Self checkout at the grocery store near me replaced 6 cashiers

I stopped by the Kroger on Elm Street yesterday and noticed they added 8 more self checkout machines. That means 6 regular checkout lanes are just sitting empty now. The thing is, the self checkout machines break down every 20 minutes and people get stuck waiting. You think they will ever bring the cashiers back?

4 comments

4 Comments

annajenkins10d ago

Same thing happened at my local Safeway, and the machines are down half the time too.

logan56110d ago

Dude totally same here. My hardware store just did this too, drives me nuts.

phoenix_lewis10d ago

Jeez yeah the spreadsheet thing really hits home. Like they crunch the numbers and see the hourly wage for 6 cashiers vs the upfront cost of some machines and pick the machines every time, but they never factor in the lost sales from people getting annoyed and leaving. I swear half the time I end up just walking out because the stupid thing is scanning my stuff twice and I gotta wait for one employee to come fix it for three different machines at once.

shane_park9210d ago

And it's not just grocery stores either, it's like everywhere now. I went to the library last week and they had self checkout machines there too, but the real person at the desk could actually help you if your card wasn't working or you had a question. The weird thing is that the machines probably cost more to maintain and fix than just paying a couple cashiers would. Plus when the machines break, customers get frustrated and just leave their stuff sitting there. It feels like companies are making decisions based on a spreadsheet without thinking about how it actually works in real life.