Self Serve checkout at Walmart

While I was in Austin last weekend I had occasion to go to a brand new Walmart store. This one had self serve checkout lanes in which the customer would scan his/her own merchandise then feed money into a machine to pay. The machine would cough out any change due in coins and bills - real dollar bills not those nearly useless dollar coins the post office machines throw out. And the customer could be out of there without any employee involvement. Pretty amazing!

They did have payment personnel standing by for those dunderheads from the sticks who couldn't get it done on their own. (Yes, they had to help me, in case you were wondering.)

But, it was an interesting experience - a logical step forward with the available technology. Who among us hasn't wished we could just do it ourselves to speed up the pace?

Very impressive, Walmart!

UPDATE, 6/2/04: Pogo pointed out in a comment that Albertson's on Midkiff and Loop 250 has self serve checkouts. I was in the Albertson's on Andrews hwy this morning, and they have some self serve checkouts, too. I suspect that all of the Albertsons must have them now.

Comments

[Bert9785]

I bet some people would skip an item or two, so I hope the employees check reciepts.

[Redman]

I heard the machines couldnt read the new $20 bills when they first came out, but that problem has been corrected.

[Nancy]

sure, this new thing can speed up the pase, or not, some people are still a little slow... but dont you think that this can be a reason for a lot of people's unemployment?

[Bert]

Nancy, Wal-mart did not eliminate a single job when they put those self-checkout counters in. They moved those people to other positions

[George]

If Wal-Mart is on the ball, they will train displaced workers for other jobs within the organization.

Just about everyone who has been in the work force for a decade or more has had to either learn new skills or change careers. Technical innovation is something we need to learn to live with rather than fear. A hundred years ago most Americans worked at manual labor on a farm, and while mechanization may have been met with resistance at first, I doubt if very many people would want to go back to that.

[Pogo]

I like the self-serve checkout. I used to live in Austin and the HEB I shopped at had 6-8 of the things. Recently the Albertsons at Midkiff & 250(yes, Albertsons of all places!)installed a few of them. Albertsons is a crap store but at least they are getting the checkout right.

[pam]

I've seen self-serve checkout at Home Depot. I like it. It's quick and seems to work well. One cashier monitors four lanes, and she don't let nothin' get by her.