Albertsons to bring self-checkout to all stores

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Albertsons to bring self-checkout to all stores

Post by arizonaguy »

Looks like they've done a complete 180 on self-checkout as they now plan to bring it to all of their stores.

https://www.supermarketnews.com/retail- ... oss-banner

I'll probably shop there more often as self-checkout is great for small baskets.
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Re: Albertsons to bring self-checkout to all stores

Post by storewanderer »

Well, Bob Miller just had to retire from being CEO and suddenly the self checkouts return... which never should have been removed in the first place. Not sure if it is really a coincidence; I think Bob Miller is an exceptional grocer and operator, however.

The two Safeways in my area got self checkout early this year and my understanding is they are doing a mass rollout. The self checkouts work well most of the time and it has greatly helped their front end situation in the two stores here. Long lines are gone.
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Re: Albertsons to bring self-checkout to all stores

Post by Brian Lutz »

Link is broken, this one should work:

https://www.supermarketnews.com/retail- ... ss-banners

Most of the Safeway stores here have had self checkouts for at least the past couple of years, but there are a few I know
of which don't (those seem to be mostly in high-crime areas though.) I don't believe any of the remaining Haggen stores have it either.
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Re: Albertsons to bring self-checkout to all stores

Post by BreakingThrough »

They just installed self-checkouts in the Vons store in Hermosa Beach, CA. As far as I can tell, this is a high-volume store with a bit of a theft problem, especially liquor. Although the neighborhood is coastal upscale, Hermosa Beach gets lots of "tourists" from surrounding areas who visit the beach to party. And sometimes steal liquor. I myself have been in the store on 3 occasions where there have been thefts from the liquor department. There's a police cruiser parked out front on busy weekends to deter theft.

All the locals I've talked to (I live in the neighborhood) are ecstatic about the self-checkouts, with comments like "now I'll shop at Vons more since I can self-check." (Yes, I actually bring up self-checkouts in casual conversations with local friends.)
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Re: Albertsons to bring self-checkout to all stores

Post by Alpha8472 »

Safeway is not that great at implementing self checkout. Some small stores have no self checkout and very little room for it. Other stores turn off self checkout at night due lack of staffing. Someone has to monitor it for theft prevention. Other stores, do self checkout only at night with no cashier at a checkstand.

It is a mess. The issue is the lack of staffing. If there were more cashiers you would not need self checkout. However, Albertsons wants to cut costs.
Last edited by Alpha8472 on June 24th, 2019, 11:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Albertsons to bring self-checkout to all stores

Post by storewanderer »

Alpha8472 wrote: June 24th, 2019, 10:05 pm Safeway is not that great at implementing self checkout. Some small stores have no self checkout and very little room for it. Other stores turn off self checkout at night due lack of staffing. Someone has to monitor it for theft prevention. Other stores, do self checkout only at night with no cashier at a chechstand.

It is a mess. The issue is the lack of staffing. If there were more cashiers you would not need self checkout. However, Albertsons wants to cut costs.
Out in Sparks there is Smiths and there is Safeway. Smiths has something like 16 self checkouts and 5 cashiers. So 21 people can be paying at once. And on the weekend Smiths does actually have all of these registers open sometimes (usually there are 2-3 employees staffing the self checkouts).

Safeway... had 6 cashiers and 4 self checkouts. Then Albertsons in its infinite wisdom a few years ago decided to rip out/remove the self checkouts, but added in one more regular register so they have 7 registers. So 7 people can be paying at once. But they NEVER have every lane open (most I ever saw was 5 lanes open and that was rare). Earlier this year they decided to bring the self checkout back so now they have 7 cashiers and 4 self checkouts so 11 people can be paying at once. It still isn't as good as Smiths but it is better than before.

It is a competitive issue where they compete with Kroger and Wal Mart who have gone all in on having very large quantities of self checkouts in their stores. Albertsons had to bring self checkout back. They are losing too many customers over slow front ends that can only process a few customers at once. At this point with where this has gone in the industry with Wal Mart, WinCo, and small regionals like Raleys and Save Mart even having self checkout in most stores, having a grocery store without self checkout is like having a bank without an ATM.

I also agree Safeway's implementation of self checkout isn't the best, but it isn't bad. It is definitely well below the implementation of Kroger, but it is on par with most other stores. I would argue their system actually interfaces quite well, the screens are very responsive and seem to operate quickly. But their produce PLU list is very incomplete (couldn't even find cherries on it this week), the employee has no way to handle issues unless they physically come to the machine (Kroger has been using wireless handhelds for like 10 years now),
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Re: Albertsons to bring self-checkout to all stores

Post by J-Man »

At this point with where this has gone in the industry with Wal Mart, WinCo, and small regionals like Raleys and Save Mart even having self checkout in most stores, having a grocery store without self checkout is like having a bank without an ATM.
While I realize they are of a different format than the larger supermarkets, neither Aldi nor Trader Joe's has ever had self-checkout.
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Re: Albertsons to bring self-checkout to all stores

Post by babs »

Costco in Tigard, Oregon just installed the Toshiba self-checkout stations similar to what Safeway uses. It's odd in that they seem to be set up more for quick and small purchases than the large cartloads that people normally buy from Costco. Perhaps it's a way to move the smaller purchases away from the staffed registers.
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Re: Albertsons to bring self-checkout to all stores

Post by Brian Lutz »

I actually think that makes sense at Costco. I'm not sure if self-checkout is really practical in cases where someone's buying $400 worth of household groceries, but most of my Costco trips end up purchasing only 2 or 3 items in which case a self checkout line for small quantity purchases (or for people buying a single big-ticket item) should speed things up considerably. It's always a bit inconvenient going to Costco for 2 or 3 items and having to wait behind three full cartloads of groceries in the checkout line.

In a similar vein I've recently seen some of the Home Depot stores around here start to replace both their regular and self checkouts with a new system that eliminates the fixed scanners in favor of handheld scanners which makes it unnecessary to remove anything from the cart. Something like that might work well in a Costco.
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Re: Albertsons to bring self-checkout to all stores

Post by Super S »

Brian Lutz wrote: June 25th, 2019, 1:23 pm I actually think that makes sense at Costco. I'm not sure if self-checkout is really practical in cases where someone's buying $400 worth of household groceries, but most of my Costco trips end up purchasing only 2 or 3 items in which case a self checkout line for small quantity purchases (or for people buying a single big-ticket item) should speed things up considerably. It's always a bit inconvenient going to Costco for 2 or 3 items and having to wait behind three full cartloads of groceries in the checkout line.

In a similar vein I've recently seen some of the Home Depot stores around here start to replace both their regular and self checkouts with a new system that eliminates the fixed scanners in favor of handheld scanners which makes it unnecessary to remove anything from the cart. Something like that might work well in a Costco.
I only saw self-checkout in a Costco once, at a store in Kalispell, Montana. That was 9 years ago. I am not so sure this is really needed though. The Costco locations here tend to have very well staffed front ends and I usually get out of there quickly even when its busy.

Home Depot and Lowe's both are stores that rely heavily on self-checkouts....in some instances using them instead of properly staffing cashiers. I still remember an instance where somebody was trying to drag a sheet of plywood across a self checkout scanner at Lowe's when there was no attendant in sight and the lumber registers were closed.

Safeway/Albertsons does not do the sales volume of some of the larger stores due to their price point, and because of this self-checkouts make some sense as the stores have more smaller transactions.

But with that said, I am glad that WinCo has self-checkouts, as staffing has always been hit or miss and I find their cashiers to be consistently rude. WinCo oddly never had express lanes in the past, and honestly, I probably would shop elsewhere if WInCo removed self checkouts.
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