Self-checkout machines cause 'stage fright' in shoppers

[DainBramaged]

Do you ever use the self-checkout at your local store? And when you do, are you one of those fumblers who has to get a cashier to help? Or are you the annoying guy right behind, tapping his foot and sighing loudly?

A new study has found the fear of looking stupid stops people from using self-service checkout machines -- but hiding in a crowd helps. And that could give stores some tips on how to handle self-checkout, which is becoming a very popular cost-cutting tool among retailers.

Researchers studied the patterns at a lane of self-checkout machines in a Kroger Co. (KR) grocery store in North Carolina, and interviewed the users afterward. They found that shoppers felt more comfortable ringing up their own purchases if they were alone or in a crowd. But if there was just one other person waiting in line behind them, they felt more pressured and less confident and were less likely to use the machine again or recommend it to others.

"It's almost like stage fright," said Michael Capella, assistant professor of marketing at the Villanova School of Business, one of the study's authors. The study, co-authored with professors Brian Kinard of the University of North Carolina-Wilmington and Jerry Kinard of Western Carolina University, was published in the journal Services Marketing Quarterly.

But surprisingly, the study found a small crowd of three of more other shoppers diluted the potential embarrassment and brought the shoppers' pressure and confidence ratings to the same level as when they were ringing up groceries by themselves. The study theorized that shoppers feel their mistakes using the machine won't be noticed if they're in a group of people, so they're less self-conscious hiding in a crowd.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/10/30/self-checkout-ma...

Job-stealing fucking pieces of shit. Machines of the Devil.

[Captain Hilts]

1. They're job stealers. I don' tuse them. nt

[rucky]

2. They're not any quicker, either.

Technology FAIL.

[Warpy]

23. No, they're really not

and if they misprice something, you're stuck for half an hour waiting at the customer service desk, while a cashier can take care of it in 5 minutes.

The only time I've ever used one was in Home Depot when I had one item and the two checkout stands had long lines of contractors with full carts and I really was in a hurry. I wasn't impressed and I won't do it again.

[PVnRT]

38. LOL they can?

Funny, any time I've been at the cashier and noticed an error, I still had to wait until the manager at the customer service desk finally moseyed over to take care of the problem.

[Warpy]

73. Yes, but that usually happened within 5 minutes if you checked your watch

You're at the end of a long line at the customer service counter.

[Peacetrain]

50. No kidding.. they can actually take longer.. it like having to listen to a pre recorded

menu rather than talking to a live operator. Just so damn time consuming. Humans do it better than machines.

[dysfunctional press]

81. yes, they are. i use them all the time.

it's not the machine that's a 'FAIL' - it's the people who don't know how to use them.
and since the registers with cashiers generally have lines of people waiting, i can use the self-checkout with little or no waiting, and be out of the store that much quicker.

[rucky]

158. I was a checker for two years.

They're slower. After you scan, the machine has to register the weight of the product before you can scan your next item. Then there's produce code lookups. If the people in front of you are slower than a checker, then they're slower than a checker.

For you, it's the lines - not the technology that make it work better.

[RebelOne]

15. Yes, but they are time savers if you only have a few items.

And if you hate standing in long lines.

[Hosnon]

17. Doesn't automation benefit everyone in the long run though?

I guess we could destroy enough automation to ensure 100% employment but I doubt that would be a net benefit.

[DainBramaged]

20. One of the reasons for 60% unemployment among teenagers IS automation like this

These machine ONLY benefit the retailer. Think about that. And four kids, who may only be making minimum wage (pods of four is typical)not only get ZERO practical experience, they have NO MONEY. I started working at the local supermarket when I was 16. My kid couldn't get a job when she was 16 anywhere, and part of the problem IS automaton.


Do you also believe that we should be buying only foreign cars??

[Hosnon]

25. Hmm, automation seems to have generally helped us as a species.

I don't think it only benefits the retailer - just as I don't think automation only benefits any other company that uses it. I'm pretty sure my car was as affordable as it was due in part to automation (and that benefits me).

And unless the teenager's being employed is necessary for him/her or his/her family, it's not a horrible loss.

Where in the world does your last question come from?

[DainBramaged]

72. Your defense of machines that take human interaction out of the retail experience

is what keeps youth from gaining practical experience dealing with people and adjusting to situations they will encounter throughout life, along with earning money for the things they want that just maybe their parents can't afford.


And my last question is simple, but you chose not to answer it.
I choose not to answer any of yours now.

[Hosnon]

80. I don't think that this means that youths will be prevented from gaining practical experience

dealing with people and such.

And your last question seems to be some sort of baiting question grounded in an assumption you made about me based on my comment. Please leave your assumptions/generalizations at the door...

[snooper2]

178. "take human interaction out of the retail experience"

I'm going to go to Albertson's and pick up some lettuce and bananna peppers. But not only that, I'll get the experience of dealing with the wonderful person at the checkout counter! I mean, getting missing items needed for dinner with wife on the phone saying she needs it now wouldn't be complete without dealing with the animated personality behind the register!

Or I can just swipe the bananna peppers and key in the lettuce and swipe my card and be in and out. But that lonesome "non-human" touch to the whole experience would just have me lacking, sad...depressed....



Oh, and to the folks that the "machines/computers took ur' jobs", you forgot about the jobs created like the technician making $30 hour repairing said machine.


regardless...this thread is fucking greatness!

And FYI- You DON'T need to select English/Spanish first when using the automated teller. Just swipe your first item and it defaults to English... ( saves another 3 seconds- time is money )

[Chulanowa]

156. If by "benefits the species" you regard yourself as the only member of said species, sure

And I happen to be of the mind that yes, it IS necessary for a teenager to hold a job of some sort. Why? So they know what the fuck they're doing when they leave their parents' house.

'Course, i'm one of those democrats that actually had a job when I was younger and understands the necessity of labor. We're a dying breed, I think.

[Hosnon]

167. Clearly, if I meant "only me" I would have said so.

As a whole, automation has raised the standard of living for humans.

Oh get off your soap box. I had several jobs as a teenager. While beneficial for character and what not, jobs are not necessary for teenagers.

[anigbrowl]

227. S/he is not the only member of said species, and there are other kinds of jobs besides checkouts

I'm all for teens getting a job. Last time I was in a supermarket, I noticed that the products on sale still had to be taken off the pallet and placed on the shelves, for one thing.

[Chulanowa]

233. Automated checkouts reduce jobs, however

if they were actually more efficient than a cashier, that might not be so bad.

[anigbrowl]

240. I'm afraid I'm not really persuaded of this

I don't use automated checkout (because it's not available anywhere I shop, mostly) but I use ATMs all the time. I'm sure this means fewer people filing deposit and withdrawal slips and counting physical cash, but on the other hand easy access to cash and payment systems seems to create a lot of economic activity of its own. Many's the time I've made a purchase after using an ATM that wouldn't have happened if I had had to go inside a bank first.

[rucky]

26. Not just teenagers. Grocery checker is a darn good career

if you're union.

[PVnRT]

33. Really?

Starting cashiers in 1996 at Kroger's (UFCW shop) were paid 25 cents higher than minimum wage. Same thing with us baggers. The only way to earn something like decent money was to work for 20 years, and the only people who could do that had been working at the store since before the Reagan era. The only difference between working conditions there and at Wal-Mart was that we had mandated smoke and meal breaks and hours based on seniority (the health plan was unaffordable for new people).

A checker may have been a great career once; it's not anymore.

[rucky]

46. I guess it depends on the contract.

wasn't that way in 2004 - portland, OR

[arikara]

153. Used to be a good career

Best job in town as a matter of fact. 20+ years ago I knew lots of people who left very good careers to earn over $20 an hour at Safeway. Then the company bought out the old workers with early pensions, busted the union and cut wages in half so now its just another lousy job.

However it is still a job, and for that reason I won;t use the automated checkstands either.

[PVnRT]

27. Foreign cars have nothing to do with automation

Except in your "everyone who disagrees with me about anything hates American workers" mind.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

58. In his mind, if you buy a foreign car your opinion doesn't count.

Unsurprisingly, he works at a car dealership that sells American cars.

[PVnRT]

130. I know

I'm on the PLONK list, so I won't get an answer, anyway.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

141. I've been on the plonk list three times.

He unplonks people so he can plonk them again.

[Name removed]

151. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[anigbrowl]

173. Ffff, you want to control who responds to your threads, set up your own site.

Post a rant, expect debate, including disagreement. You don't seem to have any problem attacking people who don't share your dislike of machines.

[DainBramaged]

300. Cross-thread personal attack

[Name removed]

272. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MineralMan]

282. People who disagree with you are stalkers?

Hmm...

[DainBramaged]

297. Cross-thread personal attack

[DainBramaged]

299. Cross-thread personal attack

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

55. The other reason for 60% unemployment amongst teenagers is school.

First of all, have you seen how much homework gets assigned these days? I could've held a part-time job when I was in high school. Not so for my cousins who are in HS now.

Second, the machines also benefit the companies that manufacture them. I thought you WANTED manufacturing jobs.

[tblue]

39. Tried it about 4 times. Had to get a real person to help me in most cases.

I guess that's job security for the Auto-checkout Assistant.

How long before we go shopping and see no people at all? Eeeew! Twilight Zone.

[dana_b]

56. robots will come help you when there is no price

or and unreadable code. Do you think they'll be able to check your i.d if youre buying cigs or alcohol?

[Rebubula]

28. OK...

...by your logic...


The Internet is stealing jobs from printed newspapers....therefore...I am logging off...

[DainBramaged]

107. Bye

PS


The newspapers, first Newsday and the NY Times, are going to a paygo model, so there goes the free innertubes.

[underseasurveyor]

41. I refuse to use them too

Even when someone tries to direct me over to use one I still refuse. No thank you I'll wait so I can chat with real human beings thank you very much.

I work part time in retail and I know how to scan items and if I'm the one doing the scanning I'm damn sure going to be on somebodies clock whilst I'm doing so !

[uncle ray]

74. you notice the attitude you get when you politely decline the self checkout?

i usually get a heavy sigh and the eye roll when i say, "no, thanks, i'm fine waiting a bit." i guess some of the checkers think that if everybody used the self checkout they'd get to stand there all day and do nothing? they don't look at the 20 closed registers and wonder why they are not staffed?

[underseasurveyor]

86. Oh that's so true

The disconnection between the self check out and their own job security is amazing to me. But one day they'll thank us non-auto-checker-outters. Not directly but I don't care.

[me b zola]

285. I always tell them that I decline to use them because I support their union jobs

[KittyWampus]

66. same could be said for almost EVERY piece of technological advancement.

[anigbrowl]

71. Not so. Every DU post I make is sent as a telegram and delivered to Skinner by hand.

I'm trying to cut out the electric part altogether and move towards hand-written posts delivered by a guy on a horse, for extra ideological purity.

[Hosnon]

84. Good for you! The pony express workers need your support! nt.

[underseasurveyor]

89. OMG LOL

This place cracks me up sometimes.

[reflection]

139. Well played!

[Taitertots]

161. Guy on a horse, think about the on foot delivery people

You just cost 100,000 jobs.

I make a human chain to maximize the number of jobs. It is like hands across America every time I "text" someone.

[anigbrowl]

163. Oh yeah? Well I use 2 chains, for 2 way communications! Beat THAT!

[Taitertots]

172. Oh no, does that mean I'm a job stealer?

I better pay 200,000 people to cut my grass one blade at a time and 400,000 people to collect my leaves with tweezers.

[anigbrowl]

175. I see you like divide and conquer tactics

Do all of these people make a living wage from manicuring your lawn? I doubt it. Apparently you don't want anyone to accumulate enough grass-snipping labor that they might be able to buy your damn lawn!

[fujiyama]

287. I send carrier pigeons through the tubes

I suppose I should switch to your method though, to protect these lightning fast telegram deliverers!

[treestar]

236. True. Where do they want to draw the line?

We should toss computers. Typewriter makers were put out of work by them. And of course the existence of computers employs "nobody."

Mapmakers have suffered greatly from the existence of the internet and Mapquest. It took no work of any kind, however, to make mapquest.

Cars put the buggy makers out of business.

Airplanes probably made a big dent in passenger sea travel.

MRIs - they had to have put a dent in surgeon income. Used to have to open people up just to see what was wrong.

[RobinA]

77. Same Here

No self-check-out, I use a person. Plus, aren't I paying the same whether I use the person or the machine? So why pay them to eliminate jobs?

[Dorian Gray]

136. I tried once

and had to have someone help me. Yeah, I was one of the fumblers. So, I thought to myself, "Self.... if you are going to mess it up anyhow, just go to a person who is paid to help you and have them check you out." It's made sense ever since.

[Vincardog]

159. +1 They're job stealers. I don' tuse them. nt

[Kali]

3. I agree.

Not only with the stage fright, but with the job stealing aspect. I never use them.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

4. I don't understand why I have to work when I go to Home Depot or the supermarket

Why are they cutting jobs and making the shoppers do the work of check out?

[DainBramaged]

7. They are turning up everywhere. Four at the local supermarket now

And I let them know how much I hate them every time I go there. All you have to do is say 'these machines put people out of work' loudly and the people waiting gravitate towns the cashiers instantly. No one thinks about this unless confronted.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

8. How many jobs are they actually cutting?

Seem like the machine needs three damn attendants just to help customers get through self-checkout.

[Hosnon]

30. And some jobs were probably added to manufacture the machines. nt.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

35. Self check out machines are NOT automation

unless one considers the shoppers themselves to be robots. Someone is doing check out but the stores have shifted the work from employees to the customers and apparently do not offer a discount for this.

[Hosnon]

42. That's a good point. nt.

[laundry_queen]

182. Exactly.

As my MIL said the other day, "The day I start using self checkout is the day they start giving me a 10% discount for doing so."

[myrna minx]

264. Precisely. n/t

[Chisox08]

69. Yeah in China

[DainBramaged]

76. Don't worry, those are considered good jobs on DU

even though they are off-shored.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

82. Got any evidence to support that? n/t

[Chisox08]

154. Yeah the big made in China sticker on the back of the scanners

[Hosnon]

169. Every scanner is manufactured in China?

I'm not saying it can't be so. But I didn't make the claim they were.

[DainBramaged]

181. Do you know where the screens, circuit boards and money changers are made?

China.



The major components which are OUTSOURCED by every 'manufacturer' are usually assembled here, but as usual, in the South at non-union firms. Pays to use da google or check the Union sites.

[Hosnon]

186. No, that's why I asked. nt.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

241. And the screens for those fancy in-dash navigation systems in your cars are made where? n/t

[DainBramaged]

260. Stalker

[Hosnon]

87. What about the local repairmen that are undoubtedly called in to fix them?

Even assuming that not a single manufacturing job will ever be created here because of them.

[Hannah Bell]

100. they're basically the same scanners the store clerks use. so no extra jobs in repair.

just fewer in check-out, & customers do the work for free.

[DainBramaged]

102. Oh don't go busting their global economy balloon now....

[Hosnon]

115. I've never had a clerk shoot my change out of his/her mouth. nt.

[Hannah Bell]

286. the clerk rings up my groceries, but the change comes out of a coin chute.

your store may be different.

[anigbrowl]

92. Dunno where they're made, but they're installed by US technicians

Personally, I do not have a problem with machines, and do not believe that we should restrict the use of technology solely to protect manual labor. I don't feel guilty if I fire up Excel instead of hiring a bookkeeper or clerk to tabulate and sort my data. I don't think we should stop watching movies in order to protect jobs in the theater. I'm not going to stop using a digital camera because I can look at my pictures without the intervention of a film lab worker.

technology makes some kinds of labor redundant, which is a drag if you relied on a job that is simple enough that it can be performed by a machine. On the other hand, it also provides tremendous opportunities. People can do things with digital still and video cameras that would have been prohibitively expensive a few years ago - in fact one of the most successful films last weekend was a movie made by a guy with a prosumer video camera for a grand total of about $15,000, including the cost of the camera. 10 years ago that would have cost $50,000 or more, if he had shot it on 16mm film for a similar level of quality.

[Pool Hall Ace]

254. OMG, the film lab worker

You had to remind me of that. Years ago, there was a teen girl in my neighborhood who worked at Fotomat. What would she do today?

[anigbrowl]

258. Hmm, maybe work as an editor or - gasp - operate a camera herself?

There are still film labs, you know - I'm a semi-regular client of one. The smart ones saw this coming and started adding duplication and grading facilities alongside wet film processing.

[Pool Hall Ace]

270. I was just being silly.

I have no issue with automation.

[anigbrowl]

274. Oh OK. I do know some pro film people who moan about the passing of celluloid.

Though the threads are rarely as epic as this one.

[uncle ray]

85. a few dozen man hours to build.

it should replace many thousands of man hours. or more accurately, relieve the store of paying for those thousands of hours of labor and associated costs. like health care. just another way of the corporations drinking our milkshake. the self checkout machine is the long straw.

[Hosnon]

88. I guess this is yet another thing I need DU to instruct me on: good versus bad machines.

Where is the line? Should everything be build by humans and nothing but?

[uncle ray]

113. everything IS built by humans.

and by everything, of course i mean machines.

the problem is, these particular machines don't offer much of a benefit to the end user. they only benefit the business. and that benefit is only of you are so short sighted as to only look at the bottom line.

[DainBramaged]

116. Thanks, it is not apparent to so many here these machine DON'T benefit

labor or the consumer, only the retailer. But hey, there are hidden agendas all over DU. I'm surprised the coffee crowd isn't fighting the soda crowd today......

And to those I can't see, oh well you should have gotten the hint long ago, but since you think you are smarter than that portion of the body you are sitting on, have at it.

[anigbrowl]

122. Sez you. What about consumers who like them?

I am not saying they are somehow 'better' than human check staff. If you prefer interacting with a live person when you pay for groceries or make a bank withdrawal or buy gas, that's a completely valid preference and you should keep doing what you feel happiest with.

but there are other people who are happy with self-service and prefer to use a machine. I do most of banking online because I find more convenient and easier. I like self-serve when I get my coffee, not least because it's simpler than trying to explain to someone how I like my coffee prepared. Sometimes I don't want to interact with a person because I'm busy thinking about something else, and swiping things through a self-serve machine lets me keep doing that without being rude to a cashier. This, too, is a valid preference.

[Hosnon]

117. I agree these are on the low end of things but they would seem to still

reduce the cost of running a grocery store (which is passed through to consumers). And if you don't believe the parenthetical, then please explain Henry Ford.

[SoCalDem]

198. It's a drip, drip. drip problem

A union checker laid off, means no dental care for her kid, no vision test for that kid either, no field trips for the kid (if they cost extra),no shopping trips at Sears, no more trips to Supercuts, no more dinners at Chili's, no new tires when they are needed, no moving to a better apartment.. and all along the way, the employees at all the places that laid off worker would have visited, may face a similar fate, if enough laid-offs are forced to do the same..

It's the ripple effect of all these "small changes", that's killing our economy.

The simple fact is this:

People need jobs, to earn money to live on. If they do not have jobs, they will end up having to rely on family members whose spending power will diminish too, or they will have to take state/federal aid, which raises taxes for everyone, whose own spending will be affected by increased taxes.. We ALL pay, when people are laid off.

[anigbrowl]

202. That kind of assumes that technology never creates any new jobs.

That computer you're using didn't design or assemble itself, you know.

[SoCalDem]

207. some Chinese people probably built it.. Do they have Supercuts in Beijing?

Until we rid ourselves of all our low-tech, ordinary folks who need life-supporting jobs, I guess we'll just have to enjoy the ride to the bottom

[anigbrowl]

216. Oh, well they're just subhumans of course.

Strangely enough, I know a lot of people who work in software and hardware development right here in the USA, not to mention people who are self-employed or run businesses using computers which they would not be able to do any other way. I guess those aren't real jobs, though, and the benefits they provide for people and their families are illusory.

[SoCalDem]

225. I never said "their" jobs were not "valuable"

The technology they create, can remove many jobs.. It's a trade-off, as always..and the long-term effects are not known, until jobs start to "go away".. Every person who has a job, will appreciate that fact, but the millions who have lost theirs, certainly deserve some consideration too..

There has to be a balance somewhere..at least until my crop of people (Boomers) exit this planet, so all the younger (smaller) generations will have less competition for those scraps

[anigbrowl]

229. Technology can both remove and create jobs

I've done some jobs that later became obsolete. I got different jobs, partly by acquiring new skills. This is one reason, among many, that I'm happy to pay taxes or membership fees for libraries.

[DainBramaged]

235. But you aren't saving THEM their precious time, damn

and you aren't providing jobs in China where they deserve it more than we do, and they probably can't have soda either.



TOO TOO many in this thread don't give a flying fuck through a flaming rolling donut what the trickle down effect is, just save them 3 minutes to waste ogling the cutie down the aisle.

[anigbrowl]

256. Yup. People who are shopping rather than working at their own jobs may not enjoy their free time.

They may have things to do and places to go, but if they're not actually on the clock then they have no business trying to get anything done faster. Idle hands do the devil's work - if people are left to themselves, they might take up hobbies or start businesses of their own, or educating themselves, and we've seen where THAT leads.

[shimmergal]

302. The self-checkout is

"Make the customer do the work."

[Hosnon]

29. I only use them if I have a few items - seems faster and is more fun. nt.

[csziggy]

155. If they want shoppers to use them, they need to give us a discount!

I've used them when the other lines were long, but they don't handle large items that will not fit in the bags. Our local Home Depot tried them out, but has removed them - apparently problems like the guy trying to check out with two toilets and a bunch of tile board were too much hassle. I sort of know that guy and I suspect he did it just as a protest against the self check out concept.

[ixion]

5. there are all sorts of things that have caused jobs to go away

computers not among the least of them... and we all seem to be using those.

Just sayin'...

[DainBramaged]

10. Robots too, but don't be apologizing for self-checkouts

We who are Union members HATE THEM and their sympathizers.

[Taitertots]

145. I'm sure all that irrational HATE is really good for you

You are the union telegraph operator complaining about the telephone.

[Mosby]

11. Yeah, like the printing press

[SemiCharmedQuark]

230. The printing press put all of those monks out of work.