right.....

But I think that means their profit margin has gone down even more. Without reading the report I don't know what their expenditures where. Ideally if earnings go up 22%, you'd like to see profits go up at least 22%, so something fell on the floor somewhere, though it may from investments in equipment, contracts, new stores. I don't really follow Kroger so I don't know.

[Ole Anderson]

OK, how many of you still go in a bank to get cash?

I generally prefer the self checkout at HD or the grocery store when I have a limited number of items. When the cart is full I go to the full service line, unless it is backed up and the self check station with the conveyor belt is available. I try to avoid Lowe's as they have no self check and seem to want a lot more info at checkout than do the HD clerks. Now if I have a cart of lumber, I always go to the pro checkout area.

Kroger reported yesterday. Earnings are up 22% over the year-ago quarter. Profits are up 10% over the year-ago quarter. Full year 2012 profits are up 16% over 2011.

Odd, I thought earnings and profit were the same thing. You "earn" profit on sales. Maybe they meant sales were up 22%. If that is the case, their profit margin went down some.

[Larry Browning]

OK, how many of you still go in a bank to get cash?

I do. I hate drive throughs. I never use them. I think that most times it is faster to go in, whether at McDonald's or the bank.

[John Coloccia]

OK, how many of you still go in a bank to get cash?

I generally prefer the self checkout at HD or the grocery store when I have a limited number of items. When the cart is full I go to the full service line, unless it is backed up and the self check station with the conveyor belt is available. I try to avoid Lowe's as they have no self check and seem to want a lot more info at checkout than do the HD clerks. Now if I have a cart of lumber, I always go to the pro checkout area.



Odd, I thought earnings and profit were the same thing. You "earn" profit on sales. Maybe they meant sales were up 22%. If that is the case, their profit margin went down some.

I assumed he meant sales. I read through the report. Here's what happened:


Sales increase 7.1%
Profits (or rather, net earnings per dilluted share) increased 16% in 2012, however Kroger also did a buy back of stock in 2012. I'm not sure what the effect was. Their outstanding shares also came down significantly in 2011...not sure why. I don't invest in Kroger so I really don't have the energy to dig any further into it, but it's not as simple as profits are up. Nothing against Kroger, but it requires more digging to actually figure out how efficiently they're running. It's sort of off on a tangent, anyway.

I'll have you know that I used the self checkout at HD today. The guy had to ring up most of my stuff, and he just rang up the entire thing while he was there.

[Jeff Nicol]

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.

All of the stores have lots and lots of overhead cameras and some of them have cameras that point at the level of the cart and they are very small and will not be seen by customers unless you are a thief and looking. So I truly don't think there is all that much that gets by in the self checkouts, unless someone is allowing friends and family to get away with things. I do not think that they weigh all the items, just fresh produce becaise not every item in a can, bag, box etc. weigh exactly the same from one to another. So if it has a barcode it is just scanned and does not have to touch anything for the scanner to read the code.

I used one one time at a Walmart because Ihad just a couple of things and the other lanes were backed up with tons of others and I was in a hurry to get to hunting camp! My wife loves them for most of the reasons mentioned above that are positive, but not for me because I like to flirt with the cute cashiers!

Just an option,

Jeff

[Gary Hodgin]

Apparently, earnings and profits are related but not the same in some circumstances. Both are revenue less costs but the costs may be different depending on the corporation. Profits take account all the business's expenses whereas earning take into account a narrower set of expenses, according to wiseGeek.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-...and-profit.htm

[Brian Elfert]

All of the stores have lots and lots of overhead cameras and some of them have cameras that point at the level of the cart and they are very small and will not be seen by customers unless you are a thief and looking. So I truly don't think there is all that much that gets by in the self checkouts, unless someone is allowing friends and family to get away with things. I do not think that they weigh all the items, just fresh produce becaise not every item in a can, bag, box etc. weigh exactly the same from one to another. So if it has a barcode it is just scanned and does not have to touch anything for the scanner to read the code.

For the most part, cameras only record the fact that someone didn't scan all their items. They don't make sure all the items in cart get scanned like a human. Certainly a thief can steal something even with a human cashier, but they can't just leave stuff in the cart and walk out of the store. The regular cash registers at one local chain have signs imploring the cashiers to make sure carts are completely empty. I think the register even has a prompt before the sale can be completed to double check the cart.

Most of the self checkouts I use weigh the items, but Costco and one other small local chain use some sort of tunnel to verify items through video I guess. I've had plenty of issues with the self checkouts complaining I didn't bag something because the register didn't detect the right weight. Less issues recently so they probably have made more changes to the software.

[paul cottingham]

OK, how many of you still go in a bank to get cash?

i will withdraw money from an atm but wont do any other banking at them. I've had to many problems with them.

[Michael Dromey]

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

I agree Charlie. I avoid them for the simple fact these cause job losses when in use.

Mike