x404.co.uk
http://www.x404.co.uk/forum/

Self-service checkouts 'have not cut supermarket queues'
http://www.x404.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=10128		 Page 1 of 2
Author:  Amnesia10 [ Sun Aug 22, 2010 1:24 am ]
Post subject:  Self-service checkouts 'have not cut supermarket queues'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/news ... ueues.html

Quote:
Figures compiled by The Grocer magazine show that average queuing times for staffed tills at Tesco and Sainsbury's, the retailers with the most self-service checkouts, have increased over the past two years.
At Tesco, which has 6,000 self-service checkouts in its 1,200 stores, the average wait for a staffed till lengthened from 5min 15sec in 2008 to 5min 42sec this year. Sainsbury’s saw a smaller rise, from 5min 30sec to 5min 35sec.
A separate survey, by The Sunday Telegraph, found that in stores offering a choice between staffed and automated tills, it is often quicker to choose the traditional method. This newspaper made nine visits last week to branches of Tesco, Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer. Each time, two identical baskets of groceries were purchased, one through a staffed till and one through a self-service checkout. On five of the nine occasions, self-service was slower.
Author:  Linux_User [ Sun Aug 22, 2010 1:28 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Self-service checkouts 'have not cut supermarket queues'
Most people can't use them properly, which adds to the delay.

It is also highly irritating when you only buy a few items, but are still told to "place the item into the bagging area". AFAIK only ASDA enlist the "I don't want a bag" option, Tesco and Sainsbury's make you jump through hoops. It's also really annoying when you get "Please wait for assistance/unexpected item in bagging area" and there's no staff around to fix the problem.

Still, for those of us who can use a till properly, these are a god-send, especially when there are very few manned tills.

In my experience it's also customers who slow down manned tills, they just can't manage a quick speed when packing their shopping (or worse, the poor cashier has to pack for them, slowing the process down even more).
Author:  Amnesia10 [ Sun Aug 22, 2010 1:41 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Self-service checkouts 'have not cut supermarket queues'
The unexpected item in the bagging area is a pain. If you use your own bags then it does not allow for that. The bagging area needs to be higher so that you can put things on the shelf before you then transfer it to your own bag. Then it does not always accept the coupons. I had some clubcard vouchers for specific purchases spend more than "80p on milk etc" which it would not accept even though I had spent 86p. Same for diary.
Author:  ProfessorF [ Sun Aug 22, 2010 7:28 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Self-service checkouts 'have not cut supermarket queues'
Amnesia10 wrote:
If you use your own bags then it does not allow for that.


The Sainsburys tills have a 'I'm using my own bags' button. I think they actually give you points for doing so, but I don't collect them.
The local one's pretty good - there's always a member of staff hovering, and you only need their approval for things like a DVD or alcohol where there's obviously an age check required.
I suppose like any piece of equipment, it needs calibrating and routine maintenance to keep it working properly, there's got to be more going on technologically at one of these terminals than a regular staffed check out, plus we're expecting the public (never famed for their brilliance nor patience) to operate it. My sister gets confused collecting tickets from the cinema with her credit card, FFS...
Author:  l3v1ck [ Sun Aug 22, 2010 7:53 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Self-service checkouts 'have not cut supermarket queues'
They're fine for just a few items, especially as a lot of people insist on using normal till so the queues are shorter.
Author:  Amnesia10 [ Sun Aug 22, 2010 8:56 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Self-service checkouts 'have not cut supermarket queues'
ProfessorF wrote:
Amnesia10 wrote:
If you use your own bags then it does not allow for that.


The Sainsburys tills have a 'I'm using my own bags' button. I think they actually give you points for doing so, but I don't collect them.

The Tesco machines allow you to get green clubcard points for recycling but they will not let you use your own bag in the packing area. So you just dump it on the service then when you have finished repack into your own bag.
Author:  jonbwfc [ Sun Aug 22, 2010 10:01 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Self-service checkouts 'have not cut supermarket queues'
I consider them a bit of a con to be honest with you. The supermarkets near me have all put in self-service tills but have taken out the express '10 items or less' tills at the same time. The result is that shopping doesn't take any less time but the supermarket gets to employ less till staff and therefore makes more profit. Essentially you used to pay them to do it for you, now you do it yourself but the food doesn't cost any less. Am I the only one that's noticed this?

I use them if there are queues but generally I've got more than a basket of stuff so they're not really an option.
Author:  Amnesia10 [ Sun Aug 22, 2010 5:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Self-service checkouts 'have not cut supermarket queues'
jonbwfc wrote:
I consider them a bit of a con to be honest with you. The supermarkets near me have all put in self-service tills but have taken out the express '10 items or less' tills at the same time. The result is that shopping doesn't take any less time but the supermarket gets to employ less till staff and therefore makes more profit. Essentially you used to pay them to do it for you, now you do it yourself but the food doesn't cost any less. Am I the only one that's noticed this?

I use them if there are queues but generally I've got more than a basket of stuff so they're not really an option.

I agree though they could compensate customers with extra clubcard points, even so it would not make it worthwhile considering how much they may be saving.
Author:  pcernie [ Sun Aug 22, 2010 7:15 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Self-service checkouts 'have not cut supermarket queues'
Couldn't even tell you if we have them locally - home delivery FTW! :D
Author:  Amnesia10 [ Sun Aug 22, 2010 7:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Self-service checkouts 'have not cut supermarket queues'
Home delivery does have serious advantages. Shop when you like. No parking problems, no risk of your car getting scratched in the car park. etc.
Author:  veato [ Sun Aug 22, 2010 10:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Self-service checkouts 'have not cut supermarket queues'
I used a Sainsbury's one today and I swear it was on a go-slow. Every single item placed on the scales/bagging area took ages to respond. It took me around 4x longer than it normally would have done.

Its a good point about the removal of the Less Than 10 Items tills too. At another local Sainsburys they have two lots of self checkouts which has not only replaced 4 10 item tills but another 2 standard lanes. Its no suprise the queues are longer there.
Author:  Zippy [ Sun Aug 22, 2010 10:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Self-service checkouts 'have not cut supermarket queues'
Our Tesco has the basket aisles and self-service aisles which I use almost exclusively. I do one big shop per month and go through manned tills for that but everything else is self-service. Tesco has the "skip bagging" option and if you grab the person manning the self-service area before you begin they can set it so you can use your own bags. IME far fewer people use the self-service tills and I've been using them since they came out in Walmart in the US about 7 years ago so I tend towards them above any of the manned tills.
Author:  Amnesia10 [ Sun Aug 22, 2010 11:28 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Self-service checkouts 'have not cut supermarket queues'
What I am surprised is how honest we must all be for them to be a practical solution for the supermarkets. I am sure that there will be some who skip the scanning process with the odd item. :roll:
Author:  belchingmatt [ Mon Aug 23, 2010 6:07 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Self-service checkouts 'have not cut supermarket queues'
Amnesia10 wrote:
What I am surprised is how honest we must all be for them to be a practical solution for the supermarkets. I am sure that there will be some who skip the scanning process with the odd item. :roll:


I thought that was the entire point of having a bagging area, everything is weighed, and if you don't use the bagging area then it will be pretty obvious to the worker or security cameras.
Author:  jonbwfc [ Mon Aug 23, 2010 12:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Self-service checkouts 'have not cut supermarket queues'
belchingmatt wrote:
I thought that was the entire point of having a bagging area, everything is weighed, and if you don't use the bagging area then it will be pretty obvious to the worker or security cameras.

This is part of the problem I have. If you buy something that has very little weight - say a bag of herbs or something - half the time the machine throws a fit because it can't tell if you've put it in the bagging area or not after scanning it, the weighing machine is just not sensitive enough.

I assume in fact that a lot of light items have some sort of tag in the system that says 'don't bother testing weight to see if this has been bagged because you can't spot it'. If you could figure out what those items were, you could save a fair sum on your weekly shop :D .
Page 1 of 2 All times are UTC
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
https://www.phpbb.com/