Yep and it saves the supermarkets costs so they make a greater profit while still giving (small) extra discounts. Even more so for the self scan, bag, and self-checkout deals like what they now use at Stop and Shop. The downside of course is that while there will always be the need for a front end staff people are going to lose their jobs as smaller shifts are needed to cover.

I love self-checkout. But I hate it when the stupid things won't register something I just dropped into the bag.

"Please place the item in the bag."

"I did. Hey, employee? It says to place the item in the bag, but I already did."

"Did you place it the bag on the scale?"

"Yes."

"Let me check..." as he checks all of the groceries I've done already. "Hmmm.... Yes, these are all on there. Let me override."

"Thanks." *beep* "Please place the item in the bag."

GROAN

The only things I dislike about self checkout are the people who do multiple transactions to get around sale limits and when I try to use coupons through them. I use coupons quite frequently as a way to save money and have gotten quite good at it. Waiting for an attendant whose attention is split amongst 4-6 stations is less than ideal for me when my coupons require manual entry. So if I have coupons I usually go through the non-self serve lanes. The only exception being at Meijer where they only have one non-self serve lane open at any point in time and it's backed up like crazy due to the cigarette/alcohol sales.

I used to have this kind of problem... but not with snacks... but iTunes gift cards. I don't like putting my CC information into iTunes (to stop myself from impulse buying stuff) so I usually just buy gift cards for myself.

The problem was that when I went grocery shopping I might grab a gift card and throw in the basket. Just because.

Now since I cant get a gift card at a self-checkout lane (dunno if this is true for many places but I know I cant get them thru self-checkout at the Jewel in front of my house) I'm less inclined to want to get one, since I don't like waiting in line.

I despise self checkout. They are the most ill-conceived machines ever. Not only am I doing the work someone else should be getting paid to do, but I am bagging everything on my own as well.
And don't get me started on the software on these things. "Please put item in the bag." Maybe I don't want to put the god damn'd item in the frekin bag! It takes, I would guess, an average of twice as long to check out with these machines, than if it was done the normal way. Those machines straight up suck.

Self checkouts are great and horrible at the same time. Great for the quick 1-8 items you have. Until you get the occasional douche that either doesn't know how to operate it somehow, or has 50 things to scan and the other lanes are quite full.

Self check-out is awesome and I almost exclusively use it

The self-checkout fad seems to have slowed down. Every new or remodeled Walmart i've seen has done away with them. I like them, but they are a bit to buggy/sensitive to really be useful.

Not only do I think self check out is the greatest thing ever! I use stop and shop (yes they cost more other places but their extremely clean and in my book that's worth paying for).

They now have a self scanner i can walk around the store and scan all my stuff and bag it and at the end all i do is check out! AMAZING.

The plus side is they keep really good track of your purchases and give discounts randomly (extra only if you use the device) on products in the store you normally buy or on new products you may like to try.

I get 10% - 20% off my peppers and meat almost weekly just by using that thing.

@Yankees368: Then don't use them. I stopped using self checkout machines about 12 years ago because they annoyed me. Haven't used one since.

I only use self check-outs when I have a few items. It's kind of like the express lane, in this way. They just installed them at our local grocery store and are gung ho to get customers to try them. We made the mistake of obliging with a full cart of items. That was kind of a crappy experience but I would use it there with just a couple items, to get through the check out quickly.

@Yankees368: The notion of doing the work that an employee could handle has occurred to me too. I wonder if they worry about their jobs as self check-outs are thrust upon us more and more.

i use the self checkout but i'm extremely proficient at it both at stop and shop AND home depot. I'm able to breeze through pretty quickly

another reason this could curb impulse buying is you're more likely to see an item as you're scanning it than if you're just putting it on a conveyor belt for someone else to scan. then, you have the chance to put it back.

I love self checkout. I was really annoyed when Hyvee discontinued them in our area. I have noticed that there is a drastic difference in the quality of the systems used in different stores. The Lunds stores in Mpls have the best. Faster processors, more intuitive menus and are far less annoying. Walmart seems to have the worst, slow processors, flakey software and just annoying to use.

I'm amazed how the geriatrics have taken to them..at least in my area. You'd think that set would be apprehensive of such things, but no, they jump right in. Granted, they move at 2 miles per hour.

My only explanation is that they've felt the cashier has been ripping them off for years, and now, by self-scanning, they finally get to take control of the matter.

@TacoDave: As someone who runs the other side of self checkout lanes, I'll tell you this...

I'd say about 95% of the time, problems with the self checkouts at my store are the fault of the customer doing something they shouldn't be. You scanned an item, told it to skip bagging, scanned another, and put both in the bag? Yea, it doesn't know how to handle that. You scanned something, bagged it, then picked up the item? Stop that! The directions are clear... scan the item, bag it. Scan the next item, bag it.

People can't read. Or follow directions.

- typically self-checkouts don't have adjacent stands of snacks/magazines

- self-checkout users typically have fewer items in their cart than those using cashiers -so are less likely to be impulse buyers

- I often get stuck in the stupid "place item in the bagging area - unexpected item in the bagging area - please remove item from the bagging area - please place item in the bagging area" loop

@Jonbo298: Or the one with 3 items. Who can't understand that you don't pick it up. Scan, "please place the item in the bag," calls help. Puts item in bag area. Picks up item...

@ludwigk: Sometimes, you are not given a choice. Instead of having 3 or 4 registers open at off hours now, you will have 1 real register open, and the rest are all self checkout.

@Shadowfire: Told it to skip bagging? The machines at the Kroger near my house do not have that option.

The only way to get it to skip bagging is to get the attention of the girl running the self-checkout away from flirting with the bag boys, get her off the cell phone, get her to stop smacking her chewing gum, then make her understand that, no, I can't fit a 12-pack of soft drinks on the bagging area with everything else. She rolls her eyes, pushes the magic button, and goes back to doing what she was doing before before.

Then I have to go through that 4 more times, because they do specials of 5 12-packs of soft drinks for $12.

I love self checkouts but it is the people who use them that annoy the crap out of me. Today at Kroger I had 5 items to check out. At the self-checkouts there were 4 people (at the 4 stations) with FULL GROCERY BASKETS. That really irks me. So I went to the pharmacy window and they happily checked me out.

Another annoyance, the person who has no clue how to use it. "Where do I put my money in?" "What do I scan on the package?" Holds up the works big time.

@Skankingmike:
I am a MAJOR fan of the hand scanner, bag everything as I shop- no more looking round for help with an unmarked item, running tally of what I have and super fast checkout. Only annoyance is even though the 'honesty audits' they do are very rare they always seem to pop up when I am pressed for time.

You people have no idea how frustrating it is to be a cashier at one of these things. And "geriatrics" are usually the worst, if they try to use them. Also, so many people do not understand the concept of putting things on the scale so they can continue checking out. I would rather they just get rid of them altogether and hire more cashiers, who can give one on one service rather than having to split their attention between four people at once.

@Yankees368: I think it depends on the store and the training that the staff receive. The checkers where I live are SLOOOOOOOOOWWWW and want to double bag everything. I can go the self check out lane and bag my food to make it weasy to put them away when I get home (Frozen food for the large freezer, refrigerated, canned goods etc. all in their appropriate bags), and I can usually do it twice as fast as the cashiers.

That said, there are some stores that have very sensitive scanners, and well trained staff who can scan and bag $200 in groceries in no time flat.

@Shadowfire: For a while, the Local Home Depot installed self checkout lanes. I bought a 4x8 sheet of plywood and a couple of 2 x 4's. The cashier lines were very long, so I went to the self checkout. The programmers apparently forgot that they sell items that are larger than the bagging area, and they forgot the "Skip Bagging" button. Have you ever tried to get a sheet of plywood into a bag...it doesn't work very well. I ended up standing my kid up in the bagging area to convince the system that the plywood was in a bag.

I can't believe people are shortsighted enough to use these machines without a qualm. Remember when not only did you get your gas pumped for you, but got your windshield cleaned and oil checked at a station, for no additional fee? Now you have to pump your own, rain or shine. Self-checkouts are exactly the same - there being more of them, and less "real" cashiers in stores, is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Naturally stores would rather only have to pay one person to supervise 6 or 8 self-checkouts than pay real cashiers, so they have a couple of cashiers and lots and lots of self-checkouts, and then when people thoughtlessly flock to them, they justify eliminating yet another cashier position. And people are pleased to be allowed the privilege of doing more work, and fighting with a buggy machine and paying the exact same price, to boot! It's astonishing.

The issue of "please place the item in the bag" is another ball of wax altogether. You would have to unload from your cart pretty damn efficiently, because there's no chance of rearranging items with that setup.

I can't say I blame stores for pushing self-checkout (they're in it for the money and eliminating actual human positions sure saves them THAT) but I feel so strongly that it's a matter of social conscience that I'm surprised to see so many Consumerists say that they like them.

@Grabraham: OMG i know i got audited just this past day and I had to be at work in less than an hour.

Ever notice people staring at you while you use the device?

I do enjoy how much faster they are, however they can be a pain when you shop with your own bag as I often do. I set the bag down on the platform and immediately it yells at me saying there is an unknown item in the bagging area. Sometimes the button pops up to say "its a bag" and sometimes it doesn't and then it just ends up wasting more time. Still better than being in line behind people writing checks though.

@TacoDave: One time the scale was off at a self check-out and the attendant was gone so I just placed my wallet on the scale and it fixed the problem. YMMV

i love the self checkouts. i have a wegmans right across the street and they don't have any. it's very frustrating to go at night for 1 item, only to see 2 registers open and 5 people in each line. i do agree though that forcing me to place the item in the bag before continuing was very stupid programming

I looooooove self-checkout in grocery stores. I can scan and bag my own groceries in a fraction of the time it takes someone else to do it, and I don't have some numbnuts bagging my tomatoes with 2L bottles of pop.

@Yankees368: This.

Except replace "One real register" with "no real registers".

I really like self check-out most of the time. But every once in a while I don't feel like dealing with it, and I want someone to check my groceries for me. That is -not- too much to ask, sorry.

That's what ticks me off about self checkout. When they take away the option sometimes.

@Skankingmike: Oh my gosh I would LOVE that. Partially because duh, huge time saver handling the goods once instead of twice, but also because I hate the supermarket style scanners they have on self checkout, I prefer the gun type scanner because I worked at department stores and thus am better with that style.

I know the big supermarket counter-mounted scanner is supposed to be quicker/easier to pick up the barcodes and that's why they use them in grocery stores, but I swear to god I'm so much slower with it, I'd rather just be able to aim the laser. At self checkout i just find myself wiggling the cans until it decides to scan it.

/Still better than regular checkout though.

@Chris Abbott: Totally. When I go to the store, I never have more than five items, so it's perfect.

There really isn't anywhere to put impulse buy stuff. Not to mention you are under the gun of the person still waiting in line to not fart around or screw it up.

@Yankees368: Oh, boohoo, you have to bag your own groceries!

@Skankingmike: I wish my Stop & Shop had it, but as it's really close to a seedy area...no dice. I've used it at other S&S's nearby though, and it works really well - better than their normal self-checkout (although you still have to use the self-scan to finish payment).

Thankfully I've never been audited.

@Yankees368: I love self check-outs. I was a cashier on and off for six years through high school/college. I know how to bag my own goods. And you don't have to put the item in the bag. You just have to put it on the scale. *shrugs* It's not exactly rocket science.

But, if you don't like them, please don't use them. Nothing worse than shuffling from foot to foot, watching somebody fight the machine for ten minutes because they started putting the bags in the cart before completing the transaction. Or they suddenly decided they *need* cigarettes and have to flag down a cashier to find them. Or they didn't bother to weigh and print out of the bar codes for their produce. Or they can't figure out which way to swipe their credit card. Or they bought one of those damn breakfast tacos, which are so greasy that they ruin the bar code and don't scan. Or they decide to buy alcohol and we all have to wait for the cashier (usually talking to a coworker or inexplicably vanished) to approve their age for the purchase.

Urgh.

Sometimes, I feel like you should have to pass a test and posses a membership card before you can use the self check-outs. When everybody's on board and using the tech appropriately, it's insanely fast. But how often does that happen?

Ive found that if you bag your heavy items first you get alot less of that "place the item in the bag" BS.

@mbz32190: I was sad to see one of our Supercenters eliminate them during their recent remodel. Not only are they faster than a traditional checkout, but the self-checks at least had English as an option; the cashiers here are Spanish-only.

@TacoDave: at stores where i use self checkout, i don't bag items - i stack them on the scale where the bags are. then after i pay, i bag my items in my own reusable bag. the self checkout keeps trying to weight my reusable bag as an item and gets messed up

@Yankees368: there's a 24 hour grocery store i used to go to that only had self checkout between 10 pm and 6 am.

unfortunately the lowe's foods [grocery store in this area] self checkout has an issue with my points/discount card. i get the discount but all the points go to some guy in california. so if i want the points i have to go to the regular lane where the card works just fine.
i wouldn't worry about it if the points weren't so darned useful - they let me redeem them for free groceries or $amounts off the bill.

@Skankingmike:

When they first rolled them out, but they are pretty popular at my stop and shop now so not too many stares. although when I throw 4 2 liter bottles of Pepsi in bags in my carriage then 'bloop' a bottle that is on the shelf 4 times one lady just stared at me :D

@Yankees368:
I absolutely agree with you here. I hate them. I seriously hate them, and I'm just about as computer geeky as it gets (yes I wonder while standing in front of these things if they were programmed in LISP by a guy who has never heard of a 'structured database').

I'm willing to pay more for someone to handle checkout and bagging of my goods. I would love it if the self-checkout lanes would give everyone a small discount on what they are buying; that way the self-checkout would have long lines and I'd get more time to flirt with checkers happily doing their job while I happily purchase the goods at premium service level thank you.

Self checkouts are awesome because I usually buy few items. They are very efficient if you know how to use them.
The main hinderance is there are people who do not understand how to use them but do so because the lines are usually shorter.
The "please bag item" aspect is essential to the stores putting checks and balances on this self service (to prevent stealing).

@TacoDave: Or you get the opposite here. You scan something, put it in the bag and get "Unexpected Item- Please remove from bag" warnings.

What do I hate about self-checkout? The employee who is standing there in case something screws up and the machine erroneously tells you to remove something from the bag always seems to think that because they are working a self checkout lane that they can wander off and talk to their friends, leaving me and a growing line of people behind me to wonder why they are getting paid at all.

I also hate that supermarkets know there isn't as much display space in the self checkout lanes but they still pile stuff around you, from backs of rock salt where you are supposed put the shopping basket to candy display racks that block the aisle. Seriously, if they are losing sales couldn't they just design the self checkout aisles to be more candy bar friendly?

And I know, I shouldn't be using plastic bags, but how the hell do baggers get those silly bags to open?

@Yankees368: Oh, so they don't shutdown the self check lanes at night?

@rpm773: Why don't they use the vending machines for postage stamps?!
I can't count the times I've been behind multiple old people in a very long line at the Post Office, only to watch them order stamps and look for change to pay for them at the counter.
OR even better, why don't they have self checkout for mailing packages? Let the people who love the tellers go to them, I'd be happy to skip the 20 minute wait and mail my own boxes.