Self Checkouts - Supermarkets

Trig said:
Yeah I get that, but theres not a huge leap between that and being able to use the image to either determine someones age/gender or at least tag them with people that have been authorised as 18+ etc.
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That is already in use in the UK, mainly by 2 companies. I was involved some with initial trials with it maybe 2 years ago.

The cameras are just a cheap and easy way to help deter theft on less intelligent security scales which have their tolerance turned up to help mitigate the comments littered over this thread.
 
Jimbeam3678 said:
That is already in use in the UK, mainly by 2 companies. I was involved some with initial trials with it maybe 2 years ago.
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We were looking at stuff like that for people counting for footfall testing for a Costa/Dominos/Tim Hortons franchise, a company in Europe was doing some really funky stuff with Nvidia cards counting people, pretty interesting if you're into that sort of thing.
 
I always use self service checkout - no scan and shop at supermarket closest to me, there is one at Tesco further away but never used it

ever go in to Tesco late at night for a full shop? I don't think they have anyone on the tills....don't know if it's every branch but it feels like you're not supposed to be there when you go in after 10pm...cages/staff lying everywhere, blocking the shelves, lights turned off in the fridges/freezers
 
cheesyboy said:
You do in Tesco, otherwise they charge you more for ****
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Seen someone in Tesco not bothering to get their Clubcard out and if they did, they would have saved £16 on their shop as clothing had 20 or 25% of CC holders and Baileys was £5 cheaper with CC.
 
jw2331 said:
Seen someone in Tesco not bothering to get their Clubcard out and if they did, they would have saved £16 on their shop as clothing had 20 or 25% of CC holders and Baileys was £5 cheaper with CC.
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whenever i've been in tesco without my clubcard it just stops me buying loads of items...
same at morrisons though when I see "buy 2 for XX"

30% of the population is single they likely have no need for buy 2 offers... no other business would alienate 30% of their customer base
 
I don't like them as they're an excuse for the staff to not bother to man checkouts they're too small to fit everything on in one go so have to do it in two runs and all the bags spill over over onto neighbouring tills or the floor. Also alcohol you have to wave your arm around to try and get the attention of someone to bleep it through. They're ok for baskets or low number of items but a trolley and they're just not adequate.
 
One of the staff at our local Morrisons was off sick and they had no one to do it at 8.00 in morning so they sent us through the scan and pack- I have to admit I had a paddy and threw a loaf of bread up in the air.
They expect you to know instantly how to use them.
I love tech stuff so I just swiped them through as fast as I could then it all bogged down -light on and it kept saying something but my hearing aids couldn't decypher it,
The kind lady came up and explained you scan one then wait till green light came up then scan another - This is slower than manned checkout. -Then it wouldn't work after I scanned some wine - I told it I am 78 for christ sake.
Also like others I have no idea when or where to put the bags on scales. Another delay.
Fortunately the lady is back and checkouts are back and we can have a chat about the potted plants we have bought.
We are picky with checkout lady as some of them think it's a race to see if she can send them down quicker than we can pack them- At that point I stop packing till she realises I have let the pile build up :cry:
 
arknor said:
whenever i've been in tesco without my clubcard it just stops me buying loads of items...
same at morrisons though when I see "buy 2 for XX"

30% of the population is single they likely have no need for buy 2 offers... no other business would alienate 30% of their customer base
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My friend lives with her 8 year old son and her mum lives down the next street. They share offers as that way, they are saving money. For example - two packs of cheese £3 each or 2 for £5.

Even seen strangers sharing offers and bags of carrots, if the smaller bags or loose not available.
 
Some customers have no idea we can't ring up staff to come into work on their days off asap - if they have a high sickness level. How would they like it if their employer did that?

I don't mind getting a phone call from work saying could you as soon as you can. That happened in Jan/Feb as was supposed to start at 10am and got call at 7:30am.
 
peterwalkley said:
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.
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Same here, didn't realise the new ones didn't take the weight now. Also don't take cash which is better so that often held things up (coins being rejected, people not having the right change to hand, etc). I only go there for odd and ends though as regular things are delivered by Ocado.
 
I can't be doing with the online shopping as you never know which element of your shopping you are not going to get and this could mess up my plans. I prefer to go to my local Sainsbury's and know what I can buy then and there. I don't mind the self check outs either as I tend to not mess up while using it. Only very rarely do I get a mis matched weight and the staff usually resolve it quickly. I have not tried the scan as you go as I would likely forget to scan it and get myself arrested. I'm so used to the old fashioned way of doing it.
 
I prefer self checkout but I normally only do small weekly shops. Going to give scan and shop a go next week to see what it’s like. I doubt it will save me much time as I go around 2pm when it’s fairly quite and self scan doesn’t normally have a queue
 
Berry Merjinik said:
Why punish the people who have known a thing to be a certain way for decades and can't be bothered with all the faff of having to learn how to use a self scan till while they've never bother with a smart phone or lap top?
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The woman in the article is 69, Tesco has had self-service for around 20 years according to that BBC article... maybe not instantly adopted nationwide but I bet she's had one in her local store since she was in her 50s.

In fact, scan as you go has been around for longer even, I remember it was available at my local supermarket as a kid during the 90s, you had to collect a handheld barcode scanner from a rack of them near the entrance.

The newer tech is eliminating the tills/scanning altogether and having you tap into the store then just monitoring what you throw in your basket, I reckon they'd still find something to complain about even then once it's become as simple and easy as possible to walk in grab your shopping and walk out.
 
Amazon are working on completely automating supermarket checkout I believe which I suspect will then be rolled out across other supermarkets. That's the next step, completely automate it. Fill your basket/trolley and walk out of the shop and will be auto-billed via Debit/CC/Paypal etc
 
DarrenM343 said:
Amazon are working on completely automating supermarket checkout I believe which I suspect will then be rolled out across other supermarkets. That's the next step, completely automate it. Fill your basket/trolley and walk out of the shop and will be auto-billed via Debit/CC/Paypal etc
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And despite what you hear, it nowhere near ready for widespread use none of the technologies are. Shrinkage is massive at those stores near Greenwich.
 
DarrenM343 said:
Amazon are working on completely automating supermarket checkout I believe which I suspect will then be rolled out across other supermarkets. That's the next step, completely automate it. Fill your basket/trolley and walk out of the shop and will be auto-billed via Debit/CC/Paypal etc
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They already have actually, it's Amazon Go, Tesco also has a similar system which they rolled out in one London store last year.
 
Self service was a reasonable substitute for the old 10 items or less or (hand) basket only shop, but not for a trolley load of stuff.

That said our local Sainsbury's only ever had about 2 of the dozen or so staffed checkouts open at any one time. Tesco and Asda better, but in the case of the former some are now card only. Call me old fashioned but we like to take a wad of cash out of the autobank and use that to pay for our shopping.

Boots in Swindon is also self service only for non pharmacy items, but given they have two or three staff supervising and helping the confused or elderly, why not just put them back on a checkout?

Not tried self scan. I mean seems fine in theory but what happens if you decide to put an item back or there's a discrepancy at the checkout? Actually I see above it's a bit like getting stopped at Customs... Thank you but no thank you.
 
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