Self Checkouts - Supermarkets

AndyCr15 said:
I'm not sure what you mean? There is no app for scanning items? You just take something off the shelf and leave...

That's not what I've been led to believe by someone setting it up in one of the major UK supermarkets. They're 99% accurate, which is much higher than self scanning options at the moment.
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That's interesting as the vast majority of supermarkets use different companies...

When I get chance I will dig out some info out from some market research a company on behalf of the company I work for did. I think 2 of them resell the AmazonGo solution and the rest use different ones. From all the shopping journeys the researchers did, not one was accurate.

I love the tech and concept, it is part of the industry I work with but it isn't ready for mass rollout. Expensive, difficulty in setting up in non standard environments, number of facing etc all present problems for current solutions.
 
I've not seen anything official, just talking with someone who is setting one up. It's not Amazon's version, this one is more of a strip light apparently, but I think with lots of cameras along it.
 
My local Sainsburys had a refit the other day, almost all self checkouts now with about 4 normal checkouts left.
Was a nightmare the other day, early teething problems I guess, but almost all of them were card only.
Red lights flashing all over the place,lol.
I generally only use card now but lots still like to use cash, same in M&S all card bar one for cash.
 
They should have more tills open. Give the option for both, but not so it's unbalanced or to the point where there are absolutely no tills open. That's just disgusting greed.

On that note, maybe I'll boycott them too like that guy on BBC said he does, and start queing at the checkout again.
 
For the last few years Tesco have been rolling out they're own bespoke builds using Linux ( centOS) and is usually present on half of the stores SCOs/Fastlanes . Easy to spot as they're generally card only lanes.

Full function lanes use NCR's proprietary software for cash handling and Tesco's is trying to move away from the licence fees by running their own builds,but until they reverse engineer the software they're card only.Other stores still rely in NCR and retailx builds, win7,10 mostly.

To be fair these things generally get hammered day in day out and the majority of the companies don't pay for regularly maintenance just breakfix cover. So inevitably the will break now and again.Coupled with overstretched and poorly trained staff the shopper experience can be frustrating.

As with most things though people only moan when things go wrong, and most of the time the transaction is nice and smooth. Personally, I believe there's place for both self checkouts and manned tills. Removing either isn't a good way to go.

Oh and as for the security bagging scales - they have 4 load cells at each corner which provide an aggregate weight. Each item is referenced from a weight database and if this exceeds the margin of error the alerts pops up. The scale is suppose to set at 0kg, but you'll find this default weight fluctuates overtime resulting In a weight mismatch. Doesn't help that folk let their kids sit all over them damaging the loads cells. Considering the environment the design should've taken this into account.
 
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I like the self serve checkouts. Never really have an issue and only require a shop assistant for alcohol.

The person in the OPs post is annoyed if there are not enough manned tills as she likes to chat to the cashier... When I used to be the person in the queue behind a "chatter" it would annoy me - "get your **** and get out" is my kind of shopping mantra so horses for courses.
 
Richie said:
I like the self serve checkouts. Never really have an issue and only require a shop assistant for alcohol.

The person in the OPs post is annoyed if there are not enough manned tills as she likes to chat to the cashier... When I used to be the person in the queue behind a "chatter" it would annoy me - "get your **** and get out" is my kind of shopping mantra so horses for courses.
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Seen it myself at work, when a man grabbed an old dear's stuff and shoved it to the empty till next door. As he couldn't wait to get out of the shop. No one should do that. The old dear was very shocked.

I say "see you soon/next week" in polite way to leave I have other customers that need to be served.
 
I don’t know what goes through the minds of customers who queue behind two transactions with £80 shops, when this customer wants to buy 1 or 2 items. Refuse to go in front of another customer or refuse the offer of a cashier scanning the items on self scan.

Another thing none of my colleagues don’t understand this. Customers queue up at the kiosk to buy a newspaper - no tobacco or lottery. Then go to do their normal shopping!

Why queue twice? As get customers say “we paid for the paper at the kiosk”
 
AndyCr15 said:
Maybe Tesco is different, but honestly these are hardly ever wrong. They get checked daily and it's rare they aren't spot on.
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How are you checking them Andy, via NCR's software? For instance within PML where you can zero the scale. Or are you referring to the scanner scale checks ( done regularly for weights and measures ) . The security scale ( where the customer deposits the goods after scanning ) is the cause of bagging alerts and affects all customers with V5,V6 lanes with the security scale.

Sometimes if the software on lane is running slow the customer can place the item in the scale before it's expected. Rare these days though as the ram was doubled over the years to accommodate Windows requirements. Mcafee is still a hog though.
 
Yes, I was talking about the scale that weighs so as to charge people(And yes, checking them with a 2kg weight). The security one does get reset at various times through the day, but tbh that one not being at 0kg doesn't really matter as it's looking for an increase, not a set amount.
 
reusable (chargeable) fruit and veg bags that don't register on the scale after scanning because they're so light...official solution was to just rip the label off and take them!

beef tomatoes with barcodes

**** sake
 
AndyCr15 said:
Oh okay, that's not what you asked though... you asked about scanning items.

I don't know what would happen if the app won't open. It's not really something you need to worry about though. It's probably much less likely to happen than tills going down in a supermarket...

If there was ever an issue, there might be a different way. You just need to verify it's you, so maybe they have a terminal for emergencies, you log in on that.
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I saw it happen in a big supermarket, their entire handheld scanning system failed and they had to yoink staff from all over to open proper tills.

Guess they're just ****** if there isn't any normal tills to fall back to. Or staff to man them.
 
Yeah, exactly. The actual app failing to show a login QR code is a fairly safe part of the process. The tills themselves and the system around them is probably flakier.
 
builder22 said:
reusable (chargeable) fruit and veg bags that don't register on the scale after scanning because they're so light...official solution was to just rip the label off and take them!

beef tomatoes with barcodes

**** sake
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Anything which is too light for the self scans bagging area scales to recognise, is to put some weight with your hand.

Discovered this when had screens between the self scans during the pandemic.
 
I have even used a self scan at a supermarket in Croatia in Croatian. The concept and layout is the same way - guessed the button bottom right was the finish and pay. Then the images of cash and card gave the clue away.
 
AndyCr15 said:
Yes, I was talking about the scale that weighs so as to charge people(And yes, checking them with a 2kg weight). The security one does get reset at various times through the day, but tbh that one not being at 0kg doesn't really matter as it's looking for an increase, not a set amount.
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Customers, i.e NCR's customers such as ASDA cannot reset the security bagging scale, it has to zeroed in Profile manager lite via the calibration software either by the HD or an engineer but as you say technically it doesn't have to at 0kg, it's more important it's a stable weight.
Overall it's looking looking for mismatch , over and under . So if it's set incorrectly at 1.1kg and it expects to see an additional 300g for a tin of soup it won't moan if the value is 1.4kg but it'll through up an error if this discrepancy is beyond the error margin. ( can't recall what it is ).
 
builder22 said:
reusable (chargeable) fruit and veg bags that don't register on the scale after scanning because they're so light
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law to remove the free light weight bags was ridiculous - who pays 30p for a supposedly reusable bag, you need something to put the item in in the fridge and you wouldn't use an old dirty 30p bag again, or wash them -
I'd believe sales of unpacked veg/fruit declined as people took the pre-bagged/netted bigger quantity options, kinda defeated the point, and then waste more.

I'd love to know how they select the voice for the Waitrose self-checkout must have been JRM's nanny I think, and it's often mis-sequenced so it is saying transaction not complete when the card reader says it's all over now.
 
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