Some supermarkets bagging self-checkout

Cashier Joyce Mackie bags groceries as a customer uses a self-serve checkout station at a Big Y supermarket in Manchester, Conn., Sept. 23, 2011. / AP Photo/Jessica Hill

MANCHESTER, Conn. - When Keith Wearne goes grocery shopping, checking out with a cashier is worth the few extra moments, rather than risking that a self-serve machine might go awry and delay him even more.

Most shoppers side with Wearne, studies show. And with that in mind, some grocery store chains nationwide are bagging the do-it-yourself option, once considered the wave of the future, in the name of customer service.

"It's just more interactive," Wearne said during a recent shopping trip at Manchester's Big Y Foods. "You get someone who says hello; you get a person to talk to if there's a problem."

Big Y Foods, which has 61 locations in Connecticut and Massachusetts, recently became one of the latest to announce it was phasing out the self-serve lanes. Some other regional chains and major players, including some Albertsons locations, have also reduced their unstaffed lanes and added more clerks to traditional lanes.

Market studies cited by the Arlington, Va.-based Food Marketing Institute found only 16 percent of supermarket transactions in 2010 were done at self-checkout lanes in stores that provided the option. That's down from a high of 22 percent three years ago.

Overall, people reported being much more satisfied with their supermarket experience when they used traditional cashier-staffed lanes.

Supermarket chains started introducing self-serve lanes about 10 years ago, touting them as an easy way for shoppers to scan their own items' bar codes, pay, bag their bounty and head out on their way. Retailers also anticipated a labor savings, potentially reducing the number of cashier shifts as they encouraged shoppers to do it themselves.

The reality, though, was mixed. Some shoppers loved them and were quick converts, while other reactions ranged from disinterest to outright hatred — much of it shared on blogs or in Facebook groups.

An internal study by Big Y found delays in its self-service lines caused by customer confusion over coupons, payments and other problems; intentional and accidental theft, including misidentifying produce and baked goods as less-expensive varieties; and other problems that helped guide its decision to bag the self-serve lanes.

Wearne, 39, a Tolland resident who owns a power-washing service, reluctantly used a self-serve lane at the Manchester Big Y to ring up granola bars and a 12-pack of Miller Genuine Draft but had to wait while a clerk checked his identification.

If he hadn't seen the clerk standing there immediately ready to help, he said, he would have used the traditional lanes, as he usually does.

But for time-crunched Greg Styles, a self-described "get-it-and-go type of guy," the top priority is paying and leaving without lingering in a checkout lane.

Styles, a 47-year-old South Windsor resident, says the convenience of the self-serve lanes fits into his busy life as a college lacrosse coach and father of 7-year-old twins.

"I'm not happy about it, not at all," Styles said of the change, ringing up baked goods and chicken breasts on a recent afternoon at Big Y's Manchester store. "I like to get in and get out. These lanes are quick and really easy, so I use them all the time."

He's not the typical shopper, though, according to research.

While some chains are reducing their self-serve options, others say they're keeping it in place along with the traditional lanes because they think giving shoppers that choice is an important part of customer service.

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[dantedressage]

Anger comes to mind when I see self check-outs. I agree with the other comments here - a salary, insurance costs are being saved here - a job is being taken away and handed over to the consumer who is doing it for free! Are the savings being passed on to the customer? Nope. Nothin' like working for free america.

[gbgentleman]

Self-checkout is a mixed bag. For a couple of items which have barcodes, great but otherwise they can be a nightmare. alcohol has to have an id check, the weight thing is also annoying. I want to put something heavy directly into my buggy, but no the machine insists I put an awkward item on their bagging area.

I do prefer to have a cashier for larger orders (if nothing else then to avoid 'baggage area is full, please remove some items' warning)

[jt92202]

Most machines here in WA State gives you a Skip Bagging option when the item is large like Kitty Litter or landry soap.....

[jt92202]

I love Self Checkout UNLESS there is some person that has no clue as to how to use it and they are holding everything up!!! I have seen people use Self Checkout for their entire months grocery, that just makes me mad, the sign says 15 items or less! There are always times I go through a regular checkout, lots of items, want a price check on something or buying something I need a checker for (beer or gift cards). But if I am getting a few items I am not going to stand behind 3 people with overfilled carts that are standing in the express lane and shouldn't be!!!

[jnostromo]

When you use self checkout, you are essentially working for the store without getting paid. Amazing how many people can be fooled by corporate america

[stationnorth]

I absolutely refuse to self-checkout. First, I do not work for the store and second, the more self-checkout machines there are the few people need to be hired. More machines equals less jobs.

[funsize11]

I personally like the self check out. It may be my past experience as a cashier that makes this quick and easy. I do know people who refuse to use them because they have no patience and appear to be afraid of new things. Please Giant don't take away my self check out I don't want to go back to standing in line waiting for the person in front of me to stop talking to the cashier about things being to expensive, as if the cashier can change the prices.

[Jaylah54]

I typically do my grocery shopping at two stores in my town. One store because they have better meat, and lower prices. The other store because they have a much larger selection of products, and self-checkout lanes.

I would probably pretty much stop shopping at the second store if the self-checkout lanes were eliminated.

Perhaps, in response to rightontarget's comment below, it has a lot to do with how well the self-checkout lanes are programed and maintained, etc. I've never had a problem with them not identifying merchandise or prices correctly.

In fact, the only problem I've had with them have been the few times the receipt tape either jammed in the printer, or the roll ran out. And there's always been an employee right at hand to fix the problem.

That store has 4 self-checkout lanes with a "podium" at the end of the lanes. There is always one employee standing at the podium, tasked with 1) watching to make sure customers scan all their purchases, and 2) responding immediately when the "Need Help" light starts flashing on a lane. (This can happen when a customer scans an age-restricted item like a bottle of wine, etc., or may also be activated by the customer pressing the "Need Help" button on the screen.)

Personally, I love the self-checkout lanes because I do feel they get me in and out of the store so much faster. However, perhaps that's because others don't like them and will go stand in a regular checkout line with 3 people ahead of them, while 2 of the 4 self-checkout lines are free.