Checkouts not manned by staff have apparently neither revolutionised our shopping experience nor cut operating costs as expected. In my opinion, this is proof you can’t always replace humans with technology– and why should we? My number one concern when shops implemented self-service checkouts was that of the human cost. The army of part-time workers, such as mothers with children at school, older people, or teenagers at college who need these jobs to supplement their income that these machines displaced. The shop’s logic. Why employ, for example, six people to do a job when you only need one person to resolve a few issues?
And for me, as a shopper, did it enhance my experience on the few occasions I’ve been forced to use them? Absolutely not! Whether it’s persuading the machine to accept the bag you’ve placed on the station which weighs your shopping, painfully scanning each product, figuring out the code on such items as fruit and veg that do not have bar codes, waiting for someone to come and approve items which have age restrictions such as alcohol, or when there is just an unexplained snarl– it’s not quicker or more convenient. It is a pain in the butt.
And why should I scan my own shopping? I don’t work for the store.
We recently shopped at IKEA in Mar Shopping in the Algarve and were forced to use a self-service checkout. We were already stressed from the IKEA shopping experience as we tried to navigate the maze to locate the tills, so why would we put ourselves through a self-service checkout hell when a trained staff member is more efficient and quicker. After calling for help several times and an assistant pressing buttons to clear the technical snarls, we finally mastered the beast only to be stopped by security, insinuating we had not paid for everything. Seriously? Either they trust customers to scan the products and do the job they should be paying staff to do, or they don’t. Incidentally, we had paid for everything, and it left a bad taste in my mouth to be stopped as we tried to pass through the security gates.
Decathlon in Portimao is another example of machines replacing people.
Piglet in Portugal 
I only use self-check out at the supermarket if I only have 3 or 4 items, otherwise I would rather wait in a queue. I’m not a fan either of self check outs.
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Yes, on occasions I confess I have but I then think of the jobs at stake. It’s a difficult balance.
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Well, here s another agreement from the other side of the world in Australia. Don’t think I have ever tried a self-service . . . think it would take me longer than waiting in a queue! I love sitting at my huge desktop in the library taking a comfortable ‘walk’ in any number of stores ere I buy. But reading – quite a few local supermarkets are doing away with self-checkouts . . . in spite of these being filmed I believe the financial loss thru’ ‘forgetting’ to scan is far larger than the wages for a checkout operator!
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Yep, I hope more shops revert back to cashiers. I was trying to explain to my son that a lot of people rely on these jobs to help make ends meet. IF we keep replacing people for technology people won’t have the money to spend in the shops. He couldn’t grasp it.
And I might as well buy online if this continues and not bother with shops. We did in Covid. Had the majority of shopping and products delivered.
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I agree with your overview. I find them annoying for many reasons, most of which you have covered. I avoid using them. Far too many jobs are becoming automated which will result in fewer jobs and more unemployment in the long term. I believe that Waitrose said that the incidence of theft i.e. shoppers not scanning their goods, had increased enormously since the introduction of self-service checkouts.
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And it may not always be theft but confusion. …the more jobs that are automated the less money people will have to spend. ANd, I’ve not even had my rant about AI yet. The gene is already out of that bottle and people are also using it to flood the market with AI generated books
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Great post, Piglet! I have used a self checkout on occasion when the lines were long elsewhere but I think I’ve only done the process without help once.
I vote for more cashiers! My least favorite message is Unexpected Item in Bagging Area! When I’m using my own bag.
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Yep, they should employ more cashiers! People need to work so they have money in their pockets to spend in the shops on food and essentials. It’s a vicious circle.
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If I were to write in detail about my opinion of self-serve, it would break the internet. I’ve left items on the machine before now due to the frustration. And very few of those machines take cash either.
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Oh, yes. I forgot to mention you need a bank card. Good point!
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I have the solution. I refuse to use self service checkouts and will not go to IKEA.
This year I will grow my own vegetables and send Sainsburys a cheque for their share at the end of the month.
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Sounds like a plan! It’s going to be a long time, if ever, I go to IKEA again.
At least your veg won’t be wrapped in plastic!
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I totally agree, and avoid them unless forced to use them..
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Exactly. And when we do, make sure we call an assistant over to help us. 🙂
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