Self Checkouts - Supermarkets

[peterwalkley]

The first gen ones in our local Tesco express were a pain. Didn't scan and the "unexpected item in bagging area" error when your bag wasn't aligned precisely on the scales with a micrometer drove me nuts. Those got replaced during lockdown with ones that didn't need to weigh the shopping and the experience is so much better. I love not having to queue behind dithering old people just out for a gossip. I only use a staffed till now when I'm buying something that needs a human to check it, like alcohol or medicines.

Missus does the weekly shop with the scan as you go thing. It speeds up the whole process as you don't need to unload it all to a belt and then re-pack it once scanned.

You still need real people around to deal with issues, but I think its a better quality of job. They solve real customer problems instead of just being a poorly paid robot having to scan thousands of items a day.

 

[Em3bbs]

Scan and shop? You scan as you go round and checkout takes seconds.

"I was pretty ******* ****** off at the lack of manned tills but I can't be bothered to learn the better way of doing it that the supermarket offer."

 

[krooton]

Scan as you shop is one of the greatest human achievements of recent years imo

 

[Hades]

I haven't actually tried scan as you shop. But I hate the self service checkouts in most places. The "remove unexpected item from bagging area" etc drives me nuts. I also sometimes can't fit everything on the small area. I've left everything there on more than one occasion and walked out in frustration. Furthermore if I'm saving enough money for the supermarket to really want us to use them, then it's insulting that they don't offer any kind of discount to use them. They are effectively saying "do the work of the checkout assist yourself for free".

 

[Trig]

The only issue I have with self serve tills is the ones we have in the local coop, they have cameras on the top, wtf for, everytime I go it wants to wait for a member of staff who is either walking around stacking shelves and the likes or serving people on the main tills to say I'm old enough to buy beer, surely without much effort they could have the system ID you from a picture its taken and then use that to determine age, or, given every time I go in I get verified by staff, surely putting the two together isn't that hard...

 

[MagicBoy]

I just don't go in the supermarket anymore, unless it's for an couple of things I need now. Do a weekly shop from the comfort of my sofa, then go pick it up from the collection point the next day. I'll happily pay £1 for someone else to deal with the faff.

 

[robfosters]

Ive got too old and grumpy to go shopping now
- people with kids
- people blocking isles for a chat
- people doing scan and shop not moving out of the bloody way so I can get to things whilst they faff about adding stuff to bags
- the fact they seem to be replenishing the store or removing cardboard constantly so isles are part blocked, which makes the following worse
- home shoppers with their silly trollies that require them to stand at the side of their wide trolley to load it!

As such I have resorted to internet ordering and getting them to deliver
£18 of clubcard vouchers for 6 months seems a complete and total bargain now, saves me an hour a week for starters, and probably cost neutral vs my petrol costs
I occasionally mess up the substitutes, but even then, you actually often get a better (I assume this is default pick better) for the same price if you allow them to substitute

I have a 4-5pm delivery on Fridays, tend to get 1-2% substitutes on average. Only once did I reject it.
They are often early so its really more like 3.30-4.15. They knock on door I carry crates to kitchen table, unload and carry back, takes probably 5 mins in total. Deffo win for me.

I love online grocery shopping. I can sit in the warm, relaxed with a little beer and just leisurely do my shopping. I find the offers easier to spot, the range is huge and it also allows me to meal plan at the same time so I can take advantage of offers.

Im not overly keen on store picking as I find they can be bad for subs or OOS product, but luckily Morrison, Ocado and Marks operate from a huge robot warehouse in Erith, and the amount of subs is incredibly small. They also still use bags which is great as you literally just pick them up and in you go.

I remember my aunt moaning about doing online shopping as she couldn’t see what she was buying. Made me chuckle, who needs to see a tin of beans or frozen pizza before you buy it lol

 

[Hades]

I love online grocery shopping. I can sit in the warm, relaxed with a little beer and just leisurely do my shopping. I find the offers easier to spot, the range is huge and it also allows me to meal plan at the same time so I can take advantage of offers.

Im not overly keen on store picking as I find they can be bad for subs or OOS product, but luckily Morrison, Ocado and Marks operate from a huge robot warehouse in Erith, and the amount of subs is incredibly small. They also still use bags which is great as you literally just pick them up and in you go.

I remember my aunt moaning about doing online shopping as she couldn’t see what she was buying. Made me chuckle, who needs to see a tin of beans or frozen pizza before you buy it lol

I must admit I like online shopping too. But I find they tend to give you items that are only just still in date. If I go to a shop myself I can reach all the way to the back and check if the use by date is longer.

 

[ColdAsIce]

Local Tesco Express removed the weight check for 90% of items scanned. This removes almost all of the issues when the tills go into a loop of telling you to place the item in the packing area when it was already there. Only the odd fruit etc gets weighed.

 

[robfosters]

I must admit I like online shopping too. But I find they tend to give you items that are only just still in date. If I go to a shop myself I can reach all the way to the back and check if the use by date is longer.

All fresh items list a guaranteed minimum shelf life of the product.

 

[MagicBoy]

I remember my aunt moaning about doing online shopping as she couldn’t see what she was buying. Made me chuckle, who needs to see a tin of beans or frozen pizza before you buy it lol

Absolutely for those sorts of homogenous goods.

However, I can see where your Aunt is coming from when buying fresh meat or seasonal veg for example. Items like steaks or bacon can be a bit variable. Back in the day when I got dragged around the supermarket on a Saturday by Mum, she'd look at the meat aisle before decided what to buy for a roast that week.

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

I must admit I like online shopping too. But I find they tend to give you items that are only just still in date. If I go to a shop myself I can reach all the way to the back and check if the use by date is longer.

This is a thing thats a fair comment.
I havent tried but I may put a comment on one of the items this time to see what they do, such as "must be dated May 25th or later" or "please pick from back I need a long date"

Be interesting to see if they do it, I suspect they are told to take from the front by default

 

[touch]

there were five or six staffed tills but she faced a 30 minute wait due to queues.

Ms McCarthy said she loved chatting with checkout staff

...because everyone else using the staffed tills also loves chatting - that's why there's such a long queue.

 

[Em3bbs]

All fresh items list a guaranteed minimum shelf life of the product.

Not Sainsbury's anymore. You get a 'typical life' quoted, but it's not guaranteed. I'm thinking of actually trying somewhere else, I was away this weekend so ordered the weeks family shop for last Friday evening. None of the fresh stuff had a date past Monday.

 

[Feek]

I've had deliveries where stuff has arrived short dated. A quick call to the shop and they've always refunded the cost of those items. If I didn't need to use them straight away, they're just chucked in the freezer.

 

[jw2331]

My friend works for a supermarket. She was told by a manager that the number of self scans is determined by the average transaction. They take no consideration into age. As her store is used by elderly - usually living alone. So they aren't going to spend as much plus many walk or use the bus. Nobody is walking/going on a bus with an £80 shop.

I remember going to Tesco on a Sunday in mid December about 6 years ago. I used scan and shop. Had the biggest smirk when I approached an empty scan n go tills. Whilst the manned checkouts had about 4 customers each with an average of £100 shop.

 

[Sirrel Squirrel]

Love scan as you shop. Self checkout is fine too if you don't have too much stuff

 

[Stretch]

I’ve scanned as you shop twice and I find it distracts from the job of actually shopping, which is more stressful and slower imo.

Both times I’ve also been pulled over for a check and they rummage through shopping you’ve packed not to get items crushed and you would really rather not disturb. I’m never doing it again. I’ll almost walked out the shop and left the items at the checkout last time.

I like the self service checkouts for smallish shops. I’d rather keep my shopping to myself. However for large shops a checkout is necessary.

 

[Berry Merjinik]

Self scan is good for a small basket shop, When you have a weekly or Monthly shop they are useless and you need more of the normal tills.

 

[BUDFORCE]

I just get them to deliver it......