I love using the self-checkout kiosks at my supermarket. If you only have a few items they are quicker than waiting for a teller.
Apparently supermarkets overlooked something. While they have gained cost savings with these systems, there has been a “45% reduction”:http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/6430 in the sale of checkout items like candy and tabloids.
“The law of unintended consequences”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unintended_consequence occurs when a system is put into place with the intention of creating one result but instead produces another conflicting result.
written by Jon Lax
This happened at gas stations years ago. Most of them were making good margin on candy and pop inside the store. But when consumers started paying at the pump out of convenience they also stopped buying all the candy inside the stores.
Some stations in the U.S. had new incentives like a coupon to get the consumer to come into the store, others have adopted “talking pumps” that speak when you use them to let you know about the specials in the store etc.
Regarding the automated checkouts — Give me people! Everytime I have to scan a vegetable that or I move my shopping bag it seems like the automated machine needs a human to come over and reset it.
I’ve tried using the auto checkout at Home Depot and it was more frustrating than waiting in a long line.
just my .02
LL
I love the self check out… fast clean and free of interruptions. Even for large grocery or hardware purchases I do the self check out. There is definitely lost opportunity for up-sales/cross-sales but there are certainly ways to get around that.
Self check out is almost one of the ‘advanced user’ functions out there. The first couple times you have to get oriented to the process… after that you can speed through it with only the occasional hiccup.
More on this at “Slashfood”:http://www.slashfood.com/2006/08/15/self-checkout-stops-impulse-buying/. The article states that over the course of the year consumers can avoid a potential weight gain of 2.5 pounds by not making these impulse purchases.