Current Events > Walmart is considering removing cashiers from all of its stores

(+) Yeah! (+)

So what does that mean, no more paying with cash? That'll go over well in poorer communities.
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radical rhino posted...

This is the biggest reason why self-checkout only isnt really feasible. Most of the people here that are confident that self-checkout is the future probably just buy a video game and a handful of microwave dinners when they go shopping.

simple solution is to RFID tag everything, then you dont even really need check outs, just a sensor that records everything on the way out.

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Can't remember the last time I didn't use self checkout. The less people I interact with at the store the better

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The nice thing about self check out at Wal-Mart is that it means more registers are open and the service is a hundred times better. I avoid Wal-Mart's because half the lanes tend to be closed and the cashiers tend to suck.

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I use self checkouts when I have not a lot of items just for that reason. I don't do my grocery shopping at Walmart I go to another chain store. If that place got self checkouts I'd be pissed cause I always shop once every 2 weeks and buy enough to last for 2 weeks. I'm not putting like 5-6 bags on the floor.

It's actually faster for the cashier to scan items and I bag while they are still scanning so the line isn't held longer.

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The_Scarecrow posted...

As much as I love self checkout so I dont have to interact with anyone, people are far too stupid for self checkout to become the norm. I used to monitor self checkout as a job a few years ago. Dont underestimate the stupidity of the average customer.

This. A couple of years ago while guarding self check out, I had an older man use the machine for the first time. I tried to teach him how to use it and told him to bring the barcode close to the scanner. He CHUCKED the apple juice at the machine and the bottle broke, throwing all the apple juice everywhere. A mess I had to clean up. -_-

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Yeah a lot of customers are going to be mad considering some already get pissed just by going out to get stuff especially in cities. The RFID chip idea works once they fix glitches. I think there was a prototype store in the States which had a few issues.

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If there is an option for self checkout, I'm always using it.

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bigtiggie23 posted...

So what does that mean, no more paying with cash? That'll go over well in poorer communities.

Many of them still take cash, or they do here at least.

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I haven't used normal checkout in ages
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Self-checkout is a lot better than in the past, but I would never want to use it if I happened to be buying an entire shopping cart worth. Even if they can give expanded lanes with conveyor belts, still super tedious once you have more than twenty items.

My Walmart is bad enough without having to actually do their jobs as well.

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Having spent more time in a Walmart than any human being should feel comfortable about, I can say that those self-check systems are unusable without some form of human oversight.

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Well that sucks. I never liked going to wal mart but I always preferred a cashier to self checkout. Lot of jobs gone. Hopefully maintaining and monitoring them proves to take more people than they thought.

The self check-outs here work almost flawlessly. I have had no issues using them for years now.

Are they gonna have security guards? I feel like if I walked into a store with zero employees I would have a strong urge to just take things and not pay lol

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Let's be honest, we all knew this day was coming eventually. Only issue is how long can the US government fight the concept of UBI when it does.

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Heavy_D_Forever posted...

Are they gonna have security guards? I feel like if I walked into a store with zero employees I would have a strong urge to just take things and not pay lol

Have people really never even seen a self-checkout

ZMythos posted...

"Think of all of those unemployed people from the looting! As though WalMart isn't planning to bleed them dry and replace them anyway!"

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Axiom posted...

Have people really never even seen a self-checkout

I get that they have the scanners with alarms that go off, but if there's no employees then who gives a shit if they set off the alarm?

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ZMythos posted...

"Think of all of those unemployed people from the looting! As though WalMart isn't planning to bleed them dry and replace them anyway!"

There's 36 checkout lines. Only two of them are ever actually open, and one of those has to handle all the tobacco sales.
Nobody's job is being lost, as nobody really had that job anyway.

There will still be employees in the store. We're not at the point of automated stocking or cleaning yet. Also checkout attendants for when a machine is locked and to help the disabled/elderly.

KLouD_KoNNeCteD posted...

The self check-outs here work almost flawlessly. I have had no issues using them for years now.

Yeah I don't get this argument that they fuck up all the time, I haven't had any issues using them for years and haven't witnessed too many others having trouble either.
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If they disabled the scale, bagging, and touchscreen wizard and just let you scan/pay hassle free then I might start thinking this would be doable. Scale should only be there for weighted goods that you punch in the number for.

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nemu posted...

There will still be employees in the store. We're not at the point of automated stocking or cleaning yet. Also checkout attendants for when a machine is locked and to help the disabled/elderly.

Apparently, it's cheaper for walmart to let a steak walk out the door after being scanned as "bananas", than it is to pay a cashier to scan a steak.

Think about that for a bit.

Fuck Walmart

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They'll lose tens of millions in theft after the first couple months or so and then go back.

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Anticyclonic posted...

Of course they are. Itll save them a buck.
I hope every Wal Mart gets looted and the Walton family loses everything they have and die penniless.

Even the children?

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What folks don't realize is that there are thousands of people working worldwide to make these kinds of jobs mostly obsolete.

Walmart wages is a problem being discussed, but the solution isn't going to be paying basic walmart employees more.

There's a legit disconnect between 'It's a corporation, they're insured/don't care about losses' and 'they'll revert back once they lose too much money to theft'. Which is it? They either don't care about looses or they do. Losing X in inventory and paying X in salary is both just a number in a spreadsheet, it's still money lost --- and if the goods are as cheap as everyone says, losing inventory is going to cost them less than cutting the basic positions. Something they have been doing for *years*.0

Between a few monitors and a bunch of dollars in electricity once the initial setup is done, it's always going to be cheaper than paying a handful of minimum wage employees around the clock in addition to whatever else might be needed to keep them.

Look in the past, no company that pushed back against technological advancement survived, unions can flop about as much as they want about wages and benefits, they'll cave or go extinct. The family stores that Walmart is gutting? That's what happens with them. Better choice, better prices, better distribution. You can harp about local stores all you want, the majority will want convenience, hence --- Walmart thrives, the local stores they go extinct or adapt.

Like before.

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Rexdragon125 posted...

"Place item in bag"
"Unexpected item in bagging area. Please remove."
"Place item in bag"
"Unexpected item in bagging area. Please remove."
"Place item in bag"
"Unexpected item in bagging area. Please remove."

*Throws shopping cart*

It would be great if these things weren't built by morons

yep every single time

Of course they are. *rolls eyes* I have nothing against self check out lines when they're working properly. but replacing cashiers with nothing but is a bother and screws over peoples jobs. Which is something people definitely do not need right now.
SquantoZ posted...

CVS tried doing that in Massachusetts and failed miserably so they went right back to cashiers and 1 or 2 self checkout lines. I think the problem is too many boomers and other older people that literally freeze in place or lose any common sense they have left when confronted by technology.

That's good to know anyway.

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You guys haven't even seen Walmart's final form.

There's a Walmart in NY that's run by AI and it can detect everything in the fucking store including people and weights and shit.

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Good.

The more self-checkout machines the better. Wal-Mart has become more bearable ever since they've added them and I no longer had to put up with old women trying to start a conversation with me.
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snowman9267 posted...

They'll lose tens of millions in theft after the first couple months or so and then go back.

Still probably cheaper for them than paying people.

archedsoul posted...

You guys haven't even seen Walmart's final form.

There's a Walmart in NY that's run by AI and it can detect everything in the fucking store including people and weights and shit.

Don't spoil it for the laymen.

if you want a nice video covering this kind of this subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pq-S557XQU

That video is dated 2014, for reference.

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Questionmarktarius posted...

Apparently, it's cheaper for walmart to let a steak walk out the door after being scanned as "bananas", than it is to pay a cashier to scan a steak.

Think about that for a bit.

well yeah, everything you buy in a grocery store is like a 300% markup at least. I used to work in a deli and saw the invoice once, the meats we were selling for $6-8/pound only cost us $2-3/pound

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all they care about is $$$$

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Irony posted...

The only time I've ever used the regular checkout is when self checkout was down. Surprised they haven't gotten rid of cashiers sooner, not many even use regular checkout at my Walmart and Kroger.

My store's a mix. We have a lot of older who outright refuse to use self checkout under any circumstances for a variety of reasons going from "I don't want to put cashiers out of a job" to something about them not liking technology.

Anyway, this topic isn't news to me, anyone who works at Walmart and pays the least bit of attention knows they've been trying to do this for years. Hell, one store around me already did.

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I basically only ever use self checkout unless I just have a ton of groceries. We still need some cashier type people to assist people with errors and the like, but I'd be okay with this. They stopped bagging groceries a long time ago, so all they are doing is scanning my stuff.

That said, I think this is probably only one step of the equation. I want to bee able to put all my groceries in my basket, leave the store, it auto scans everything in my cart, and then get an email with my receipt a few minutes later. Create a strong, Amazon-like, customer service channel so any errors will be refunded with almost no question.

I know people will lose their jobs over this, but I think this is the way it's going regardless.

While I'm okay with the all self-checkout store...I would really like 1 lane open for handicap/elderly.

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SquantoZ posted...

CVS tried doing that in Massachusetts and failed miserably so they went right back to cashiers and 1 or 2 self checkout lines. I think the problem is too many boomers and other older people that literally freeze in place or lose any common sense they have left when confronted by technology.

This is my dad. He gets all confused, flustered and starts bitching about it being stupid. Meanwhile if he spent 3 seconds reading the page, what he wants to do is directly in front of his face.

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SquantoZ posted...

CVS tried doing that in Massachusetts and failed miserably so they went right back to cashiers and 1 or 2 self checkout lines. I think the problem is too many boomers and other older people that literally freeze in place or lose any common sense they have left when confronted by technology.

Next generation that won't be an issue and then bye bye cashier jobs

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Nobody will ever pay for anything ever again

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BJ's self-checkouts are the worst. Can't put a 3-pack of frozen pizzas without them acting like a Karen and asking to speak to the attendant.

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It's brilliant how large corporation groom customers to work as unpaid cashier over the years, guy who came out with self check out deserves that bonus.

Where I live there's 15 registers, and 3 of them have cashiers on them. Everything is so much faster, I don't miss cashiers one bit. There's only 1 person responsible for all 12 registers and it works perfectly, usually that person's just there to get customers to take the machines if they're just standing around.

MuayThai85 posted...

This is my dad. He gets all confused, flustered and starts bitching about it being stupid. Meanwhile if he spent 3 seconds reading the page, what he wants to do is directly in front of his face.

My personal favorite: The Self check is in cards only mode for one reason or another, there's a GIANT prompt on the screen warning you of this, hell, there's usually a physical sign on the machine, and inevitably SOMEONE will attempt a cash sale and get pissed off because it's Walmart's fault they can't fucking read. Or they try to get cash back with the transaction and get angry, and when told "the machine is in cards only mode" you know, because idiots who can't read simple three word statuses need things repeated to them, they go "I didn't know that meant I couldn't get cash back." That prompt about being in cards only mode TELLS YOU IT WON'T DISPENSE CASH!

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SquantoZ posted...

CVS tried doing that in Massachusetts and failed miserably so they went right back to cashiers and 1 or 2 self checkout lines. I think the problem is too many boomers and other older people that literally freeze in place or lose any common sense they have left when confronted by technology.

I'm a millennial and I hate self checkout.

When I shop, I shop for a month with a massive cart full of items. I'm not gonna stand there and do that much work, fuck that.
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bknight posted...

It's brilliant how large corporation groom customers to work as unpaid cashier over the years, guy who came out with self check out deserves that bonus.

More like technology advanced enough to where a simple task can be completed by people with even half a brain.
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I don't want a world where I'm stuck behind people who don't understand self check outs with massive cart fulls of stuff. Much prefer the current arrangement where most of the people whose brains break at the self check out don't use it so you can get through faster until the inevitable "that thing you scanned and put in the bag is undetected beep boop get fucked" hiccup

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