this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2024
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Not even that, really. There's always a cashier or two who needs to hover over my shoulder to check an eye or protect against shoplifting or help with a malfunctioning device. The change is in their role. Cashiers are no longer helpfully bagging your groceries, they're just functioning as underpaid rent-a-cops.
The original check-out lanes were already incredibly efficient. Self-checkout is comparatively clunky and time-consuming, which is why you're encouraged to use lanes for more than 15 items.
I wouldn't call it particularly helpful, even from a labor standpoint. Everyone is functionally more miserable than they were ten years ago. What we've got with this technology is a sunk cost that businesses are loathe to write off as a failure.
I hate when cashiers bag my groceries. I have the large reusable bags, and they put like 4 things in each. Why? I always tell them I’m going to bag my own at this point anyways just to get my grocery bags full.
Even when they had plastic bags here, I'd be surprised at how little they'd put in some bags. Those things can handle more, fill them up!
That's the part I like the best about self checkout. I can set up a couple of bags and then optimize what I scan. Put all the freezer stuff together, fridge stuff, soft things on top, heavy stuff at bottom. Helps that they got rid of the weighing where I shop, that shit was so annoying plus it limited your total space to however big the weighing table was (unless you got someone to reset it so you could remove some bags back to your cart).