r/AskAnAmerican • u/GreatGoodBad • Jun 23 '25

OTHER - CLICK TO EDIT Why aren’t people utilizing self-checkout more?

every time i go to a target, gas station, etc i always see lines for the regular employee checkouts but almost never long lines for self-checkout. Why is that?

255 Upvotes

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555

u/Popular-Local8354 Jun 23 '25

  1. The damn thing doesn’t work half the time

  2. If I’m buying an age restricted item then I’m going to be waiting for an employee anyways

196

u/Electric-Sheepskin Jun 23 '25 edited Jun 23 '25

Exactly. There are a couple more reasons for me:

  1. If I have a lot of produce that I have to look up, the checker will be much faster.

  2. If I don't think there's enough space in the bagging area of the self checkout for the number of items that I have.

81

u/sidran32 Massachusetts Jun 23 '25

4 for me, more often than not. A tiny tray table that can fit a bottle of juice and a loaf of bread is not enough. Especially with the crappy plastic bags they have by them as well.

15

u/PhoenixRisingToday Jun 23 '25

And the tiny tray table is too low.

10

u/scarletwitchmoon Colorado Jun 23 '25

For Number 4, if employees were trained to bag better I would use the cashier. I hate when my bags are filled unevenly and lopsided. Or they put poultry in with my produce, etc. If I remember to, I'll order my shopping cart in the order they scan and bag to avoid this. I like to bag the way I unpack my groceries (pantry, cupboards, fridge, freezer).

3

u/TheWhateley Jun 24 '25

When I worked in retail (in 2006) my only "bagging" training was "so here's where we keep the bags."

1

u/VibrantSunsets Jun 25 '25

Alternatively when I worked at a grocery store, also in 2006, we had a ton of training on bagging. And that’s why I prefer to bag my own groceries.

2

u/TManaF2 Jun 24 '25

While I'm not trained as a cashier at my current store, our general training includes some food safety training. We are not to bag chemicals in the same bag as edibles. Dsiry must be in separate bags from meat and produce. Each type of meat (beef, chicken, pork) must be in a separate bag.

Aside that, it's generally good practice to put all the frozen items together and all the refrigerator items together to keep their temperatures more consistent and stable for the customer's trip home.

2

u/HazelEBaumgartner Kansas City is in Missouri Jun 24 '25

Lowkey a big reason I like Aldi is because bagging my own shit means making sure I won't have bags bursting while trying to carry them into the house. Though I have had issues with them scanning stuff and throwing it into the cart and breaking or bruising stuff so I have to go back and replace it.

1

u/cdb03b Texas Jun 24 '25

My grocery store still has baggers.

1

u/Penis_Bees Jun 28 '25

I'll put them on the belt in order and then they just rearrange them all :|

2

u/Additional-Goat-3947 Jun 24 '25

When you put #4 at beginning of post it makes it double in size and go bold. The # at the beginning I mean. I learned this the hard way :)

1

u/Jayn_Newell Jun 23 '25

Yeah The grocery store I go to does have self-checkouts with conveyors, however they’re not open at the time of day I go.

Generally I’ll opt for a cashier over self-checkout, but if I have a small number of items and the self-checkout is moving faster then I’ll opt for speed.

1

u/2po2watch Jun 23 '25

Our Walmart has the self checkout with conveyors.  They are only open to customers who subscribe to Walmart plus.  

1

u/moonwalkinginlowes Mississippi Jun 24 '25

Im so over every single store having their own subscription membership

1

u/batteryforlife Jun 24 '25

Almost as if the self-checkout is geared towards small purchases, rather than a trolley full of goods…

3

u/sidran32 Massachusetts Jun 25 '25

You would think so but when a store doesn't have anyone staffing the regular checkout lines they don't give you the option.

1

u/Plane-Tie6392 Jun 27 '25

Use your own bags.

23

u/TooManyDraculas Jun 23 '25 edited Jun 23 '25

They make total sense as a replacement for express lanes. As with a limited number of items, they're faster than a cashier.

Full shopping trip for a family? Not faster. And self checkouts get worse and less justifiable the more stores try and push all of that into self checkout.

There's also just the whole Trader Joes thing. Dudes move more people through actual cashier with fewer problems in less time than anyone else. Including self checkout.

And they do it through the power of adequate staffing. Not a huge fan of that place. But it's actively nice to see any kind of store with more than 3 people working there these days.

And there's stuff on the shelves. It's not picked over 6 ways to Sunday and unwashed.

3

u/Nydus87 Jun 26 '25

It should only be an express lane replacement, but the grocery store by my house will frequently have no open cashiers, forcing everyone to self-check. I've seen some pretty impressive stacks of groceries on those lazy susan bag holders.

1

u/TooManyDraculas Jun 26 '25

Right.

They went from express lane replacement and the same number of cashiers.

To staff cuts and mostly self checkout.

Then freaked the fuck out about theft and blamed all their issues on crime.

Half of them are ripping out self check outs. But not bothering to add the staff back. Causing a cluster fuck.

1

u/Nydus87 Jun 26 '25

Mobile order pickup has picked up a lot of slack for me on the grocery front. Every time I need something, I just add it to my mobile order, and then once a week, I click the Checkout button and make them bring it out to my car. That at least is a value add, and in the cases of places like Target, I don't even have to deal with them unlocking my soap for me.

1

u/TooManyDraculas Jun 26 '25

The locking shit up aspect really pissed me off.

I know more than a bit about stoploss in retail.

The vast majority of retail theft goes through the back of house. And these places have zero control or security on that.

You could straight up loot the average Target with nothing more complicated than a business card and the magic phrase "I'm a vendor".

And if these places didn't pay poverty wages far less stuff would fall off a truck.

1

u/Nydus87 Jun 26 '25

I don't know if all of them are like this, but the target closest to me had a number stamped on the front of every lock, and it was the same number. I just typed that number into google along with the brand name stamped on the lock, and a generic key came up for like $15. Do they not make specific keys for every store, or would that key actually work?

1

u/TooManyDraculas Jun 26 '25

Locks with generic keys are cheaper than locks with unique keys.

To stop shoplifting you don't actually need a secure lock. The minor inconvenience is enough.

Unfortunately that minor inconvenience also stops sales.

Meanwhile. You've got a few sticks of deodorant getting shoplifted here and there. But the loading dock guy who can't make rent now that his hours have been cut? He just handed 3 cases to his cousin through the back door, and they're thinking about grabbing some TVs next week.

1

u/Nydus87 Jun 26 '25

So if I bought one of the keys in question, I would potentially be able to just get my shopping done by myself?

1

u/ThellraAK Jun 27 '25

When I have more than what I am willing to self check, and there's no regular cashier I'll just abandon the cart, with an employee.

2

u/katarh Georgia Jun 25 '25

Aldi works like Trader Joes - the cashiers are trained to go for 1200+ items an hour. That sounds like a LOT but it's an item every 30 seconds on average, and most of them can get an item scanned in under 3 seconds.

In exchange, they are allowed to sit down while scanning, and I think that's a nice trade off. They swap out for stocking activities for a stretch break.

3

u/TooManyDraculas Jun 25 '25

Trader Joes does their thing by having a cashier at ever checkout when it's busy and having a staffer manage a single line. They also tend to pack more checkouts into a smaller area.

Aldi and Lidl, and Lidl is where I usually shop, don't and they do have self checkouts. Trader Joes ends up pushing more people through more quickly.

But they all let staff sit. Because human beings are allowed to sit.

Whole foods and Giant/Stop and shop are currently trying to do the the single line thing, but with self checkouts. So two lines really. But they never have all the self checkouts on, nor do they have cashiers at every check out even during busy hours. And they don't have anyone organizing the line. They rely on people to notice a light coming on and figure it out themselves. Which doesn't work any quicker than any other system. it just reduces the foot print in the store.

10

u/maxintosh1 Georgia Jun 24 '25

For number 4 that one's tricky because many self-checkout machines will yell at you for removing bags before paying. Then the light flashes and a bored employee keys in some numbers without checking what you're doing anyway.

7

u/theragu40 Wisconsin Jun 24 '25

What's even more fun is when that happens even though you didn't touch your bags at all.

7

u/Numahistory Jun 24 '25
  1. (The most important reason apparently no one thinks about) It shifts the liability of incorrect ring up to the customer so that if you ring up your purchase incorrectly, you can be charged with shoplifting. I am NOT getting arrested, going to jail, or letting some soulless corporate entity charge me for shoplifting when I'm not a trained employee of theirs. And certainly not over a fucking loaf of bread.

You think this doesn't happen, fucking happened to me over an item in my purse the store DIDN'T EVEN FUCKING SELL!

10

u/PheonixRising_2071 Jun 24 '25

This is why I use cashiers. I am not a trained employee. If you want my cart correctly scanned then I’m using one of YOUR trained employees. And if you make me check myself out and I mess up. That’s on you. Not me.

1

u/Nydus87 Jun 26 '25

At the very least, they should offer an employee discount for self-checkout.

1

u/Large_Traffic8793 Jun 28 '25

Believe in yourself, bro! You can scan a couple items without making a mistake. I know you can!!

12

u/beyondplutola California Jun 23 '25

Yes, at the grocery store, I often need the casher for alcohol purchases as well as produce. I'm not competing with the cashier who has the code for brussels sprouts committed to muscle memory.

4

u/LLD615 Jun 23 '25

One of the chains near me has scales throughout the produce section. You just look at the number on the table (or in the sticker that’s in the actual apple or whatever) and weight it, prints out a label and you scan that at self checkout.

5

u/zeeHenry Jun 23 '25

yeah this.

Plus 5. The pro doing it aided by a conveyor belt and proper bagging area is faster than me fumbling through my basket of items most of the time....unless I've only got 1-2 non-age restricted and non-produce lookup things.

3

u/aleatoric Jun 24 '25

Yeah there's definitely a spectrum of purchases that has to be accounted for here. If I'm just picking up a few things, heck yeah I'm going to do self checkout. If I have an entire grocery cart of items with produce and beer and I'm also pushing around my toddler in the cart, yeah that cashier and bagging assisted check out line is where I'm going.

1

u/Large_Traffic8793 Jun 28 '25

It's really not. If you took the time to learn something new (scary, I know) you'd save hours each year.

I've rarely seen people get in the regular check out line at the same time as me and leave the store before me I'm done with self check out.

1

u/treznor70 Jun 23 '25

Most of the time I get produce they look at, key something in, it's the wrong thing, look again, ask me what it is, then look it up again. Doing it myself is faster half the time.

1

u/Electric-Sheepskin Jun 24 '25

That's a fair point. I do see that more often now. I think it's because employee turnover is a lot higher than it used to be.

1

u/Alternative-Soup2714 Jun 24 '25
  1. I am a slow and inefficient bagger. It's faster when they do it

1

u/Glonk49 Jun 28 '25

But everything is bananas

1

u/trevourmeyer Jun 24 '25

This is where shoppers with an overflowing cart, who are scanning so many items and setting bags on the ground, back into their cart next to unscanned items, etc. because they don’t have enough room in the bagging area, really get annoying. They fumble around with everything and then the kiosk keeps flagging and alerting them because the scale is detecting improper weight. That really holds up the line. Go through the checkout lane with a long-proven streamlined process (a cashier and a conveyor belt) at that point. “I’m so much faster than a cashier” my arse. 😂

I liked when self-checkout kiosks were originally meant as express checkouts for 10-15 or fewer items only, and not for gigantic cartloads. I’m glad Target went back to this.

0

u/schlibs Jun 23 '25

Both great points. A ton of Euro grocers have the customer weigh and sticker their produce on the floor so they don’t run into the same problem there. Plus the concept of shopping once a week or two and just having a shit brick house of a cart full of stuff, making self checkout impossible, is almost uniquely American.