Wal Mart Remove Self Checkouts

[storewanderer]

Went into this Kietzke Wal Mart.

They have completely decommissioned the 9? self checkouts at the general merchandise side of the store. They are deactivated, carts are blocking the entire area, all merchandise surrounding them has been removed. Since this was always how I exited the store (as this part was always less of a line if any line at all compared to the ones down on the grocery side), this was a change for me.

When I was in the store today they had no cashiers open and only self checkout open, the belted self checkouts on the grocery (I think there are 8 of these) side plus the smaller self checkouts on the grocery side (maybe there are 10 or 12 of these) plus 2 belted ones on grocery that had a sign that said SPARK ONLY.

They have 14 regular checkstands at the present time. Massive front end space in this store, even by Wal Mart standards.

[ClownLoach]

Walmart is seemingly following in the footsteps of Target and now reducing the number of self checkouts in proportion to full service checkouts.

Yesterday I was in that Temecula store (the double queue line prototype) and only 12 of the self checkouts were open out of a total of about 36. All the rest were turned off with red lights on top. They did have 4 full service lanes open out of a possible 8. What was so amusing about this is that no waiting was occurring at all for any customer at self checkout or full service, yet an obnoxious customer was complaining that they needed to reopen all the self checkouts. Funny that he seemed to dislike the fact that the only ones open were adjacent to the full service lanes which are the easiest to supervise for the employees... A supervisor of some sort came over and explained to him that they are opening more full service lanes to better assist all customers and that means they have to close some self service during slower periods with less staff to move the supervising employees to checkstands. This got him really angry and he said that nobody should be watching what people do on the self checkout and that customers have a right to privacy. Bizarre. Then he complained to the receipt checker at the door as well that she needed to "do something and go get the rest of those self checkouts turned back on." Of course he didn't have a privacy issue with the receipt checker. Once again a perfect operation, Zero wait and zero lines for any customers. (I might add that I cannot believe the operation of this particular Walmart, it has been six months since the remodel was completed and I think it might look even better than grand opening weekend... Could be the best Walmart in the country).

I think it just goes to show that no matter what, there are people who will complain and at this point as long as the operation is good (no waiting for either a lane or a self checkout) then the stores need to do whatever is needed to better supervise and prevent shrink.

[veteran+]

Walmart is seemingly following in the footsteps of Target and now reducing the number of self checkouts in proportion to full service checkouts.

Yesterday I was in that Temecula store (the double queue line prototype) and only 12 of the self checkouts were open out of a total of about 36. All the rest were turned off with red lights on top. They did have 4 full service lanes open out of a possible 8. What was so amusing about this is that no waiting was occurring at all for any customer at self checkout or full service, yet an obnoxious customer was complaining that they needed to reopen all the self checkouts. Funny that he seemed to dislike the fact that the only ones open were adjacent to the full service lanes which are the easiest to supervise for the employees... A supervisor of some sort came over and explained to him that they are opening more full service lanes to better assist all customers and that means they have to close some self service during slower periods with less staff to move the supervising employees to checkstands. This got him really angry and he said that nobody should be watching what people do on the self checkout and that customers have a right to privacy. Bizarre. Then he complained to the receipt checker at the door as well that she needed to "do something and go get the rest of those self checkouts turned back on." Of course he didn't have a privacy issue with the receipt checker. Once again a perfect operation, Zero wait and zero lines for any customers. (I might add that I cannot believe the operation of this particular Walmart, it has been six months since the remodel was completed and I think it might look even better than grand opening weekend... Could be the best Walmart in the country).

I think it just goes to show that no matter what, there are people who will complain and at this point as long as the operation is good (no waiting for either a lane or a self checkout) then the stores need to do whatever is needed to better supervise and prevent shrink.

I have and do find this type of behavior very suspicious.

In the past at F&E it always turned out to be someone who was stealing.

[storewanderer]

Walmart is seemingly following in the footsteps of Target and now reducing the number of self checkouts in proportion to full service checkouts.

Yesterday I was in that Temecula store (the double queue line prototype) and only 12 of the self checkouts were open out of a total of about 36. All the rest were turned off with red lights on top. They did have 4 full service lanes open out of a possible 8. What was so amusing about this is that no waiting was occurring at all for any customer at self checkout or full service, yet an obnoxious customer was complaining that they needed to reopen all the self checkouts. Funny that he seemed to dislike the fact that the only ones open were adjacent to the full service lanes which are the easiest to supervise for the employees... A supervisor of some sort came over and explained to him that they are opening more full service lanes to better assist all customers and that means they have to close some self service during slower periods with less staff to move the supervising employees to checkstands. This got him really angry and he said that nobody should be watching what people do on the self checkout and that customers have a right to privacy. Bizarre. Then he complained to the receipt checker at the door as well that she needed to "do something and go get the rest of those self checkouts turned back on." Of course he didn't have a privacy issue with the receipt checker. Once again a perfect operation, Zero wait and zero lines for any customers. (I might add that I cannot believe the operation of this particular Walmart, it has been six months since the remodel was completed and I think it might look even better than grand opening weekend... Could be the best Walmart in the country).

I think it just goes to show that no matter what, there are people who will complain and at this point as long as the operation is good (no waiting for either a lane or a self checkout) then the stores need to do whatever is needed to better supervise and prevent shrink.

I noticed one Wal Mart with few self checkout open last week but thought it was just understaffed.

As long as there is no wait time, it doesn't matter how many are open. If they have 12 open and lines backed up with the other 24 closed then there is a problem and that is a legitimate complaint for checkout speed.

The upset customer must not realize how many cameras are on that self checkout... frankly the customer would have a more private experience with the cashier. The cashier is scanning thousands of items per hour and couldn't give a care in the world to what this customer is buying.

[ClownLoach]

Walmart is seemingly following in the footsteps of Target and now reducing the number of self checkouts in proportion to full service checkouts.

Yesterday I was in that Temecula store (the double queue line prototype) and only 12 of the self checkouts were open out of a total of about 36. All the rest were turned off with red lights on top. They did have 4 full service lanes open out of a possible 8. What was so amusing about this is that no waiting was occurring at all for any customer at self checkout or full service, yet an obnoxious customer was complaining that they needed to reopen all the self checkouts. Funny that he seemed to dislike the fact that the only ones open were adjacent to the full service lanes which are the easiest to supervise for the employees... A supervisor of some sort came over and explained to him that they are opening more full service lanes to better assist all customers and that means they have to close some self service during slower periods with less staff to move the supervising employees to checkstands. This got him really angry and he said that nobody should be watching what people do on the self checkout and that customers have a right to privacy. Bizarre. Then he complained to the receipt checker at the door as well that she needed to "do something and go get the rest of those self checkouts turned back on." Of course he didn't have a privacy issue with the receipt checker. Once again a perfect operation, Zero wait and zero lines for any customers. (I might add that I cannot believe the operation of this particular Walmart, it has been six months since the remodel was completed and I think it might look even better than grand opening weekend... Could be the best Walmart in the country).

I think it just goes to show that no matter what, there are people who will complain and at this point as long as the operation is good (no waiting for either a lane or a self checkout) then the stores need to do whatever is needed to better supervise and prevent shrink.

I noticed one Wal Mart with few self checkout open last week but thought it was just understaffed.

As long as there is no wait time, it doesn't matter how many are open. If they have 12 open and lines backed up with the other 24 closed then there is a problem and that is a legitimate complaint for checkout speed.

The upset customer must not realize how many cameras are on that self checkout... frankly the customer would have a more private experience with the cashier. The cashier is scanning thousands of items per hour and couldn't give a care in the world to what this customer is buying.

His behavior was definitely "off." Way, way too loud in an almost threatening manner. Absolutely nobody was being wronged in any way as ample full serve and self serve lanes were immediately available. Not to mention that normally when either side is in full operation there is a person on the line who specifically assigns you to a register, they will look at basket size and then send you to the corresponding size self checkout or full service lane if requested or purchasing alcohol. And they do snap at the customer who tries to go to a different lane; they obviously want the giant size kiosks that can hold a full shopping cart of bags to be available when needed. This guys behavior made me wonder if he was deliberately trying to be a distraction for staff while maybe other people working with him were doing something illicit like UPC switching or trying to run out the door.

This Walmart is not completely locked down as others are, but they have clearly figured out some theft issues as all ice chests and other similar storage/bags are spider wrapped with zip tied zippers to prevent concealment of other items inside them for example.

[storewanderer]

The other odd behavior is complaining to the door greeter upon exit. He got out of the store without waiting in line, isn't that the main point? What does he care if they open them "all back up" after he has already left? I do not see the benefit. That is indeed very odd behavior.

[ClownLoach]

The other odd behavior is complaining to the door greeter upon exit. He got out of the store without waiting in line, isn't that the main point? What does he care if they open them "all back up" after he has already left? I do not see the benefit. That is indeed very odd behavior.

That's why I think he was a distraction. I didn't see but theoretically someone could have walked out with shoplifted product behind the door checker while she was distracted by him. He was seemingly more than just a "male Karen." Something else was probably unfolding elsewhere in the store. Maybe he was trying to get the manager on duty and LP to the left entrance so a coordinated run out could occur at the right entrance or an emergency exit. It was weird. Just further justifies their practices to make the operation less predictable to throw the thieves off.

[storewanderer]

The other odd behavior is complaining to the door greeter upon exit. He got out of the store without waiting in line, isn't that the main point? What does he care if they open them "all back up" after he has already left? I do not see the benefit. That is indeed very odd behavior.

That's why I think he was a distraction. I didn't see but theoretically someone could have walked out with shoplifted product behind the door checker while she was distracted by him. He was seemingly more than just a "male Karen." Something else was probably unfolding elsewhere in the store. Maybe he was trying to get the manager on duty and LP to the left entrance so a coordinated run out could occur at the right entrance or an emergency exit. It was weird. Just further justifies their practices to make the operation less predictable to throw the thieves off.

Stores in my area have started to really heavily staff the exits. It is not unusual to see a third party security in addition to 2-3 Wal Mart employees standing at the exits. This method would address the distraction technique you observed to some degree. The receipt check is only for transactions involving unbagged merchandise.

Then there are also still visits where there is nobody watching the exit at all.

[ClownLoach]

The other odd behavior is complaining to the door greeter upon exit. He got out of the store without waiting in line, isn't that the main point? What does he care if they open them "all back up" after he has already left? I do not see the benefit. That is indeed very odd behavior.

That's why I think he was a distraction. I didn't see but theoretically someone could have walked out with shoplifted product behind the door checker while she was distracted by him. He was seemingly more than just a "male Karen." Something else was probably unfolding elsewhere in the store. Maybe he was trying to get the manager on duty and LP to the left entrance so a coordinated run out could occur at the right entrance or an emergency exit. It was weird. Just further justifies their practices to make the operation less predictable to throw the thieves off.

Stores in my area have started to really heavily staff the exits. It is not unusual to see a third party security in addition to 2-3 Wal Mart employees standing at the exits. This method would address the distraction technique you observed to some degree. The receipt check is only for transactions involving unbagged merchandise.

Then there are also still visits where there is nobody watching the exit at all.

Here it is still nice and harmless senior citizens checking receipts.

[storewanderer]

That's why I think he was a distraction. I didn't see but theoretically someone could have walked out with shoplifted product behind the door checker while she was distracted by him. He was seemingly more than just a "male Karen." Something else was probably unfolding elsewhere in the store. Maybe he was trying to get the manager on duty and LP to the left entrance so a coordinated run out could occur at the right entrance or an emergency exit. It was weird. Just further justifies their practices to make the operation less predictable to throw the thieves off.

Stores in my area have started to really heavily staff the exits. It is not unusual to see a third party security in addition to 2-3 Wal Mart employees standing at the exits. This method would address the distraction technique you observed to some degree. The receipt check is only for transactions involving unbagged merchandise.

Then there are also still visits where there is nobody watching the exit at all.

Here it is still nice and harmless senior citizens checking receipts.

There are still some senior citizens doing this job here, some sit in chairs or motorized carts, but I have even seen young 20something year olds doing this job lately. And all ages in between.