Wal-Mart has had shelf checkout in my region for … ages, it seems.
But for sure their traditional checkout lines are the slowest. Probably because they refuse to staff to the level of most other retailers, thus the wait in line is constant.
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Well, here on the Left Coast ehere they’ve basically decriminalized petty theft, shoplifting has increased exponentially the last 2 years. WalMart, Home Depot, Lowes, Target, Fred Meyer (Kroger for some) have all either dialed back, implemented new strategies and policies, or just closed stores down due to “shrink” (aka theft). Now our laundry soap, body soap, deodorants, cosmetics, and other goods are under lock and key and associates now walk your items to a register or self checkout for purchase. And theres armed (like sidearm, not just taser and OC spray) security at stores now (i live in Vancouver, but it’s in Portland now too). Self-checkout was supposed to save labor cost and increase convenience but due to our laws changing thieves have gotten smarter and figured out how to cheat the self-checkout. WalMart has now started secretly tracking customers using self-checkout with Rfid devices imbedded in products to see if they cross the scanner and are rung up. If they detect an item wasn’t registered, they can tell and pause a transaction at the checkout as needing associate assistance, where the customer is directed to a regular checkout lane to finish their transaction. I think this is the future state of things with self-checkout.
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I skimmed an article about this and it’s pretty interesting. I’m not sure how they could pause a transaction at the register but it seems clear that they could identify un-scanned items on the way out.
I guess the attendants in self-checkout areas (more than one) have handheld devices that detect that and can wirelessly lockout a self-checkout terminal. They are continuously monitoring items flowing into the self-checkout lane and tracking them. They’re alerted if a tag isn’t scanned, either unintentionally or intentionally, and the terminal is identified. There’s probably people watching too remotely who chime in. In the stores it’s being tested, so far it’s worked. Walmart has cameras everywhere, places we probably never guessed. In 2012, i left some bags in a check out lane on black Friday. Went back next morning and they were able to track me all over the store on high-res cameras, saw me leave the bags, as well as saw the next person behind me steal them after checking out…
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Except for food I prefer online shopping .
Your story reminds me of a bit from Robin Hood Men in Tights. The one where Ahchoo says he will watch Robin’s back, then reports back that Robin’s been hit in the back twice 
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How do you ever get any decent fresh fruit that way? I can’t imagine they’d put in much effort to choose the properly ripe and undamaged fruit.
Yeah thats why I only prefer online shopping for non food items. I was in Pennys the other day looking at mattress toppers. I was lost without reviews.
I misread your post completely and thought you made the opposite statement 
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Actually, my local Smith’s (Kroger) store does very well for picking produce. We used that service a lot during 2020 and the only bad thing I could say at the time was that you had to think ahead about 4 days at least because they were so darn busy. If we asked for bananas that were a little green, that’s what we got. I don’t recall ever thinking that what we got was second rate and was never obviously damaged or deteriorating. We’ve been back to doing in-person grocery shopping for a long time now, but if I was pressed for time I would not hesitate to choose Smith’s pickup service again.
They have their own employees picking the orders and you pickup in the special pickup parking area, where they bring the order out to you.
Maybe even more surprising they are the only big grocery store within miles. There are some smaller grocers but the Smith’s has the bulk of the local business. That could be viewed as a perfect setting for giving lackadaisical service, but I cannot complain about how that local store of a very big chain is run. Different story about some of the big corporation thinking, but that is another thing.
I have to admit I never tried the service.
It was very handy during 2020. I know people who use it now to save the time. I like the visit to the store and avoid the crowds by shopping between 8 and 9 AM.
My daughter says they save $ by doing the order ahead/pickup for the simple reason it eliminates the impulse items so she is able to stay on task/on budget.
Myself am old school and like to look around and find something needed that was maybe going to be bought elsewhere but here was a better unit or deal.
As for Wal-Mart everyone likes to rag on them but you have to admit this, they never let up on haggling with the suppliers for a better price after having to raise the price in the past , whereas my local grocery store if they raise the price that is the new price and they don’t come off it unless on short sale.
Don’t know exactly why but I have a really good memory on certain price items and if a store is higher on these items they will generally be higher on many other things.
One such item is Campbells Chunky soup. If the grocery store is currently above 2.50 you’re paying too much in my neck of the woods. Some other grocers want 3.39 for same exact soup. No way.
Another is Potato chips, here in Salt Capital of snacks.PA We have entire aisles of chips and there is much competition.
Pretzels?
Yeah, they have the better part of their own aisle.
Lays is the biggest Whore of high prices, everywhere you go they are the highest.
So other than an occasional Dorito they are a no go plus the local chip companies blow them away in variety and price. Still if the store is not doing 2/$5 or 2/$6 at most I move on to places that known to be better.
We also are blessed to have quite a few overstock/close to expiration stores that really blow stuff out. None of those places use self checkouts. They have pretty Mennonite women usually running the lanes who are very quick and accurate.
SSL
Keith
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During covid employees sterilized the self checkouts in between every single person. The line would literally wrap around the store
I don’t remember specifically what happened at my location . I tried not to go in there very much. Costco already feels like a communist country with how they ask to see your papers membership when you enter and search your cart on the way out. I am thinking I might drop my membership this year. They now ask for the damn membership when I enter, and again when I get to the self-checkout to make sure the wrong person doesn’t use the paid-for membership. Did I become a different person in the 10 minutes I was here??? Just check it properly the first time! %@#$
Lockdown in Canada was literally like 2 years long so for awhile it was one of the only stores selling more than groceries that was open, so I was there a lot.
They really ask you for your membership at the self checkout? They shouldn’t be doing that.
I know that during covid they relaxed the rules on sharing memberships because some people were told not to go out at the time and had to have someone else shop for them. But people got used to that and they started cracking down.
They make most of their money from those membership fees.
People do go to self checkout for the express purpose of sharing a membership, so they watch for it.
If you have a bunch of self-checkout transactions where the name on the membership doesn’t match the name on the debit/credit card that was used to pay, and they have that information for every transaction you’ve made on your membership, you’ll get flagged as “cash only”. No cash at self checkout…They defacto revoke your self checkout privileges lol
Idk if they’ve changed this recently too, but for awhile the secret was the gift card. The gift card is the cheat code. You can shop at Costco without a membership if you have a gift card. You still need someone with a membership to buy one for you though.
Btw, that’s also the secret to using a different credit card at Costco. Buy the gift card at costco online, the online store accepts any credit card, then use the gift card in store.
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Hold up a spent giftcard to get in, and pay cash at the cashier? 
Should work. Once you’re in they give you a piece of paper that’s your “temporary membership” for the day, but they don’t check the gift card balance when they do.
When you get to the cashier you show them the temporary membership. They don’t know what it’s for. They give out temporary memberships for all kinds of reasons. Maybe you lost your card or forgot it at home. You can pay with whatever.
Well, I think it is ridiculous and disrespectful to paying customers.
They are doing it to curtail people sharing their cards with friends and family. It is Costco’s opinion that if you are making a purchase then your picture should be on the store card. Of course, the reality is that parents hand their cards to their kids, and some people cost share memberships because they wouldn’t use it enough alone to justify the cost.
My picture is indeed on my membership card, but it still pisses me off to get badgered about it every time I visit. Whoever came up with the policy is a moron. This Scrooge policy was briefly in the news and Costco laid of a for a bit. Now they’ve started doing it again.
Or one could say that loaning a membership card to someone is disrespecting the people who paid for a membership and follow the rules.
One family member, at same address can get a card to share the membership. Same deal at SamsClub.
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