Target "Self Checkout Hours" 11 AM to 7 PM

[veteran+]

NCR was notorious for sabotaging their own self checkout machines. The NCR tech get paid for how many service calls they get and however long it takes. They have an incentive to purposely make the machine break down or stay broken for longer.

They do this with regular cash registers too. The power briefly went out and the register wasn't working for some reason. However, NCR came and claimed the register was damaged beyond repair and needed a new unit. The guy took his sweet time diagnosing it and making multiple trips to his car. This is the same guy who took a nap in the corner of my pharmacy while the register was rebooting and he was snoring. NCR knows how to rack up those bills.

Yep. I have personally witnessed that many times in different regions.

[ClownLoach]

11-7 doesn't even match the last "all hands on deck" program Target was running. They supposedly have two customized, store specific hours blocks where they're supposed to be all hands on deck, and those are assigned by store by corporate for their unique traffic patterns. 11 to 7 doesn't even align with their scheduling. For example it could be 9 to 1 and 3 to 6. I really question the accuracy of this. They also have been very big on the volume code system which also dictates everything from when registers are to be closed for the night to when the LP agents are to be working up front. Just hearing anything that sounds one size fits all makes me question the accuracy of the information because they've spent a fortune on data mining and operations people who have developed customized approaches for each store.

The fact that the leadership of the entire stores group just changed 4 days ago for the first time in decades also makes me question this.

There is no way in hell that Target is going to have everyone stand on their head over an oddball metric like this over all the other stuff they dump on their stores these days. The only thing it does is forces them to stop allowing managers to under schedule cashiers or pull them off the register and put onto other work that didn't get done on time which is a good exercise in improving management and discipline.

As far as the self checkout machines etc. may go, they still do have a lot of the older leased units in the stores and they frankly need to go away. The two Super locations near me are stuck with these older models and they usually have 3 or more units broken as they are dependent on the scale for produce unlike regular Target stores; apparently the scale is the part that breaks the most although I've seen the same problem on brand new units at Walmart. So once again it sounds like two unrelated exercises being tied together; some stores that got the new machines have lost registers while others have received more.

I'm going to have dinner with a long term Target SM next week who is the regional "fixer" and I'll find out exactly what is going on here because none of it makes any sense and sounds like the telephone game on steroids.

There are multiple Reddit posts about the self checkout hours on the Target Reddit. This came down last week. Some even have pictures of the signs. It varies by store what they have been directed to do but blocks of stores were directed to do this 11-7 self checkout hours thing.

The new self checkout units they have break even more than the old units. Usually there are 3-5 of them broken in Reno. For some reason in Carson City and Sparks they always are all working. Maybe some stores are better at fixing issues on those new units than others. The old units when those broke it was a service call and of course that meant they were down for days. Those disappeared in my area.

There is a lot more to it. They're restructuring positions and making more changes. They're eliminating the entire structure that was put into place the last 5 years they called "modernization" that eliminated the critical Target processes like the scanning in the truck which told them what was overstock versus freight to go out.

But my guess was 100% dead on, and the line level employees on Reddit didn't get the point.

Target has ordered that cashiers are no longer permitted to be pulled off the register and used as payroll elsewhere. The bad managers are sharpening up their resume because they are going to crash burn and get fired, fast. If it is slow they may leave their register only to go to the endcap side and greet customers. They can't leave their lane otherwise. Massive change.

So in "best run" stores they've always been about 1 to 1 for self checkout transactions to full serve.

In worst operated stores where the cashiers get used elsewhere, it's 4 self checkout to 1 full serve, and shrink is up to 1000% higher.

And all self checkout is banned. They must open staffed registers first, which is the opposite of the behavior that some store managers were creating. This is where the hours is coming from. So if they only had two cashiers working in the past they'd put them all on self checkout and not open the full service lanes. It is to be the opposite now. Basically once the 3rd cashier of the day shows up they will be the one that staffs self checkout. 4th shows up, they staff the other bank of self checkout. And so on.

Basically they're making a stand that if the manager wants to pull people out of register that they have to go ring as backup instead, because they are not allowed to run self checkout until they have a specific number of registers open which varies by store.

One more thing to think about: as they've drastically expanded keeper boxes, alarm wraps, hard tags on clothes etc. they have made it difficult to complete a whole self checkout transaction without assistance, and many customers are winding up getting home only to find alarm hard tags on all their clothes etc.

This is only the first piece of a complete reinventing of how their store works.

More to come.

[storewanderer]

The problem is Target having one checkstand open with 5 customers in line and all self checkouts closed is making customers wait in line who previously didn't have to wait in line... This is a problem.

They probably need to impose a rule of 2 checkouts open at all times from like an hour after opening straight up to closing. Especially at closing. They need to stop lines of 5 from accumulating.

This move will hurt their business. Consumers expect self checkout and do not like to wait in line. The only way this works is if there are no lines. And I don't think they'll get enough cashiers to create a condition of no lines.

On more metric rumors, I heard they gave stores a target of 90% of transactions with Circle or Red Card use and this is also supposedly having low use at self checkout and another reason they've told stores to close self checkout.

They're clearly at war with their stores over self checkout at this point. They could just disable the units...

[mjhale]

The problem is Target having one checkstand open with 5 customers in line and all self checkouts closed is making customers wait in line who previously didn't have to wait in line... This is a problem.

They probably need to impose a rule of 2 checkouts open at all times from like an hour after opening straight up to closing. Especially at closing. They need to stop lines of 5 from accumulating.

This move will hurt their business. Consumers expect self checkout and do not like to wait in line. The only way this works is if there are no lines. And I don't think they'll get enough cashiers to create a condition of no lines.

On more metric rumors, I heard they gave stores a target of 90% of transactions with Circle or Red Card use and this is also supposedly having low use at self checkout and another reason they've told stores to close self checkout.

They're clearly at war with their stores over self checkout at this point. They could just disable the units...

Target is giving people reasons to not shop there. If I get up to the checkout and there is one register open with multiple people in line and no self-checkout, I'm out. As you say, Americans don't like standing in line and Target's cashiers are not fast like at Aldi, for instance. And how does this work at a Super Target when you get to checkout with frozen items, dairy and other perishables and you encounter a long line or lines with no option of self-checkout? Most people don't like melted ice cream and warm milk when they get home.

Walmart might not have it perfect. However, at least around me, self-checkout is an option from open to almost closing. They really need more self-checkouts even in their smallest stores like their latest prototype has in it. The Walmart locations nearest me don't have enough self-checkout and Walmart is super stingy about opening staffed register lines. This can lead to some waits but honestly nothing like what I've encountered at Target where you have two registers open with five deep customer lines with another group waiting at self-checkout because half of the machines are down. At least at Walmart the smaller stores have 10-12 self check outs and the larger Supercenters have a bank of 10-12 self-checkouts at either end of the front end plus some self-checkout lines on the grocery end meant for full cart orders. With a few staffed register lines this keeps things moving and you can actually have a decent checkout experience at the larger Supercenters. The smaller stores it is very much dependent on how busy the store is and how many staffed registers Walmart feels like opening.

[ClownLoach]

The problem is Target having one checkstand open with 5 customers in line and all self checkouts closed is making customers wait in line who previously didn't have to wait in line... This is a problem.

They probably need to impose a rule of 2 checkouts open at all times from like an hour after opening straight up to closing. Especially at closing. They need to stop lines of 5 from accumulating.

On more metric rumors, I heard they gave stores a target of 90% of transactions with Circle or Red Card use and this is also supposedly having low use at self checkout and another reason they've told stores to close self checkout.

It sounds like they never should have had less than two registers open, plus two at guest service, one person at self checkout and one at Cafe or Starbucks for a total of 6 people up front in all stores and volumes at an absolute bare minimum. The problem is that the managers close the two staffed registers, pull one of the two from guest service to pull orders falling behind, and close Starbucks early. Now there's one person in the front and everyone else is screwing around on the floor. This is the entire reason why everyone thinks Target doesn't staff checkout. They're spending money on what doesn't get done, so now part of the restructuring will take away some of that payroll but ironically the guest should be left with more open registers and shorter lines since it's actually being spent as intended.

The Red card metrics are based on sign-ups not usage. Once again low level Reddit commentary from untrained minimum wage cashiers. Sign-ups goals are based on regular register transactions not self checkout. Strike one.

Circle is utilization but ironically more people on self checkout use it than regular registers. Which makes sense as it's something more tech savvy customers would use. So the argument that closing self checkouts helps this is incorrect, it will actually hurt the metric. Strike two.

Last, the real issue with EVERYTHING at Target is the relentless push for Drive Up orders. They don't make money. Expect an order minimum to come soon along with scheduled pickup windows, which will get a cap on the orders coming thru. This is going to pull a TON of people off the order pulling and put them... Back on the register plus more hours for more LP. Strike three.

As long as they have the right number of people up front then they will have all self checkouts open. This is a transition. The end result should be better than what is in place now.

Low level employees on Reddit don't understand what's going on and are making a mountain of a molehill.

[storewanderer]

It sounds like they never should have had less than two registers open, plus two at guest service, one person at self checkout and one at Cafe or Starbucks for a total of 6 people up front in all stores and volumes at an absolute bare minimum. The problem is that the managers close the two staffed registers, pull one of the two from guest service to pull orders falling behind, and close Starbucks early. Now there's one person in the front and everyone else is screwing around on the floor. This is the entire reason why everyone thinks Target doesn't staff checkout. They're spending money on what doesn't get done, so now part of the restructuring will take away some of that payroll but ironically the guest should be left with more open registers and shorter lines since it's actually being spent as intended.

The Red card metrics are based on sign-ups not usage. Once again low level Reddit commentary from untrained minimum wage cashiers. Sign-ups goals are based on regular register transactions not self checkout. Strike one.

Circle is utilization but ironically more people on self checkout use it than regular registers. Which makes sense as it's something more tech savvy customers would use. So the argument that closing self checkouts helps this is incorrect, it will actually hurt the metric. Strike two.

Last, the real issue with EVERYTHING at Target is the relentless push for Drive Up orders. They don't make money. Expect an order minimum to come soon along with scheduled pickup windows, which will get a cap on the orders coming thru. This is going to pull a TON of people off the order pulling and put them... Back on the register plus more hours for more LP. Strike three.

As long as they have the right number of people up front then they will have all self checkouts open. This is a transition. The end result should be better than what is in place now.

Low level employees on Reddit don't understand what's going on and are making a mountain of a molehill.

An irony to the level of staffing you describe above is I think it would actively discourage shoplifting/walk outs to have "that many eyes near the door." Plus they used to often have a uniformed security standing by the Pizza Hut side door (back in the 2000's in Reno anyway) in addition to staffing levels similar to what you are describing (except Pizza Hut was closed by 7 or 8 PM so no staff there).

I think the point on Red Card is if you don't run the customer through regular checkout there isn't a sign up opportunity. So the quantity of sign ups is seen as impacted by increased self checkout use. (not the metric as a percent of transactions). If anything the increased use of self checkout may actually help the metric of sign ups as a percent of transactions because it routes so many "don't want to hear about a Red Card" small transactions to self checkout but pushes the larger/more complicated ones to a cashier who now has more time to engage about the Red Card/sell the customer spending $200+ on the benefits of it.

Circle on self checkout prompts you to enter the phone number on the self checkout screen and on the pinpad so there is no way to miss the Circle prompt. So I could see how that helps Circle utilization as a percent of transactions. Also I think customers may be more comfortable entering their phone number on self checkout vs. at a regular checkout with a big line behind them.

Aren't Drive Up orders already drying up? Is the "Drive Up" part, part of the problem? Maybe they need to require inside pick up. I rarely see anyone using Drive Up at Target in Reno during the evenings and if it is it is one car, and I see them getting one bag of stuff. It is a joke. Maybe they need to only offer Drive up from 11 AM to 7 PM (of course allow inside pick up anytime the store is open) and not this stupid restricting self checkout hours thing. During the day sometimes more often on weekends it has traffic and larger transactions going out.

You are making it sound like they are going to make Drive Up "harder" by having a minimum order size, scheduled pick up times, etc. This goes against their whole thing about being the easiest place for the customer to shop... but I agree they need to do these things to make it more efficient.

[babs]

On a side note, I wish Target would just cut out a portion of their curb and sidewalk area in front of their store for cars to drive up and pick up their orders. Most stores have giant, wide sidewalks with plenty of room to cut out a pick up area. That way you could return the 16 to 32 choice parking spots to customers that right now sit mostly vacant. Plus having the pick up area adjacent to the store will likely improve service levels. I'm thinking something similar to what Fred Meyer used to do prior to the mid 90s where they had a drive up area for grocery pickup

[Brian Lutz]

Some stores have a relatively small pick up section in the parking lot, others seem to have turned half the parking lot into pick up parking. For example, the nearest Target to here (the Greensboro Lawndale Avenue store) has a whopping 22 pickup parking spots (plus alleyways between the spots that probably take up another 6-8 spots worth of conventional parking) and when I went to the store today at a particularly busy time (people buying Super Bowl supplies, 3 checkstands plus self checkout open and still 3-4 people in each regular line and at least 15 in the self checkout line) there was a total of 1 pickup spot in use. I've got to think that someone miscalculated demand for these, and now they're mostly sitting vacant.

Looking at some other nearby Targets,, it looks like the New Garden Road and Wendover Avenue stores each only have eight pick up spots and the Burlington store (Remodeled in 2022) has 12, so I'm not sure how the Lawndale store ended up with so many.

[ClownLoach]

Some stores have a relatively small pick up section in the parking lot, others seem to have turned half the parking lot into pick up parking. For example, the nearest Target to here (the Greensboro Lawndale Avenue store) has a whopping 22 pickup parking spots (plus alleyways between the spots that probably take up another 6-8 spots worth of conventional parking) and when I went to the store today at a particularly busy time (people buying Super Bowl supplies, 3 checkstands plus self checkout open and still 3-4 people in each regular line and at least 15 in the self checkout line) there was a total of 1 pickup spot in use. I've got to think that someone miscalculated demand for these, and now they're mostly sitting vacant.

Looking at some other nearby Targets,, it looks like the New Garden Road and Wendover Avenue stores each only have eight pick up spots and the Burlington store (Remodeled in 2022) has 12, so I'm not sure how the Lawndale store ended up with so many.

Everyone is getting ridiculous with these. Some Target stores have built covered awnings for Drive Up and placed it at the opposite end of the building from the entrance (Huntington Beach is a perfect example if you can find pictures). I have noticed some stores have reduced the number of parking spaces, while others added temporary signage. My closest Target uses the row right in front of the entrance because even after a recent remodel they didn't get a dedicated stockroom for Drive Up orders and still use sales floor space where swimwear used to be next to the Guest Service counter. It's annoying.

The remodeled Walmart down the way that has the single queue line system had 40 pickup spaces, and they were roundly ignored by the customers. During December at least half the spaces had nobody in the car. I think when you do too many that's what happens, but I'm wondering if it's intentional... If the store is having trouble because customers ignore the signs and park there anyway I wonder if they're reacting by adding more spaces?

That Walmart has been under construction for a year now and looks to be trying to build some kind of covered "loop" for pickup parking more out of the way of the entrance, but it also doesn't appear to be anywhere near complete. This looks like it is also supposed to contain space for their pickup storage but once again it isn't done so they have dozens of empty pickup carts blocking the aisles in the newly remodeled food department, denting fixtures, knocking things over and breaking freezer doors when customers try to shove them out of their way.

I also question if this is legal in locations where minimum parking space regulations are in play...

As far as doing pickup scheduling, that's easy to claim "we are making it easier for you, just pick the time you want to get your items and they'll be ready for you faster! Less waiting!" And obviously if there are checkout changes that might be creating friction then they are not as overly worried about friction removal as they were. Allegedly return policy is going to be tightened up too, and possibly a complete ban on no receipt return. I'm going to assume that means they'll allow one per year as an exception with a background check AKA return authorization service. Some stores on high shrink lists are already no longer allowed to take anything back without a receipt. Target systems work exceptionally well to locate payment via swiping payment cards, Red Card, and phone number with Circle, so really no legitimate reason not to be able to locate the receipt if it really exists.

[storewanderer]

Largely the difference I see is Target "Drive Up" took prime parking spaces that other customers previously used all day.

Wal Mart "Pick Up" typically took complete nosebleed parking spaces on the side of the store or in some other "off" area that didn't get used much, may have been employee parking, etc. This isn't always the case- I have seen some Wal Marts with the Pick Up Spaces right out front but there are usually only 4 of them in those stores, 1 is a Div 1 and 1 is an undersized Supercenter.

No retailer should allow returns without a receipt anymore unless we are talking some real low value type of returns. Like a single item under $5 and in that case you can have an exchange for the same item, not a refund, or credit toward some other brand if you don't like the store brand. The biggest elephant on this is private label "satisfaction guarantees." Many retailers with strict receipt required policies do allow returns on private label products without a receipt as a gesture of goodwill.

I recently did a return at Wal Mart. Every time I go there someone is trying to pull something. This time a person was there with an air mattress or tent or something like that in a shopping cart who said it was broken. The box looked all sealed up like it had never been opened. The sign behind customer service still says they offer returns with or without a receipt. The employee asked if they had a receipt. No. The employee told them they can't take it back without a receipt and they have to come back tomorrow to talk to the manager. The customer asked if they can leave it there in the cart overnight. The employee seemed confused by the request. The customer said it was too heavy to take and then bring back. The employee then said she'd have to ask her manager about that. The customer then said so you do have a manager here who can approve the return? The employee said no the manager who can approve the return isn't here until tomorrow morning but the manager who is here now can tell me if you can leave it here overnight or not... The customer said they were in a hurry and needed to go. The employee said wait so I can tell you what my manager says... Didn't stay to see what was going to happen with the interaction. After I shopped I walked back by customer service and saw it sitting there in the cart and the person who was trying to do the return was gone.