[oldtownroad]

I much prefer going through a self checkout but it’s a poor solution. The traditional checkout process makes sense because there’s a person involved, if no person is involved then there are much better solutions.

Stores in the UK like Tesco and Waitrose have had scan-as-you-shop devices for many years, and there’s other stores (like M&S) which support scan-as-you-shop using your smartphone. Amazon Fresh has the zero-scanning magical detection of what you’re buying using cameras.

If you’re going to have a checkout, have a person at the checkout. If you want a more efficient process, don’t have a checkout, let customers scan as they shop.

[bitshiftfaced]

When I've been to grocery stores with self checkout, there's usually one attendant at a computer near a group of self checkout stations. I believe the idea is that it's cheaper to staff less checkout employees even if that doesn't eliminate them completely.