Shitty thing is they won't hire more cashiers when they shut these off.
this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2026
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Guessing they'll also raise prices when they simply return to previously normal operations.
Thur raised prices when they put them in, they will raise prices when they remove them.
All actions lead to raising prices.
I really wonder who these retailers are. Like, my grocer typically has 2 human and 12 self checkout open, and it's no question which of those is going to be faster for someone pushing less than a full cart. They don't even have the floor space to build twelve more full service checkouts. Reminds me of the bad old days when I'd go to the store and they'd have every human checkout line open, every one of them with 5+ people in line, and it'd take 30 minutes just to check out. If you're a retailer that only processes a couple dozen patrons an hour, then yeah, I can see where a few self-checks wouldn't be any benefit.
Feels like we've reached the enshittification phase of self-checks: big stores are now so beholden to the technology that the vendors can jack up their prices to where self checks cost the store more than a full-service checkout, but they can't go back because there's no staff and no space.
My local grocery had self checkout for about a year before ripping them out and putting normal ones back in. They don’t seem to be understaffed.
Not all stores are awful on all fronts. They don’t have chairs for their checkout people yet though.
Well other technologies like accounting software are "at least 40%" and self checkout is at 36%, according to the article, so I don't think this is as devastating as one might think at first glance:
Of 340 retail operators surveyed in 2026's Voice of the Retail Industry Survey, only 36% say they plan to invest in self-checkout, down seven percentage points from last year. Self-checkout was the least popular technology and the only one to see lower interest YoY. Other investments, such as automated invoices, electronic shelf labels, and accounting software, attracted at least 40% of surveyed retailers.
And of course less retailers are investing in the tech than in previous years: they've all already got it.
I think this weird anti-self-checkout crowd is just young people who don’t remember the times before self-checkouts. Even if every checkout was manned it was still completely normal to wait upwards of ten minutes, even when it wasn’t that busy. I remember my Mum excitedly running to a checkout because there was only one person queueing there. Nowadays I totally expect there to be no queue at all and I feel hard done by if I have to queue for more than one minute.
I worked in grocery stores as a teen and I just want that to remain available.
I also do not like the self checkout machine. They have an unacceptable number of steps to pay. They’re horribly programmed. I don’t like the small baggage areas.
I’m over 50 but the queue has to be huge for me to go to self-checkout.
I do not enjoy waiting for someone to come and check if im stealing. I do not enjoy waiting for a go-ahead for goods that are age restricted. I do not enjoy doing unpaid work (wheres my rebate??)
Also - I think cashiers deserve a job.
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I think this weird anti-self-checkout crowd is just young people who don’t remember the times before self-checkouts.
What crowd? As far as I can see, the article is talking about retailers who want to do this, not customers.
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Ok, now will they actually staff the registers? Because every time I’m in the store there’s only one checkout lane open, and before 10am or so, the self-checkout is closed.
I like how they do it at Sam’s Club. You use your phone camera as a barcode reader, use the same saved payment as online, then walk through a scanner at the exit. They still have a person who can check your receipt but usually they wave you through as the door scanner got it.
s/pulling back/slowing expansion of installations/g
These are not the same thing, and if you look at any S curve you can see why.
I tried it twice at IKEA and it's so fucking shit and they still need to have people there to assist when you have a problem, IT'S THE SAME FUCKING THING JUST SLOWER.
They're not there to assist you. They are there to monitor you so you wouldn't steal more € than the self-checkout is cheaper than the staff it replaces.
In one of my local supermarkets there were 4 normal checkouts but never more than 2 of them were open because they're understaffed. They recently replaced 1 of them by 4 self checkout machines, it's soooo much faster now and lines are a lot shorter when it's shopping rush hour!
No shit. Those people with almost full shopping carts that go to the self checkout, check their items, put them on the loading shelf, pay and then, and only then, put the items in bags one-at-a-time.
Like, jesus christ, you can put the bags down FIRST and then put the items INSIDE THE BAG as ONE step.
How did humanity get to this point.
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I was a big fan of self checkouts when they were new.
Past year or so, I've completely changed course. I go out of my way now to go through the regular checkout lines.
But at least they harvested tons of biometric, personal, behavioral and health data connected to account names and numbers to sell to data harvesters, merchants, hackers, governments and other ill intentioned groups, right?? So not all a loss.
They were doing that before self-checkout. Can I scan your {store loyalty} card so you get the lower price?
What self checkout are you using? The ones I've used have the exact same data collection ability as the manned checkouts.
biometric, personal, behavioral and health data
What data are self checkouts collecting that regular checkouts aren't?
The store I worked at in high school got rid of all of its self checkout right after I stopped working there. Let me tell ya, I've never gone in there since then. I don't want to have to talk to someone who may recognize me. Although it's been like 12 years now so I'm prooooobably okay lol
Luckily, self checkouts are expanding in Copenhagen. Seriously beats standing in a line for the next 10 minutes. Such a depressing waste of time.
Anyway, haven't even had half the issues most people seem to complain about with self check out. I'm guessing it's because Danish supermarkets don't half-ass it. Or maybe people are genuinely stupid around even simple technology.
Over here they've been present for at least 15 years and none are going away. But we have to bag our own stuff anyway.
Fucking finally.