Too bad, since it was very convenient, but not surprising. It was a recipe for shoplifting, either purposeful or accidental. The couple of times I used it, the employee working the register barely glanced at my receipt before waving me through.
So many people steal when they donât think theyâll get caught. Our local (Canadian) Costco took out self-checkout for several years due to scammer members. The self-checkout was put back in as a convenience over the last 2 years but Iâm sure theyâve adjusted prices to allow for the usual amount of theft.
One Cdn Costco employee had told me the store was losing $20 000 a month through the people who werenât scanning all their items at Self-Checkout, back around 2014.
our local Giant has a rack of hand scanners - sign up, wave your card, pick up a scanner.
scan and bag right into the cart.
the âsystemâ selected shoppers at random for a detailed exam/audit of their cart vs. what they scanned. all the time one saved over six(?) months of self scan got eaten up by the lengthy unload/unpack/clerk rescan.
the issue I envisioned: the sequence of packing items into bags-in-the-cart seldom goes well with the aisle location sequenceâŚ
it seems the rather visible ârandom auditsâ along with people being led out quite publicly in handcuffs By-the-Blue had an impact. thereâs rarely a missing hand scanner from the rack now-a-days.
Within minutes of getting that email on Monday, I sent a frustrated (but still polite!) email to Wegmans corporate bemoaning this decision. I totally get it from a loss prevention perspective, I really do. But having the ability to only touch things once (pick up, scan, bag) shaved SO much time off a weekly shopping trip - easily 10-15 min between waiting in line and then actually checking out and bagging my groceries. I really hope that they were being sincere when they said theyâre looking to offer an improved approach in the future, because Iâm dreading the weekly shops until then.
Our local Stop n Shop stores have the handheld scanners (which work about half the time) and periodic audits, but their prices and produce are not as good as Wegmans, so that isnât a viable alternative for our regular shopping.
I wonder if itâs theft that really stops the use of these scan & go stations or hand held scanners. Theyâve been around for years at my local supermarket, and almost every big chain (Targets, Home Depot, Costco) in my area has them. Iâm so used to them, I dread having to go to the cashier line with only a handful of items.
My area canât be the only one that doesnât care about theft, and I sure as heck know weâre not all that more honest either. 
Itâs it demographics? Are there more tech-phobes who canât figure them out in some areas? Maybe itâs hard to find workers who can quickly troubleshoot issues? I think theyâre great, so Iâm always surprised these are still not adopted widely.
I was using handheld scanners in Auchan and Carrefour over 10 years ago. You had to be a member of their loyalty clubs, and register a payment card. You then scanned your loyalty card and it would unlock the charged scanners. I totally agree that the ability to pack bags as you shop is a great benefit!
They would randomly scan an item or twoâŚand a couple of times they made me offloadâŚand sure enough I woukd have forgotten to scan something. No idea how this was triggered, but they were pleasantly surprised that losses were less than projected.
Wegmans was much better before they started expanding southward. They seem to have trouble keeping their older stores stocked. I get the sense that the Wegman family is fattening up the chain to sell it to an international conglomerate like Ahold Delhaize that owns Hannafords (New England), Food Lion (Midatlantic and Southeast), Giant (DC area), and Stop & Shop (New England). Service and selection at all of those chains plummeted and prices rose when they were acquired. I am all for international trade but I think that selling our critical infrastructure to foreign companies is short sighted and misguided.
Wow, required a payment card too? Our Stop & Shop then lets us off the hook relatively easy. You do have to give up your email/personal info to sign up for the loyalty/discount card for extra coupon savings. We too get the occasional audit, but itâs not too bad. They just randomly scan a few things in your basket.
In all the other retailers though like the Walmart or the Target, no card needed. I wonder about the Home Depots and Costcos where they have such bulky items. Those are so unwieldly, youâd think self-scanning wouldnât work well. Personally when I go into those places, I stick with the regular cashier even if I donât have a lot of items (and I donât think Iâve ever left a Costco with only a few items anyway).
Does HD or Costco have a scan as you go system? In FL theres a self check register but you dont take a scanner and walk through the store.
I suspect that the requirement for a payment card helped curtail loss for the French retailers
In my area (Boston suburbs), Costco has self-scan checkouts but no way to scan items ahead of time. BJs also has self-scan checkouts. They allow you to scan as you shop in the app, but youâre limited to 15 items⌠and we rarely get out of there with that little, so we just scan at the checkout. Not sure whether the receipt check on the way out of the club is enough to catch shrinkage; Iâve NEVER seen anyone pulled aside for an audit.
Youâre right, Iâm confusing the two. Home Depot is all self-check out only. Costco does have scan and go option if you use their mobile app, though I donât know if there are any restrictions by locations. I personally have not used it, because I donât like their app.
With self checkout registers they just mount cameras so they can watch people scan.
I think our local Sams allows you to scan withbyour phone. Costco does not, and every time I try self check one of the associates comes over and tries to âhelpâ which inevitably ends up with me canceling the transaction and going to a cashier because they just start grabbing and scanning with no grasp of what Ive already scanned.
Our neighborhood Albertsons stopped self checkout a few years ago. When I asked whyâŚâŚ. they said it was to enhance their one on one customer experience. Gotta believe it was to avoid theft. They do have a couple of â15 items or lessâ cashiers but, when I need just a couple of items, I tend to go somewhere else. Our Costcos (OTOH) took out self checkout but put it back in a few years later.
I only shop at Wegmanâs with Instacart, since I donât currently have a car. But recently, on a FB gardening group, I read a post from someone bragging that he bought lots of heirloom tomatoes through this self checkout - and scanned them as the cheapest tomato. Very sad comment on our times when someone can brag about stealing like that.
Bragging about stealing? 
I believe most folks who use self-checkout and scan and go are honest, but I guess you canât stop people from stealing. Even without the scan and go, you get the people who will try to switch stickers, tags, etc. or the popular 5 finger discount (or eat the food right in the store!).
At Wegmanâs you scan your own produce. That was the case before they implemented the scan app and is not changing.
I didnât want to start a new topic about this and couldnât find a thread about Amazon Fresh that was newer than this which talked about self-checkoutâŚso Iâm posting here which seems somewhat related.
âAmazon Ditches âJust Walk Outâ Checkouts at Its Grocery Storesâ
This partâŚâ Just Walk Out relied on more than 1,000 people in India watching and labeling videos to ensure accurate checkouts. The cashiers were simply moved off-site, and they watched you as you shopped.â
totally blew my mind. I donât like AI and this level of âautomationâ. Though people here will likely come back with rebuttals as to why I should like it, AI is one reason why my career ended.
If a moderator or someone else would like to spin this topic off to a new thread, please start one and not tag me on it.
Thank you
