Super Walmart shutting down ALL self checkouts...

[redrosesix]

by mid-October. All the ones in Northern Nevada where I live. Is this going on nationwide? They've lost millions to shoplifting, and they think going back to checkers will help. We'll see. I remember the days before self checkout became popular, there were crowded times I was at Walmart and only 4 checkout stands were open. I may just start going to WinCo instead. They have limited self checkouts, but at least I'd still get to bag my own groceries.

I hate them. It's so much faster to have the cashier do it all, especially if you get errors on the machines like from leaning over it...or maybe even breathing on it.

They tried to introduce them into 2 stores in the little town where we spent our summers...they took them out because people wouldn't use them. And at the small grocery store where we shop in the city, they went from one cashier to now 3. Most people don't want to use self-checkout here except as a last resort. It's all about how many cashiers they have on duty...and at the big grocery stores there are never enough. The last time I was in one there was only one on duty.

 

[redrosesix]

I like self check out because I put my items in a particular way. Plus I usually just put the items in my bags as I'm shopping and then I just pick out each item and scan it and then put it back in.

I can see how that would be convenient but it wouldn't be allowed where I live. Absolutely nothing in the bags until you have paid for the items

However, most stores do let you bag your own if you want to. I don't think it's worth the hassles of self-checkout to be able do that.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

It's so much faster to have the cashier do it all

For more than 10 years probably more like 15 years that is not the case at all for me nor the ones in my social circle who use it frequently enough. It's actually why I hardly ever use normal check out. I'm faster on my own. It's funny how even at CVS people are standing 7 people deep in a line with one cashier who is seemingly elsewhere in the store (common for CVS because of staffing) while the self-check out machine next to the register goes unused. I walk up to the self check out and even with the several prompts it has I'm done and out of the store before the first person even is done.

To be fair a lot of issues people have are either not enough experience using them and issues with the settings on the machines. I've only seen vast improvement over the years of self check out, some still have clunkiness here and there but so much better than years ago.

 

[Pooh2]

Just came back from Market Basket with a $300 order.
They do not have any self checkout.
I was grateful that cashier and bag person got it taken care of as it's enough work to get it in the car and haul it into the house and put it away!
I think Market Basket is our only grocery in town without self check out.
I only do the other markets if I need to get just a few things.

 

[Kooks and Bay Bay]

I can see how that would be convenient but it wouldn't be allowed where I live. Absolutely nothing in the bags until you have paid for the items

However, most stores do let you bag your own if you want to. I don't think it's worth the hassles of self-checkout to be able do that.

My state no longer allows plastic bags and you have to purchase tiny paper bags so 98% of people have purchase reusable bags and often if you're not buying much or can't find a cart which is especially true of Walmart as so many of them are used by the curbside pick up you just toss your items in your reusable bag as you shop.

 

[redrosesix]

Use the hand scanner

I think their point was that self-checkout lanes are not set up for building supplies. It wouldn't matter what kind of scanner you use if you can't get to it.

 

[lanejudy]

We don't have "Super" Walmart but our "regular" Walmart has recently put restrictions on the self-check-outs. It's limited to 10 (? maybe 15?) items, and anything large or bulky (like a case of soda, furniture, etc.) must be scanned by the attendant.

I have noticed more manned check-out lanes open in the past month or so since the change.

Our grocery store recently added a couple more self-check registers and I prefer that so I can scan and bag my groceries in a particular order.

 

[disneyseniors]

Our walmart just expanded to include more self check outs, and a lot of them are the ones with lots of room for cart and bags. They also put an empty cart at the end of each lane to help out. I really love the self check outs. They keep from 2 to 4 regular check outs open most of the time.
I have noticed that they have a lot of business with the preorder and pick up area. They told us they do about 300 of these picks ups a day, Wow.
Our target will only allow 10 items or less for self check out. They do compensate with more checkers.
I don't know if this is typical, but we live in a small town but the Walmart brings them in from all over the area.

 

[tvguy]

You can self-check liquor in Illinois. I've done it.

Maybe California specific. But at my local chain store, even at a regular checkout, you have to give a date of birth to buy alcohol. They haven't quite got that down yet. I bought non-alcoholic wine, and had to provide a date of birth, but when buying cooking wine, you don't.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

It looks like it's just select stores...at least for now.

We have five Walmart Supercenters and 2 Walmart Neighborhood Groceries within about 10-15 miles of our home. I hate them all, but there is one that is significantly better than the others. If I have to go inside, I always use self checkout. If I know what I need in advance, I just put in an online order and wait outside at pickup. The closest Supercenter is so bad that even pickup is a disaster. So, I am always willing to drive the extra 5 miles if an item is available at the other store. Two out of the three nearby Targets are very good, but we'll use pickup if we're short on time or it's a high demand in store item that needs to be snapped up immediately. Still, even with Target being better, I still do self check because I am so much faster doing things on my own.

 

[tvguy]

It looks like it's just select stores...at least for now.

We have five Walmart Supercenters and 2 Walmart Neighborhood Groceries within about 10-15 miles of our home. I hate them all, but there is one that is significantly better than the others. If I have to go inside, I always use self checkout. If I know what I need in advance, I just put in an online order and wait outside at pickup. The closest Supercenter is so bad that even pickup is a disaster. So, I am always willing to drive the extra 5 miles if an item is available at the other store. Two out of the three nearby Targets are very good, but we'll use pickup if we're short on time or it's a high demand in store item that needs to be snapped up immediately. Still, even with Target being better, I still do self check because I am so much faster doing things on my own.

Around here Walmart has really cleaned up on home delivery since the pandemic. They no longer contract out delivery, they have a delivery van and it is all over. I am surprised at home many people I know who use the service. Many have mobility issues and fixed/low income and Walmart delivery is cheaper than going to the local store.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Around here Walmart has really cleaned up on home delivery since the pandemic. They no longer contract out delivery, they have a delivery van and it is all over. I am surprised at home many people I know who use the service. Many have mobility issues and fixed/low income and Walmart delivery is cheaper than going to the local store.

That's really great! I've heard that their delivery service near my daughter's university is also pretty good. I don't typically use their grocery store because they just don't seem to carry as much as our other area chains. I've heard mixed reviews still on local delivery from the Supercenters. I think my last Walmart order was a laptop, so I decided to just make the drive to the better store for parking lot pickup. That Supercenter just a few miles away though is still a disaster on all levels.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

Will be glad to see it go. It's not that I don't care for it, but our local Walmart hasn't had any actual in-person cashiers in years so there's no choice to use it. I could handle it if the self checkout areas could hold more than 2 or 3 items. If I'm buying a weeks worth of groceries, I'm having to put the bags into the cart with the unscanned items as I'm scanning. This seems to always trigger the "something doesn't look right" alarm and I have to wait for the associate to stop their conversation or look up from their phone to come verify that I'm not stealing.

 

[ford family]

Here in the UK we much prefer the hand held self scanning method.
Walk around the supermarket, scan and pack everything as you want.
At the checkout, scan the terminal, pay and leave.
Need a quick ok from the nearby supervisor if you are buying alcohol and, very rarely, a spot check.
No queuing!

ford family

 

[nancipants]

Our grocery store (Publix) doesn't have them. Sometimes I wish they did because they lines can get SO long.

Since they opened a BJs close to us, we've switched to doing our big weekly shop there. We use the self-checkout and hand scan everything in our cart. It works perfect for us since they don't use bags and we have to get our receipt checked at the exit, anyway.

If I go to Target or Walmart, I'll use whatever line is cheapest.

 

[_19disnA]

Personally, I'd love to see self checkouts abolished completely!

I agree. Local grocery store has them and they are only practical if you have a FEW items to purchase. The bagging area is overly sensitive to weight/movement and if you even TOUCH a bag that has some items in it sets off a nuisance alarm. I only use them if I have a few items and making a quick purchase. If you have a grocery cart full of items and/or things that require weighing, I ALWAYS go to the line where there is a cashier. Another of those 'seems great in theory/but in the real world..........' type of things.

No idea if our local Walmart plans to change their checkout methods. Seems to me that could put that 'greeter person' to better use as a cashier. Why they need someone standing at the entrance to the store has never made ANY sense to me !!!

 

[RedAngie]

If a store expects me to self-check-out then I expect them to give me an employee discount. yeah right.

I’ll gladly pay 5% more if Walmart adds additional self checkouts. I pretty much stopped going to Target since theirs never seem to be open anymore.

 

[kdonnel]

Seems to me that could put that 'greeter person' to better use as a cashier. Why they need someone standing at the entrance to the store has never made ANY sense to me !!!

Apparently the idea was someone standing there watching people leave would discourage shoplifting.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walma...itial idea was to,manager and it was accepted.

 

[MillauFr]

Personally, I'd love to see self checkouts abolished completely!

Yes they should get rid of all of the check out aisles and just move to an Amazon Go Model.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Will be glad to see it go. It's not that I don't care for it, but our local Walmart hasn't had any actual in-person cashiers in years so there's no choice to use it. I could handle it if the self checkout areas could hold more than 2 or 3 items. If I'm buying a weeks worth of groceries, I'm having to put the bags into the cart with the unscanned items as I'm scanning. This seems to always trigger the "something doesn't look right" alarm and I have to wait for the associate to stop their conversation or look up from their phone to come verify that I'm not stealing.

This sounds like you're not waiting long enough for the item you're putting in the bag to register the weight because the act alone of removing a bag and putting it in the cart with unscanned items will not do that; we do that every single time we shop at Walmart and use self-check out. If we're together I'm usually passing the items to my husband from the cart then getting the filled bag and putting it in the cart while he goes on to scan the next item.

Most of this is on the setting of the machine but it's like a split second for us to put the item in a bag then continue. Whenever my husband was impatient at the machine it would act up more lol of course he's always forgetting to scan the Costco card before using their self-checkout.