Self checkout and express checkout at Costco

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lastmanstanding

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This may be a strange question but here's the question: What's the difference between express checkout and self checkout at Costco?



I was talking to a friend who is a supermarket manager and he was telling me about checkouts at Costco. (He has been to USA and talks a lot about his shopping experience :))


I read on Costco website but their explanation is not clear.
 
As I understand it, express checkout would be similar to the "12 Items or Less" checkout in a supermarket. It's for customers with just a few items so they don't have to wait in line behind customers who are purchasing a high volume of items.

Self Checkout is done by the customer with no cashier present. Typically, customers who have just a few items use this as they can get done much faster.

With self checkout, you trade the convenience of having a cashier do the work for the convenience of getting through the checkout line much faster. The Costco we frequent has at least a half dozen self checkout positions.
 
I won't do self checkout anywhere. Why ?

For one it puts a person out of work, something I don't like.

For two they are saving money, but they're not cutting me in.

I used to avoid ATMs for the same reason, but that became impossible as I had to use it after hours.

T
 
I don't think I've ever been to a Costco that has a self or express checkout. But then, we rarely have any long lines at the times we go anyway. Our Costco seems to have plenty of open lanes and we know which cashiers are less chatty and quick to be done, so we use those lanes.

That said, we go to Costco only a few times a year. Mainly when I need to stock the freezer.
 
Self checkout involves several bar code readers that the customer uses to scan their own items, with one overseer to ensure you don't try to steal anything or to assist you when you screw up.

Express checkout is a manned (or womanned) checkout stand with a limited number of items the customer can check out, supposedly making it faster for customers with just a few items to get checked out and out the door faster, but they always seem to assign that checkout stand to new checkers or the slowest checker on duty at the time. When I see a seasoned checker at the quick check I always ask them "Well, what did you do to deserve to be punished this time?"

As an aside, I was in a Ralph's Market recently where, in true California fashion, the express line had a sign that read "Express checkout, around 15 items."
 
Costco does not have express checkout, only self checkout.

I'm not sure using a self checkout contributes to putting someone out of work. I does reduce the length of the cashier lines.
 
Thanks everyone, thanks a lot.

We have express lanes here at some shops for under 5 items etc., but the self checkout and express were a little bit confusing especially after reading the Costco website.


Andy I think self checkout may result in some cut off jobs maybe, like a few from a store. I'm not sure but logically that can happen I guess. My personal guess work only.


However, I can relate to actual unethical money making. Once I was interviewed for a post of teacher at a well known international school in Colombo. The chairman who was also the owner was talking through the school system and teachers' duties and importance,and how special the school is etc..
At the end he was telling me "you only have to work from 7.30am to 1.30pm (that's the normal school time here), only for two days you have to stay until 4.30pm (that part he slowly sneaked in to the sentence in a very trivial tone).

But I noticed it. I asked him "so you mean I must work from 7.30 to 4.30 but 3 days I can go early, right?"
The fact to the matter is this: This guy gets the teachers to stay after school to a time table, and conducts private tuition (for money) for outside students. He doubles his income using the teachers who are only paid the school salary!
I told him if I were to teach after 1.30 I will need 150,000 rupees ( which was around 1200 USD that time I guess). Usual salary of a teacher is around 200 usd per month. lol. That was it.
 
I won't do self checkout anywhere. Why ?

For one it puts a person out of work, something I don't like.

T


Wrong.

They increase efficiency and decreases very long check out lines.

You can spend 30 minutes in line for a bank teller to hand you $20 or you can spend less than a minute at an ATM for that $20.
 
Wrong ? There used to be a person there working and getting a paycheck and now there is not.

Let them try that at a lumberyard or DIY store.

Take a friend of mine, was in gitover mode. He got away with quite a bit, a self serve lumberyard known as Handy Andy. In the little building they sell nails etc. So he goes through all of it, goes in and buys some nails, has a receipt. You pay for your lumber in the little building. He got the nails, walked out and held up the receipt for the security guard and got out of there with thousands worth of lumber.

Later, we were doing the downstairs bathroom, had a new window like $100. The olman is paying and he has the cart, they didn't see the window.

These losses happened with people, can you imagine with no people ?

Cashiers are getting harder to get. They need clear purses at some places and who knows what else ? They actually make some wear diapers so there are no bathroom breaks. People don't need this kind of hassle

Ethics test. A Woman we know had a job counting money. She said she had seen old silver crtificates, realy old coins and whatever. So we loaded her up with every denomination of US currency we could, and then she started to just swap. They got their money, those antique coins and bills would have gone to be shredded or melted. She saved them.

Was this wrong ?

T
 
I think there are some fields it becomes a convenience and be much more efficient. Some not.
In my country the biggest mobile company is Dialog Axiata. They had the best customer service. A few months ago they introduced a "self help app" which they said was intended for providing a far better service. Actually what they did was they reduced the number of online customer help staff, I think around 90% and now it's impossible to talk to an actual person. Instead you are directed to navigate the stock answers in the app.

Then people started threatening to leave their network. They said it's due to the pandemic. But the the truth is the telecom sector has no restrictions whatsoever due to lockdown. And people started questioning why they can't work from home.
Dialog still refused to bring back customer care, and started offering additional data offers etc., to keep people using their service.

Not only did their business more than doubled due to the pandemic work from home, they made even more profit by cutting the staff drastically.
 
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