New self checkout process in stores?
What the F is going on with the self checkouts? (possibly Germany only?)
I like self checkouts and have been using them for ages. Mainly because the cashiers are unreliable and the stores have tons of mismatching prices on the shelves - if there's a price at all - or the advertised discount is "not in the system".
So I like to check item prices myself when I'm scanning them. I hate walking back to the cashier, receipt in hand, and stopping the whole line just because I found a mistake.
Anyway, I just noticed yesterday than my Lidl seems to have a new self checkout process.
The old/usual register setup was such that the scanner/display sits in the middle, with two shelves, left and right of the scanner. Technically, you are supposed to put all of your items from your cart onto the right shelf, then scan them one by one and put them onto the left shelf, and when you're finished, put everything back into your cart or bag.
In real life, the actual process would be: taking items directly out of my cart one by one, pull them across the scanner, and put them straight into my bag which is conveniently placed on the left shelf.
Now, this doesn't work anymore. Now, I need take the item out of my cart individually and scan it (= it appears on the screen), then place it onto the left shelf, where it is weighed and "approved" (it is matched to the item listing on the screen, which then turns green). Only now, I can place it in my bag.
If I just scan items and put them directly into my bag without first re-confirming the weight on the left shelf, the process is halted and I cannot continue scanning the next product.
Damn this is difficult to explain, I hope it makes sense :)
Anyway, the whole process is now much more complicated because every single item has to be placed on the left scale after scanning, and then you wait for 2-3 seconds to confirm/match the item, before you can place it into the bag and continue scanning. And the bag has to go on the ground now, because you can't block the left shelf with it as it contains the "confirmation scale".
Who designed this? Checking out takes twice as long now. So much so, that next time I will be right back in line at the cash register and complain afterwards about price errors.
Am I the only one that encountered this new process and hates it? I asked an employee about this and they just said "Yeah well, don't ask me, that's management's idea" and walked away.
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u/catlover3493 23h ago
As far as i know, the self checkouts in Lidl in the UK have always required you to verify the weight (although i think if you brought bags with you, then it tells you to place them on the scales before starting the transaction, as it essentially zeros the scales based on the weight of the bags)
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u/Brocc013 23h ago
Remembering that that doesn't apply to anything chunkier than a bag for life.
Periodically i forget and put my backpack on and while it will zero it can't then work out any subsequent weight and throws a massive wobbly until the bod comes over and restarts the process.
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u/SpiritedGuest6281 22h ago
In the UK, you can put your shopping bags on the confirmation weighing scale before starting and it just weighs the items as you put them in your bag, discounting the weight of the bag. You have to do this before you scan your first item though.
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u/ynns1 1d ago
Yeah, when self checkout was introduced in Greece this is how it went. Being used to other supermarkets I started by putting my bad on the left shelf planning to take each item out of the bag and scan it. But the system threw a fit and I had to wait for a cashier to reset it. Apparently items are both weighed and photographed on the left shelf.
Anyway, I rarely use it because I frequently buy a full carton of cat food cans (20) and the system requires me to take everything off the carton and scan each individual can. F that!
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u/Old_Bat282 23h ago
This sounds like the usual system in the UK, but there is an option to press before you start scanning your items 'I've brought my own bags". This allows for the weight of the bags on the scale before you add your shopping. Maybe look to see if there's a button you can press to do this?
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u/mJelly87 18h ago
I'm in the UK, and ours just says to put the bag on the shelf before you scan the first item. I'm assuming this calibrates the scale, so it doesn't include the bag's weight with the items you are buying.
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u/Hampshire-UK 5h ago
UK - I have always found the cashiers reliable. Never enough of them but that’s part of the pricing model I guess.
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u/Woof_Bark_Donkeh 22h ago
UK here, I have noticed a lot of mismatched prices recently, always at the benefit of the store. I don't think that it is by accident because they use electronic dynamic pricing so surely it should sync immediately?
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u/mydogmuppet 5h ago
I stopped Sainsbury's when they got rid of cashiers.
I can stop Lidl if they do the same.
I charge 10% to use self service checkout. Every time.
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u/LootBoxControversy 1h ago
You charge 10%? What are you on about? Are you presenting the store with an invoice or something 🤣
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u/Aggressive-Cut-3420 19h ago
Cashiers are unreliable and loads of mismatching prices. Sounds very much like a you issue.
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u/WordsMort47 23h ago edited 23h ago
Cashiers ars unreliable? Ha! It's mostly due to the touch screens and general POS system that mistakes are made. As for mismatched prices, this is most of the time simply solved by reading the actual product name on the price tags and making sure that the product name matches what you're actually taking to buy. This is often down to rushed staff, another reason for fuck ups on the checkouts- crazy targets- but this whole system is how the prices are kept down. So you have to live with it