This post at SBC really hits the mark.
His view on Wal-Mart's advertising campaign for the self-checkout line — “Fast! Easy! Fun!” — is accurate. I've done it only a few times (not at Wal-Mart, but at other stores like Home Depot and Giant), and self-checkout is a pain in the spleen. It isn't fast. It isn't easy. And it's definitely not fun.
The reasons why stores are interested in this technology are clear:
- Their bottom line
- Their bottom line
- Their bottom line
Stores see an opportunity to pay a few $10k per checkout up front for the purpose of eliminating an employee. This decision pays for itself in two years or so. Now, it's not quite one employee, because there will need to be employees that “help” the customers with the technology, but one “helper” could service several self-serve stations. (Say that five times quickly!)
Given this cost-cutting opportunity that is no doubt quite appealing to he board room (who likely answer to shareholders with an itchy “sell” finger), the self-checkout is tested, likely to the detriment of customer convenience. This is a hard sell to customers, and they have a few tacks to try with them:
- Blow sunshine their way (“Hey, Ladies and Gentlemen! Check it out! Yourself!!”)
- Don't blow sunshine their way; just put them in and expect the customers to use them
- Offer an incentive to use them (like a 5% rebate on their bill)
I haven't seen anyone implement the last option. I might seek self-checkouts if I could save $5 on a $100 grocery bill.
Of the other two, the second one ticks me off more than the first. I can deal with someone's shoveling with mild amusement, but when the front manager gets peeved when I don't use an open self-checkout lane with a basket full of groceries (see the first comment in Cap's post), that's a bit much. (Bravo to the person who said “NO!”)
Granted, the front managers are probably being rated on the percentage of customers that use the self-checkout lanes, so they have a reason to push people through them. Will this chase customers away? Probably, but to what end? Their competitors will probably start implementing self-checkouts themselves to remain competitive. Some won't — but they'll continue to pass along the additional labor costs to their customer, and only those customers who value personal service enough to pay for it will continue shopping there.
I still shop for price, so I'd probably get used to it if it meant that I saved money on my groceries. I wouldn't go do without a fight, though!
Do self-checkouts bug you? Would you change where you shop because of them?
If I am purchasing 12 items or less, I like the self check-out. In many cases it is quicker than dealing with a cashier. I think for now most store will still have cashiers because not having them would discourage larger purchases, because it is a pain to scan so many items. In the store I shop they are testing out a device that attaches to the shopping cart and you can scan your items before putting it in the cart, so that all you have to do when you go to the self check out is pay.
I'm a veteran self-checkout-er. What drives me nuts is when people who clearly do not know how to use it go through with an abnormally large amount of items and then pay in the most excruciatingly slow manner they can find. I realize that everyone has to have a first time on it, but does it really have to be with ten items, five of which are produce which they have to weigh and enter produce numbers for, and MUST they pay with a CHECK?!
When I was in college I worked at a self-checkout station for 2 years so I've seen it all. This was in a union-operated grocery store, so the union had to approve the installation of the self-checkout stations. I managed four individual checkout stations at once. When the checkout station was closed down for maintenance or for some other reason, only one checkout lane would open. A checker is still much faster than a self-checkout station for small orders (this was strickly enforced at our store — 12 items or less). I would venture a guess of approximately four times faster. So contrary to what many people think, self checkout stations are not putting people out of work.
I hate shopping of any kind, so I have someone else do mine. I don't want self checkout, or a clerk check out………I just don't want to do the whole event! Not sure where I got so "allergic" to shopping! Have only stepped into a Walmart once, vowed never to go back & haven't.
Thanks everyone for the comments!
John M, I read about that device. Seems like unless you have a lot of cameras in the store or unless you have someone checking the number of grocery items you have upon leaving the store, it really works on the honor system. How easy would it be (intentionally or otherwise) to just put an item in the cart without scanning it?
PFF, I don't doubt that it's faster for someone to scan them than it is for the customer to scan them. Whether that's ultimately valuable to the discounters like Wal-Mart, Costco, etc., remains to be seen. The pessimist in me says that they will cut costs wherever they can … even to the detriment of their customers.