Stores removing self checkout (Save Mart)

[Super S]

The Renton WA Walmart store removed its self checkout lines when it remodeled to the latest design package (and added a much larger food section) a couple of years ago. The store is in what I would presume to be a high theft area, so this isn't too surprising.

Interestingly enough, Costco has experimented with self checkout in some of their stores around here. I know the Issaquah store (next to their corporate headquarters) had them for a while then removed them. I believe the Woodinville store has them now, but I've never seen them in any other Costco store.

I was in Montana on vacation within the past month, and stopped at a Costco in Kalispell that had self-checkouts. That is the first Costco I have seen with them.

[tesg]

Well, the Walmart thing must not be universal...Grand opening at the new store in Grimes, IA this week...and they HAVE self-checkouts.

[maynesg]

Hi, Self Scanning registers in low volume stores make verry little sense. If you run them at nigth, you are increasing not only the risk of a hold up, but by eliminating a person or two, you are increasing the risk of getting the remaining P.I.C., Hurt or perhaps even killed by a druged induced hold up man.
If you run them during the day, you have to pay a person to watch the scanners. It also tells the customer that the service level in this store is none existant. So,why would she shop at that store, pay percieved higher prices, when she could have the same level of non service in a Walmart
and pay less money,( Yes, I believe I have seen young couples waiting on line at Walmart raise a family , grow old and are ready for social security by the time they get to the actual cashier)
They are expensive to maintain, break down every other day and gives the store manager
a chance to demonstrate his or her skills in calming down and angry customers several times a day.
In short the waste of man power, the loss of good customers far out way the advantages of this
technology in a low volume store.

[krogerclerk]

As self checkouts improve, they become more user friendly and easier to use. The original scanners were horrible to use, but eventually replaced manual registers as they improved the technology. Given that Shopping Buddy, a portable scanner that the consumer scans items as the pick them up is already in use in Stop-n-Shop and Bloom at select locations, variations on self checkout have advantages. Also the possible conversion to radio frequency id tagging in place of UPC's could result in entire cartloads being rang up almost instantaneously.

Ideally, self checkout shouldn't replace a traditional cashier entirely at this point in time. Larger orders are still more suitable for traditional checkouts, as a cashier can check faster than the self checkout allows due to its security designs. However, even low volume stores can benefit from self checkout, as it makes at least 4 lanes available from the labor of just one attendant. If a low volume store continues to offer the traditional lane, then the self checkout can improve customer service, as waiting in line is the one thing people dread about stores. Also, most self checkouts are more secure than a traditional register which has a cash drawer that pops open with virtually every transaction. Self checks accept cash like vending machines, and the attendant drawer rarely opens unless the self check robot is out of change or for paper check acceptance, therefore less money is in the attendant drawer than in a regular drawer. The attendants don't have the keys to open the robots, that is with management, so the arrangement is generally more secure.

[storewanderer]

The Save Marts that removed self checkout only had one employee up front much of the day. So you had a scenario where that one employee was either running a register and handling self checkout or they closed the register entirely and just offered self checkout. Or if they were too busy they'd page a stocker or manager to address the issue on self checkout. The self checkouts at Save Mart work pretty well. There aren't many issues. There is another Save Mart here that does not look as low volume as the two that removed self checkout but is a heavy foot traffic small transaction store and has the same arrangement up front much of the day and especially at night: one person up front.

My favorite is the Sparks Safeway. They have self checkouts that are NEVER monitored. When something goes wrong half of the time the courtesy clerk runs over from another register, or someone comes out of the office after a cashier pages them. It is a disaster. Safeway's self checkouts still have a fair amount of bugs and require quite a bit of "help" from employees. I've been to other Safeways in CA with self checkout and they are monitored by an attendant who appears to be assigned to the self checkouts and is standing behind the attendant station at all times. So I don't know what the problem in Sparks is. Low volume and lack of staffing I guess.

[maynesg]

Hi, If a low volume store is just looking to tread water. self check outs are OK. If that store manager is looking to improve his stores volume, Then nothing beets his ambasodor of good will, his eyes and ears to the public (That and his Sevice department staff) his human Cashiers and I mean well paid employees. They hear compliants, they notice trends and compliments, that would never be communicated to store management directly by the consumer.
ISSUES ARE HEADED OFF BEFORE THEY BECOME PBOBLEMS WITH THIS SIMPLE SYSTEM Great
Ideas have been passed on and impimented in just this manner.