This is so painfully obvious why self-checkout lanes are being phased out in grocery stores vs places like Home Depot which plan on keeping them.
I'll give you another hint. Coupons? Who uses coupons?
Anybody want to field this one? Bueller? Bueller?
Do the self service machines take food stamps? Are food stamps even still stamps?
ReplyDeleteWell, that pesky "automation" is killing jobs.
ReplyDeleteYou know the great thing about self checkout lines?
You don't have to go through that awkward - yeah I'm a bleeder, when buying feminine products. TMI. But it's true! And no, I will never grow up about it.
2. Machines don't try to ask you what you are cooking and trying to analyze what you are buying.
3. You don't get behind old women writing checks.
But then, the right thing to do when sales are down is to make it harder for people to easily buy stuff. sarc/
Ohh, those bad, impersonal self-checkout lines. I'd never use one, oh wait, for the last three months I've used nothing but. Wham bam, in and out, use cash or charge, no one looks down on you for using plastic or double bagging, the lines are half the size or non-existant, a person w/half a brain can use it, even with a value card.
ReplyDeleteBig box hardware (like Home Depot) I go through the regular line for a 10% military discount (retarded veteran).
Primary grocery store customer: women
ReplyDeletePrimary hardware store customer: man
Every time the gov forces a bump in minimum wage, I see more of these machines show up. Wonder why? Oh, and when they work, they work great. And, when you do not have coupons, or actually have an idea how to spell broccoli, they are wonderful.
ReplyDeleteJobs? No one thinks a cashier at a supermarket is a job. According to all the liberals that I have ever communicated with, if you cannot afford to raise a family of four on the wages earned, it is not a job. So, loss of a bunch of cashier jobs to automation must be a non-issue.
It's easier to steal items via the self checkout.
ReplyDeleteAt places like Home Depot, most people are picking up only a couple of items--not dozens as in grocery stores. To do a couple of small things yourself is usually not considered an inconvenience. When it is dozens, let someone else do it.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, all products at Home Depot are barcoded. The same is not true of grocery stores (produce, which is a big part of our groceries is not barcoded). Scanning a couple of barcoded items is less of a nuisance than navigating many unfamiliar screens to select your produce for checkout. Our grocery store clerks know the all the produce codes. Watch their fingers fly as they punch them in. Better they do it, than me--I've got better things to do with my time.
Based on personal experience, just about everything at the home depot has a readable bar code and scans correctly and fast. When it doesn't the associate comes over within seconds and fixes it
ReplyDeleteIn the super market all the fresh stuff and many of the packages things scan badly or require further interaction, and when you have a problem it takes much much longer for the assistant person to come over and and longer to fix.
I NEVER use the self checkout at the grocery unless A. Have just a couple of things and B. they are all packaged things wiuth flat surfaces like milk.
Anything else the cashier is faster. Bitter experience.
Do it your self-ers vs. I can't think do this for me.
ReplyDeleteI suspect very little overlap between the coupon using crowd and the people who are not, to some degree, terrified of technology. Older women being the most likely cases.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, it might just be a ploy to seek out good sales opportunities for Old Glory Insurance.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/2340/saturday-night-live-old-glory