Automated check outs- love them or hate them?
@above31rubies (1863)
United States
April 2, 2008 7:08pm CST
One store in our area has 4 automated check-outs, which I admit I generally use, but the rest of the check-outs are manned by a human cashier. No other stores in our area have these check-outs and I do find myself occasionally wishing they did.
I went to our local home improvement chain store today. They have been doing some MAJOR remodeling in there- trying to prepare for the other major chain store opening up across the street son, I'm sure. 
Anyway, they finally put in conveyor belts (they couldn't do this 9 months ago before I was there shopping for cart-fulls upon cart-fulls of building supplies?!?) Anyway, the only job the cashier has now, apparently, is to scan the items from the first conveyor belt to the second one- the receipt even prints by itself and comes out under the credit card machine (which, as it is everywhere now, the customer does themselves too). The really odd thing is that the cashier is standing on the same side of the conveyor belt as the customer. Almost in the way. It occurred to me that I wonder if they are phasing out the cashiers on all or most of their check-outs...? They are still building the rest of them, so I don't know yet if they are all set up the same way.
With ATM's, online banking, pay at the (gas) pump, automated check-outs, etc it seems one can feasibly do an entire day of shopping without any human interaction at all! Now, I am the first in line most days to use these automated features. I prefer them most of the time especially if I am in a hurry, but I like the option of not using them and actually interacting with a person. I think it is sad that we seem to be slowly heading into everything fully automated all of the time.
How about you? Do you love them or hate them?? Or, are you like me and somewhere in the middle?
Anyway, they finally put in conveyor belts (they couldn't do this 9 months ago before I was there shopping for cart-fulls upon cart-fulls of building supplies?!?) Anyway, the only job the cashier has now, apparently, is to scan the items from the first conveyor belt to the second one- the receipt even prints by itself and comes out under the credit card machine (which, as it is everywhere now, the customer does themselves too). The really odd thing is that the cashier is standing on the same side of the conveyor belt as the customer. Almost in the way. It occurred to me that I wonder if they are phasing out the cashiers on all or most of their check-outs...? They are still building the rest of them, so I don't know yet if they are all set up the same way.
With ATM's, online banking, pay at the (gas) pump, automated check-outs, etc it seems one can feasibly do an entire day of shopping without any human interaction at all! Now, I am the first in line most days to use these automated features. I prefer them most of the time especially if I am in a hurry, but I like the option of not using them and actually interacting with a person. I think it is sad that we seem to be slowly heading into everything fully automated all of the time.
How about you? Do you love them or hate them?? Or, are you like me and somewhere in the middle?3 people like this
10 responses
@CheshireKat (564)
• United States
3 Apr 08
I love the pay at the pump gas station option, because if I'm in a hurry and a pump with a decent price is rather crowded, I don't want to have to wait for a pump -and- wait in line to pay. Laziness? Perhaps, but it's more based on convenience and time.
I don't like the thought of all automated registers, though. People gripe about the economy, but they don't have a problem with 'progress' forcing people out of jobs. I like a brief conversation about the weather while ringing up groceries.
I don't really know how I feel about them. Usually the check outs that are automated give me fits when I try to use them, so I'll stick with real people for now for shopping, but I'll use technology when it comes to gas. :P
2 people like this
@cortjo73 (6498)
• United States
3 Apr 08
If I only have a few items, I like the self-checkout aisle. But, if I have a full cart, I prefer the cashier as there is usually a bagger too. It takes some of the pressure off me if I don't have to hurry and unload my cart while scanning things myself and putting stuff in bags, putting the bags back into the cart and then paying. So, if I have 5 or less items, I will do the self-checkout sometimes. It really depends on my mood.
I like the human interaction too.
1 person likes this
@aretha (2538)
• United States
3 Apr 08
i fell like you and am somewhere in the middle. they are very handy sometimes when your in a hurry but i have also had alot of problems with them. if i only had one or two things then they are ok but if i have a cart full then i would reather deal with a person. we don't have them around here where we live but when we lived in the city they had them alot.
1 person likes this
@sirnose (2436)
• United States
3 Apr 08
The only thing i hate about the auto-checkout is when that voice keep telling me to put the item in the bag,other than that i love it.My library also has a auto-checkout most people won't use it but i sure heck will its better than standing in those long lines.
1 person likes this
@kezabelle (2974)
•
3 Apr 08
I like them if I only have a few bits to get, if im doing a full weeks shop and on my own then I prefer to use a manned checkout simply because the help of packing comes in handy with two kids who hate shopping and want to leave asap!
1 person likes this
@alexwander (170)
• Canada
3 Apr 08
We will interact more and more with machines. So we have to find human interaction on internet and places like mylot. So far, all mylots writers are human-beings, I believe. Someday people will just invent robots to write mylots and earn money :)
This reminds me a story in the 1970's. To save time, a professor put a cassette player, then a hi-tech gadget, to broadcast his lectures in classroom. One day he decided to go to the classroom to see how his students were doing. He found no one but several cassette recorders.
1 person likes this
@emeraldisle (13138)
• United States
29 Apr 08
Some of our stores have the automated self check outs but none of them have the conveyor belt. They have this very small area for scanning and putting the stuff in the bag. The problem comes in if you have a lot of stuff and have to move the bags into a cart it beeps at you and won't let you go on until a worker comes over to type in a sequence to say it's ok. It's a royal pain then 
. For just a few items though it's great. It's nice and quick to check out then without all the hassles.
If they got ones with the conveyor belt where I could do it all myself I wouldn't have a problem with that at all. This way I could really watch to make sure things ring up correctly. So often when I have a full cart like with grocery shopping I'm still unloading while they ring up and I miss things. I catch them later but then I have to go in to costumer service to get the credit. This would prevent that.
Overall though I think I'm somewhere in the middle. I can see advantages and disadvantages to these. I think a lot depends on how they have them set up and how easy it is for the person to use.
. For just a few items though it's great. It's nice and quick to check out then without all the hassles.
If they got ones with the conveyor belt where I could do it all myself I wouldn't have a problem with that at all. This way I could really watch to make sure things ring up correctly. So often when I have a full cart like with grocery shopping I'm still unloading while they ring up and I miss things. I catch them later but then I have to go in to costumer service to get the credit. This would prevent that.
Overall though I think I'm somewhere in the middle. I can see advantages and disadvantages to these. I think a lot depends on how they have them set up and how easy it is for the person to use.
@nova1945 (1612)
• United States
3 Apr 08
That is precisely what they are doing. Automation is replacing many human operated tasks in the future. For the stores, it's all about money. Our prices won't go down, but they get to keep more of it as profit. Right now it is costing them more to install these checkout lanes, but eventually they will save more on employee expenses such as salary, training, and benefits. The automated registers won't be needing medical or dental benefits, having babies, or taking paid vacations.
I use the self-check lanes if I only have a few items, but for a full shopping load I find them irrating at best. I really prefer human checkers.
1 person likes this
