self check out

[marketreportblog]

I find I am undercharged when I go to regular cashiers. Between them not scanning all items, using incorrect PLU codes, in the case of CA not assessing the bag fee, I often find myself undercharged. Conversely when I am using self checkout, I scan all items, I use the correct PLU codes, and I charge myself the bag fee.

This has become a running joke with me and my family when we shop at Food Bazaar here in NJ. Food Bazaar is small enough (29 stores) that they're still pretty low-tech and the prices frequently ring up very different from what's on the shelf. But that's usually a problem on the store's end -- the item is scanned properly but the price is inputted into the system wrong -- and I never complain when I'm overcharged because I'd say it works out in my favor 80% of the time and in the store's favor 20% of the time.

But returning to self-checkout, the Food Bazaar I shopped at today (Fairview, NJ, a former A&P) had 16 of 18 staffed registers open and 4 self-checkouts open... so that's pretty darn good. I've noticed that FB has been way better staffed than other supermarkets in my area, and I was also at an ACME today with 2 staffed checkouts and 4 self checkouts open, clearly short-staffed. One person doing deli/prepared foods, nobody at bakery, one person doing meat/seafood, no managers around as far as I could see. FB had probably 5 employees in produce, 4 behind seafood, 7 at meat, 3 in deli and one in bakery. Two front-end managers and one assistant store manager on the front end -- totally different staffing levels.

The self-checkout worked just fine at ACME, and typically works fine enough at Food Bazaar (I believe it's the same system as Albertsons' -- I don't know the hardware at all but it plays the same music when you're done paying) except for the fact that it tells you to put in your rewards phone number but that doesn't actually work. Food Bazaar has a barcode on the app you have to scan, which you can do at self-checkout, but if you put in the phone number as it tells you to do, it won't register on your account. That's annoying, but they'll probably work that out sooner or later.

[storewanderer]

This has become a running joke with me and my family when we shop at Food Bazaar here in NJ. Food Bazaar is small enough (29 stores) that they're still pretty low-tech and the prices frequently ring up very different from what's on the shelf. But that's usually a problem on the store's end -- the item is scanned properly but the price is inputted into the system wrong -- and I never complain when I'm overcharged because I'd say it works out in my favor 80% of the time and in the store's favor 20% of the time.

But returning to self-checkout, the Food Bazaar I shopped at today (Fairview, NJ, a former A&P) had 16 of 18 staffed registers open and 4 self-checkouts open... so that's pretty darn good. I've noticed that FB has been way better staffed than other supermarkets in my area, and I was also at an ACME today with 2 staffed checkouts and 4 self checkouts open, clearly short-staffed. One person doing deli/prepared foods, nobody at bakery, one person doing meat/seafood, no managers around as far as I could see. FB had probably 5 employees in produce, 4 behind seafood, 7 at meat, 3 in deli and one in bakery. Two front-end managers and one assistant store manager on the front end -- totally different staffing levels.

The self-checkout worked just fine at ACME, and typically works fine enough at Food Bazaar (I believe it's the same system as Albertsons' -- I don't know the hardware at all but it plays the same music when you're done paying) except for the fact that it tells you to put in your rewards phone number but that doesn't actually work. Food Bazaar has a barcode on the app you have to scan, which you can do at self-checkout, but if you put in the phone number as it tells you to do, it won't register on your account. That's annoying, but they'll probably work that out sooner or later.

I wonder if Food Bazaar is still manually changing prices vs. having a single price feed from a main office. Some of these smaller chains still change prices at each store every week in a very manual process. At least they have self checkout, perhaps that is a carry over from A&P. The register system may also be a carry over from A&P.

[marketreportblog]

I wonder if Food Bazaar is still manually changing prices vs. having a single price feed from a main office. Some of these smaller chains still change prices at each store every week in a very manual process. At least they have self checkout, perhaps that is a carry over from A&P. The register system may also be a carry over from A&P.

Good point — they may very well be doing manual price changes. I’ve seen sales that go on for weeks after the sale is supposed to end because the shelf tag was changed but not the system.

Can confirm that nothing is left over from A&P. Food Bazaar replaced both the register software and the register hardware before opening in 2016 (fairly certain the A&P was stripped back to the studs and then built out all brand new), then replaced the register software again around 2019 (edit: some hardware was also replaced). The self checkouts are not more than a year old. When Food Bazaar acquired 3 Fairway stores in 2020, they began rolling out certain Fairway features to their other stores, including self checkout.