Do you still use the cashier at grocery stores?

I try to use cashier aisles whenever possible. In every type of store. Partly because I want to be contributing in a tiny way to someone being employed, and partly because of bad experiences in the past with self-checkout systems.

I always use a cashier, since that means a normal person gets paid. Self-checkout just makes the rich richer.

It depends. If i only have one or two things and there's one open, I'll use the self checkout so I can get out as fast as I can.

If I have a cart full of shit, multiple coupons, loyalty card, there's no way I'm doing all that myself. At that point, I'm stuck for a while no matter what, so I'll wait for someone else to do it; I'm not getting paid, they are.

I use the cashier because I don't work for the store, they do (it's not the best job, but they obviously need it). Corporations would love it if we stocked the shelves and mopped the floors, too. Maybe they could turn the lights out and we could use our phones' flashlights to save on electricity, as well. They could give rewards points for snitching on people who don't scan all their items ("Help keep prices down by joining our Volunteer Loss Prevention Program!").

I generally prefer self-checkout because it's faster, but I will also use cashier if that is faster. I used to absolutely hate the cashiers, because you have to talk to them. But I've gotten better at the mandatory "hello," "how are you?" "have a good day"s as I've gotten older.

I do self checkout because I want to bag my own groceries. I bike with a trailer, and I want to be able to make sure all the crushable items are in one place so I can load them on top.

I never use self checkout. I stopped buying at two retailers who installed self checkout on more than half the lanes.

Self checkout is a job killer, and worse, is making customers do the job of paid employees for free.

Self-checkout, every time, anywhere it's available. It's faster and I don't have to talk to anyone.

I'm surprised more people don't know about the huge discounts you can get for using the self checkout, but only at big chain stores. 🏴‍☠️

I always prefer self checkout where I live because the machines are reliable and they have someone hanging out to help if there are any issues. It is faster and I get to pack stuff the way I want for unloading at home.

On travel I tend to use a cashier because of bad experiences with self checkout outside where I live.

I worked as a cashier at a grocery store for several years, I generally refuse to self checkout. It seems it as a shifting of responsibility from the store to the shopper to ensure that everything is calculated correctly.

They used to pay and train people to do this, now they’ve decided that their shoppers can do it and if something goes wrong then they get to decide that you were stealing.

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My preferred is self checkout, unfortunately The self checkout at every grocery store i go to is utter SHIT for a weekly trip. They are fine if you have a few items.

For a big shopping trip, The carts are not setup for it, the checkout area is way to small and the registers arent positioned/configured correctly.

One store has a scan option as you go that is awesome. You scan as you go down the isle and put your stuff on your bags, at the end you scan a bar code on the scanner and pay. Only problem.. it typically crashes halfway through the shopping. It is unusable.

Coincidently, I am at Bethany Beach in Delaware, rented a house for Ocean’s Calling, we went to Giant for stuff and AMAZINGLY the self checkout was excellent.

It was a typical chechout lane with a belt etc thar had a self checkout register.. it worked perfecly.

Cashier. I like to help people keep their jobs.

Well la dee da, Mr. Moneybags here still buys groceries. 🧐

I do. I got "randomly selected" at the self-checkout for a bag check four times in a row, each time the employee taking everything out of my bag. Got sick of that.

Just walk out the door.

Yep. I don’t go to the store to work. Fuck that.

Y’all know this is just yet more transfer of wealth right?

Edit: Allow me to go further. You have heard of trickle down economics? Supporters say if you let billionaires keep more money, they will create jobs and the money trickles back down

Checkouts where you scan your own purchases is the perfect counter example. They charge the same, AND steal your productivity.

Always. The times I went to a self check out there was still a cashier looking over shoulders, fuck that.
Around here most store chains have tried them, few remain.

Depends on the store. For big chains, the best discounts are always at the self checkout.

If there's a cashier who has no line, 100% cashier. After that I make a judgment call on which will take longer.

Depends. Generally I prefer self checkout but it depends on the store and what self checkout options are available. It's sometimes quicker and often easier on my social anxiety.

Some self checkouts have scales in the bagging area though that means you have to wait over a second between scanning an item and placing it in a bag and scanning the next. It doesn't sound like a lot but it adds up and becomes infuriating, I spend maybe a quarter to a third of the time in those self checkouts just waiting for it to register so I can scan the next item.

Then there's those ones with the cameras that use AI to detect whether you have tried to steal something, usually I shop at 2-3 different stores in the shopping center so I can get everything at the lowest price so I always have stuff from other stores that triggers those systems, so I need a worker to come over anyway to enter their code and say I didn't steal anything which defeats both the time saving and the social interaction saving of the self checkout.

Generally I make a judgement about if I think I can get through the self checkout without it complaining about other items in my cart, or if I have to wait for the scale to detect that I've put a can of beans in the bag before scanning the next can of beans. If I don't think I can get through the self checkout with either of those things happening, it's usually far easier to just go to the cashier. Plus the cashiers are usually far nicer than the one person they have running between all of the self-checkouts to deal with the inevitable issues everyone faces. Often it's quicker too as sometimes it can take a while for a staff member to come punch in the code to clear the warnings.

I like Aldi's system where they scan and you bag, no bullshit just there to scan your items. It annoys me though that my local Aldi rarely has someone on the checkouts anymore so I have to use their annoying self checkout (they're one of the ones that weighs your bags and won't let you scan a couple things at a time before bagging).

Yes. Fuck ringing up my own groceries. I am not an employee and I do not labor for the grocery store. If I am forced to ring out my own groceries and do that labor, I will be getting paid via shoplifting an item as I check out.

Cashier virtually every time. Self-checkout when I only have few items which is almost never.

If there are long lines at the cashiers or I only have a few items, I'm using self-checkout.

I make errors. I look like someone who might shoplift. I rather stay safe at the cashier.

Only if I have bought a lot of stuff. I've used self checkouts wherever possible for what feels like 15+ years

Self checkout takes at least twice the time as going past the cashier. I have to do both our jobs but don't magically have more hands. I only use it if I have 5 items tops or there is a very long line.

Almost always unless it’s an outlier situation. Stop and shop self-checkouts have a special place in hell.

No. I caved. Self-checkout is much faster, even than before there were any self-checkouts. The reason is that they're all always open, whereas the cashiers were always throttled to match the number of customers, ensuring the line was at least three deep. Also, because they want you to go to the self-checkout, I think they purposely don't require the cashiers to be fast or efficient anymore. The one time last year when I went through the cashier line, it was fucking ridiculous. The cashier was chatting up the customers, and taking their sweet time, way worse than they used to.

I do my grocery shopping early in the morning and there is never a line, I just roll right up to the machine and start.

At Lowe's, I use the self-checkout for small things, but when I'm also getting sheets of plywood, etc. I go to the cashier in the "pro" section. I think that's pretty typical.

I always use the self checkout. I prefer to do it all myself in my own time, in my own way, without needing to interact with someone. I hate being rushed to shove stuff into my bags (looking at you Lidl).

I appreciate the argument that it might allow stores to reduce staff but I does create jobs for mechanics to fix these things and for people to design and manufacture them. Maybe it does work out to the same number added as removed but it does offset that somewhat. Until they can get robots to stack the shelves there will always be people working in supermarkets

I usually have a full cart and value someone else keeping track of what's been scanned already

Whenever an employee offers me to use the self checkout, I reply "Thanks, but I don't work here"

I refuse to use self checkout even if an employee is doing it for me. I will not contribute to companies killing jobs off.

I typically make smaller purchases more often.

Because of that, my protocol is to use self checkout until the amount/total size of items makes the tiny nooks too cramped for comfort.

I don't typically loathe human interaction enough to take huge measures to avoid it, but I do prefer avoiding when possible.

I can also see it if I was buying a combination/type of items that I don't wanna be judged for. I can't think of a realistic version of that (other than the meme'd stories of a cucumber and pack of condoms or supplies you could bury a body with, etc), but just the thought that someone might judge it is enough for certain people to avoid it.

I use the Self-Checkout, cos it's usually way faster, since there are a lot less people standing in line there. I don't mind having to do the scanning myself if it means I can leave the store more quickly. Y'all be basically wasting your free time standing in line lol.

Really depends on how good the self checkout is. Usually local chains have great self checkout and the foreign chains I've tried were terrible and annoying. If I use a shopping cart I always use the cashier as you're supposed to. In convenience stores I prefer the cashier but I use the self checkout when there's already someone else at the cashier (usually everyone else avoids the self checkout in convenience stores in my experience, so it's always free immediately even when there's long queues at the cashier).

I haven't really encountered self checkout in other stores than grocery and a single convenience store chain though, so can't comment on other types of stores.

I don't go to stores without self-checkout. I have no interest in talking with anyone.

Mostly, yes. I'll be standing in line while others are whipping through the self-checkouts. I'll still be waiting in line while customers unload semi trailers and stock the shelves before they can self-checkout, as that's where it seems to be heading.

I don’t like being screamed at by a computer voice/speaker. I can read. I would do it more often if it was silent like at IKEA. Also at Whole Foods I usually have one of their 50% today only deals which requires a cashier. And it’s stupid you can’t buy beer. Basically I only use self checkout as a last resort, or if I have like 2 or 3 items.

Cashier whenever it's available AND I answer the post shopping surveys and whine about the stupid self checkout.

Self-checkout reduces cost for the store, but they don't reduce the price of the products. So I'm gonna keep using cashiers since I'm paying for it

Only for alcohol

I always use cashiers. After I've been through the store doing the chore of picking out my items I don't feel like scanning and bagging them. Baggers are a luxury IMO.

And I don't mind talking to cashiers, they usually seem less interested in talking than me so it's not a long conversation just "Hey how's it going?" "Getting by!" and "Thank you" as I leave.

Everyone in this thread: I avoid self checkout like the plague, I don't want to replace employees

My mom: works for a grocery store, never uses the regular checkout if possible

There will always be employees at grocery stores and the scan while walking type of self checkout is more convenient than any other type of checkout.

Whreeti live, a lot of stores hire cashiers with disabilities (there are tax benefits etc.) So I always go to the cashiers to support those programs.

If I bought a lot of stuff or I bought something age restricted like alcohol. The person who watches the self checkouts is always really busy so if I need to wait for them to come look at my ID I'm going to be there a minute.

Self-checkout always unless I have loads of stuff. I don't want to talk to someone and it's quicker.

This was a question for me in like 2012 when they started becoming more common here. Never did it occur to me that it was my responsibility to maintain a level of inefficiency in my life to keep someone else employed in a shit job. To me, that kind of calculus is absolutely wild.

yeah, it's often faster

There have been reports that some chains like target and Meijer are monitoring self-checkout errors like theft, and waiting until it adds up to become a criminal issue. All of the individual pieces are there and confirmed, it just becomes a question of how long until it becomes common.

IOW, if a cashier makes mistakes, I might get something for free. If I self-checkout and make mistakes, I might get arrested.

I would use the cashier almost exclusively, but I'm usually checking out with something else who cares a lot more about just getting out the door sooner. Thing is that I think many people at this point just assume that the self checkout will be faster so they simply default to waiting in the self checkout queue when I've seen cashier lanes completely empty.

I do when I have alcohol or an item with a security tag.

When they were new I would use them on occasion. But now I can't justify it even if I'm only getting like 4 things. With all their cameras , you just know you are being used as training data for something.

If I have to go into the store, I'm probably not in a good mood so I use the self checkout.

Still feel bad about snapping at the poor lady who had to ask for my ID for cough medicine while I was sick as a dog...

Edit: I buy my groceries once a week thru the pickup service. I don't have to get out, I don't buy extra stuff. Easy peasy.

1. handheld scanners
2. self service
3. human checkout

The best way to get me to sign up for your data gathering 'loyalty card' is to get handheld scanners.

Unless I've got a lot of produce, I use self checkout. I don't like the human interaction.

I wish more places were like Uniqlo where you can toss everything into a bin and it reads the RFID tags instead of having to scan individual items.

I use the cashier when the line isn't clearly much shorter for the self-checkout. When I have to use the self-checkout, the store comps me a little treat as a thank you for running the register for them.

depends entirely on how much I have to check out and how simple the items are. 8 2-ltrs and I will do self chex. any veg without a barcode or a cart full of stuff. cashier. oh and also the length of lines will cause me to call a mulligan on the usual call.

yes, but most grocery stores, chain stores have eliminated or reduced its usage, because of the shoplifting you can do with the self checkout.

I think it's a temporary thing. Scanning won't be necessary at all when more products get RFID tags.

It will come, because stores will love it, since it also makes shop lifting more difficult.

My children like them so as long as they want to play cashier, I usually will. Alone, never.

Mostly, I use a cashier and cash.

I've been car free for several years now, and it's such a decent savings that I just get groceries delivered. £45 for 6 months of free deliveries, no sweat.

I used to fill up a shopper and drag it home every week, but now the only place close enough for that is Asda, and their produce is pretty disappointing.

Not quite the question you asked, but "secret third option" is kind of a family tradition for us, sorry. When I do find myself shopping, I prefer not to use self checkout. The machines are too chatty.

That's the only choice I get where I shop. I like it better, though.

Only if I have to, which is increasingly rare these days.

No because it's not like the price of the groceries would be any lower if you subsidized the store's labor costs. I've also had annoying experiences having my cart more thoroughly checked in Costco's exits because self checkouts produce special blue receipts that flag you as a potential shoplifter.

Pretty much every store around me other than Walmart has shut down their self checkout stations due to thefts. So I only use self checkout on the rare occasion I have to go to Walmart

I use self checkout if it’s available. My time is valuable to me and I am able to go through self checkout faster and more efficiently than going to a cashier, so I get to keep more of my time.

I really don't want to do that but my family does not know how to use these machines.

Most of the places I shop don't even have automated checkout so yes.

My twin is a cashier at a grocery, so does texting them a grocery list count as using them??

When we shop together on their days off, we use the self checkout though cause we're only buying a little generally.