self serve

[blll]

Okay, I'm older than most. But bear with me. Why are we so hell-bent of eliminating our jobs? The new year brought an increase in the minimum wage. What did those who championed this think was going to happen? Of course there would be a domino effect as workers past a couple of "raise" periods were now having to be increased too and up the ladder it went. Welcome to the job elimination craze. Went to Sam's Club today and since I was there I wanted to pay my bill. I could not find the service counter. Gone is the 20' service counter, instead a small 8' area with a single employee. When I mentioned the change she told me it would be eliminated in the next couple of months. All those services would now be done by ourselves at a kiosk. I asked what department she was moving to and was told the 6 service counter people were not being retained. As I moved through the store I beheld another "improvement". The mini Zamboni floor cleaner, moving through the store, was now unmanned. Really? I then moved on to visit my Walmart, store #1 in Rogers Arkansas. In the 5 days since my last visit, they had eliminated most of the manned checkout counters, down to 6, with only 3 working today. The self serve units now took up 3/4 of the front end. A conversation with the cashier told me that about 15 cashiers had been let go and everyone left had their hours cut. We all drank the kool-aid when oil companies convinced us it was better to get out in the rain & cold and pump our own gas. Certainly there are more examples and for the life of me I can see no benefit to the consumer. Cost savings? sure. Passed on to the consumer? Are you nuts? A friend of mine used to work for "the phone company" Remember that? An industry that employed thousands, gone. Oh but wait, all the manufacturing jobs cell phones have spawned, yes but none of them are made in the US. Just my 2 cents but remember each time you use "self serve" that's a job someone used to have that paid taxes, bought goods and supported themselves.

[Mark Perry]

People building the kiosks, the software to run them and the IT and service techs to maintain them is where the jobs are at now.

[ScottOz]

People building the kiosks, the software to run them and the IT and service techs to maintain them is where the jobs are at now.

And those are higher paying jobs then the useless check out people I have seen at the Walmart unfortunately. They usually look and work like they do not want to be there working.

[D.O.C. 989]

I don't mind the kiosks but i'm fairly certain from my experience that they are no more reliable than a warm body. Seems like i can never get through one without someone having to reset the machine for one reason or another, sometimes more than once. I have asked if i was doing something wrong and was told several times that no it's just a glitch that happens often. I started paying attention in the stores that have them and there is always someone having to have a customer service person come over and reset the machine so i know it's not just me. Rarely happens with one or two items but always happens if you have a lot of merchandise.

[DURASPANK]

I refuse to use a self checkout. If there's no one to check and bag it. I leave the carts right there.

[BassinR83]

Wal-Mart is one of the biggest offenders in reducing labor costs. But by all means keep on shopping there because they have the best price on your werthers original.

[AirForceAngler]

We, as a shopping public want the lowest price possible usually. The only way for a business to keep prices down is to keep costs down and with almost any enterprise, the highest cost is personnel. Personnel costs are also one of the few costs that can be controlled as well. Businesses have to keep the power on, they have to pay the rent, they have to buy the merchandise, etc. This gets even hairier when you start talking about publicly held companies or businesses that have issued stock. Those stockholders want dividends and they want their stock to increase. The only way to do that is to make a profit. Profit = revenue - costs. Revenue is the money we the public pay for goods and services and we want to pay the least amount possible. It's a game of give and take and something usually has to give and it's usually personnel costs. Basic Econ 101.

I typically like to use the self checkout lanes. I'd just like to see the stores enforce the item limits a little more and maybe forbid open produce as that's usually the items that slow down the self checkouts or require the most attention from the attendant.

[Bassman Ia.]

Wal-Mart is one of the biggest offenders in reducing labor costs. But by all means keep on shopping there because they have the best price on your werthers original.

You are wasting Bandwidth. I have said the same thing for years, some on here think EVERYONE shops at Wal Mart. They aren’t cheaper than other stores in my area, maybe in other locations they are. Thank God they haven’t ran all the business out in my area.

AirforceAngler—— using your concept why isn’t WM cheaper than other local businesses?

Our grocery store prices are cheaper or at the same price, they bag it and take it to your vehicle.
My local tire shop is cheaper on the same tires

[AirForceAngler]

You are wasting Bandwidth. I have said the same thing for years, some on here think EVERYONE shops at Wal Mart. They aren’t cheaper than other stores in my area, maybe in other locations they are. Thank God they haven’t ran all the business out in my area.

AirforceAngler—— using your concept why isn’t WM cheaper than other local businesses?

Our grocery store prices are cheaper or at the same price, they bag it and take it to your vehicle.
My local tire shop is cheaper on the same tires

Because they also market better and have more selection. Some items may be cheaper and some may be more. But a lot of people don't want to do half their shopping at one location and half at another. If they price the right items the right way. There's also the practice of loss leading items and matching. If you have the time to price match every single item you want to on a grocery list, go for it. No one is going to, though.

What would you like? Government control of the prices? The USSR tried that, didn't work out so well for them. No one is forcing anyone to shop anywhere in particular. It's called capitalism and free market.

[The Bass Junkie]

I refuse to use a self checkout. If there's no one to check and bag it. I leave the carts right there.

id rather scan, bag and go then wait on some lackey dragging ass to scan things while bitching that they deserve 15hr. Bring on the kiosks, bring on the mobile ordering. If those lackeys don't adapt and learn valuable skills its on them.

[Mark Perry]

I refuse to use a self checkout. If there's no one to check and bag it. I leave the carts right there.

Not me. I can get in and out a lot faster. I'm not upset and could not imagine walking out over it but to each his own. When I go to WM I already know what I'm getting so I try to get in and out quick as possible.


People say they do not shop at WM on here hut you rarely see an empty one during normal hours, you rarely see one shut down and those same people that claim not to shop there can tell you everything about them with up to date details. A whole lot of people use WM.

[grandbassslayer]

id rather scan, bag and go then wait on some lackey dragging as to scan things while bitching that they deserver 15hr. Bring on the kiosks, bring on the mobile ordering. If those lackeys don't adapt and learn valuable skills its on them.

Self checkout gets me in and out quick!

[Bryanmc57]

Wal-Mart is one of the biggest offenders in reducing labor costs.

Maybe you should take a poll of all the BBC member business owners that want to increase their labor costs... I guess it's only bad if Wal-Mart does it.

[Transom]

Wrong thread.

[Bryanmc57]

Not me. I can get in and out a lot faster. I'm not upset and could not imaginecwalking out over it but to each his own.

Well, it's so much more time efficient to leave your cart, drive to another store, go get all the items again, then stand in line waiting to be checked out.

[pods]

Try the online...Hell they go get it, bag it and bring it out and load it in your vehicle. Putting people to work!!

[Mark Perry]

Well, it's so much more time efficient to leave your cart, drive to another store, go get all the items again, then stand in line waiting to be checked out.

Apparently so...

[basscat21]

[rds_nc]

I was Harris Teeter (a nicer grocery store in our region, generally) that’s in front of 2 of the larger retirement subdivisions. They had 7 of 8 lanes open with 2 or 3 baggers floating between them. 4 self checkouts open as well. I think they are listening to the older customers at least at this store and probably others on a case by case situation. Usually I use the self checkout to avoid the line but if they’re actually going to open lanes I use the real cashier. Too many old people using checks and stuff slow the process down.

[Florida Jig Co.]

I absolutely refuse to use self check out. Publix Grocery store by us installed 4. No one uses them and the other two that have cashiers are slammed packed.
Management asked me today why I won't use them. She got an ear full. First, I usually always have to have someone help me check out. Beer, wine, something does not scan, I don't place something in a bag fast enough........... Next issue will be we are taking jobs away from people with this. Also I am now doing someone else job but not seeing any benefit. I don't get a percentage off for checking my self out. The companies are making so much more money yet it never goes back to the customer. Rant over.