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Walmart Testing iPhone-Based Self-Checkout System for Retail Stores
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Considering every single Walmart in my area has removed the self-checkout machines because most of the customers could never figure them out and the staff could never keep them working, this idea is going to be a joke.
Shopping at Walmart was bad before but at least you might have had the option of using a self-checkout because half the store avoided them due to their complexity, but now everyone has to suffer their ridiculous lines and lack of active checkouts (usually 4 out of 19 are manned) even when you just want to buy a pack of batteries.
Shopping at Walmart was bad before but at least you might have had the option of using a self-checkout because half the store avoided them due to their complexity, but now everyone has to suffer their ridiculous lines and lack of active checkouts (usually 4 out of 19 are manned) even when you just want to buy a pack of batteries.
Interesting to see how this could work with, say, Passbook.
...I'm standing in line, Passbook alerts me "The roll-back smiley face just slashed prices on the dog food in your cart." I have to get out of line, while getting dirty looks from....
You know what, forget it.
...I'm standing in line, Passbook alerts me "The roll-back smiley face just slashed prices on the dog food in your cart." I have to get out of line, while getting dirty looks from....
You know what, forget it.
I think it would be great if the App provided a running total of the price of your goods with tax as you shop. Would be great for families on a budget. There's no reason why it shouldn't work in every store, even using your location to get tax rates and local prices.
They could even use it to promote their own store brands(ie When you finish shopping the app highlights name brands in red and tells you "You could have saved $11.38 by using quality Wal-Mart branded items.")
They could even use it to promote their own store brands(ie When you finish shopping the app highlights name brands in red and tells you "You could have saved $11.38 by using quality Wal-Mart branded items.")
I love this idea!
It pisses me off that Walmart has 40 checkouts, and only 5 of them are ever staffed!
Plus, the self-checkouts are annoying to use because they constantly tell you to bag stuff, but yet there isn't enough room on the scales to put more stuff! Then you have to push the 'Do not bag item' button constantly, and get it approved by the person working the machines. It takes forever.
It pisses me off that Walmart has 40 checkouts, and only 5 of them are ever staffed!
Plus, the self-checkouts are annoying to use because they constantly tell you to bag stuff, but yet there isn't enough room on the scales to put more stuff! Then you have to push the 'Do not bag item' button constantly, and get it approved by the person working the machines. It takes forever.
Why shop there?
I haven't shopped there in years. I would rather drive 10 more miles and pay more then buy from them
Your Wal-Marts have self-checkouts? I've never seen a Wal-Mart with one in my state.
It's just like my local Giant. You grab a hand held scanner and walk around zapping things you want to buy. When it comes time to check out - you simply take the scanner to the self checkout and download all of your purchases. You pay and go out the door.
Works great and eliminates the finicky "Please place the item in the bag" self check out machines because everything is already scanned.
This would allow the same set-up but eliminate the need to purchase any proprietary scanner hardware - genius really and will probably become more mainstream in areas where product loss is minimum.
Works great and eliminates the finicky "Please place the item in the bag" self check out machines because everything is already scanned.
This would allow the same set-up but eliminate the need to purchase any proprietary scanner hardware - genius really and will probably become more mainstream in areas where product loss is minimum.
Baaahhhd Ideah
Okay... Let's see... Apple can't make this work. They accuse people of stealing who didn't finish checkout but were given an Apple bag which means that Apple's sales staff were supposed to have verified check out. Now they're expecting this to work at Walmart? Right... Prepare for disaster.
Okay... Let's see... Apple can't make this work. They accuse people of stealing who didn't finish checkout but were given an Apple bag which means that Apple's sales staff were supposed to have verified check out. Now they're expecting this to work at Walmart? Right... Prepare for disaster.
Who can't afford an iPhone? Why do people on this website always say its some kind of luxury good? With a new 2 year plan, its 200 dollars every time a new one comes out. That is a VERY small amount of money, even for someone with low income, and its no more than an Flagship Android Phone.
Ten miles is nothing. Nearest Walmart is about 17 miles. Out in the sticks you may have to drive 100 miles. It adds up. Walmart has it. Nobody else within 100 miles, 200 miles, 300 miles has it. Where are you going to get it? Online, but that takes days and the shipping gets expensive. So, it's off to Walmart we go. Hi-ho!
And you are precisely one of the reasons they removed the self-checkouts in my area.
Here's a tip. If you have too much stuff to go through the self-checkout lane, don't use it. It's not hard to figure out.
I've never had a problem with self-checkout machines anywhere, but then again I'm smart enough to realize that a bike will not fit in the bagging area before I try and scan it.
$100 and a $25 Walmart gift card? So if a Walmart employee participated, they could double their monthly salary
Yup, and pretty soon they will be no Walmart employees with these systems in place (they'll certainly have more private security in case you forget to pay for that $.99 pen)
They do! And every one I've been to has also. Due to the unnecessary hassle though of self-checkouts, I either only use them for purchasing 5 or so items, otherwise I go to the express lane checkout.
You live in a different economic world than a lot of people. Pity you can see much from there.
Agreed. I'd rather pay an extra $.10 for a pen in a privately owned small business than support a company whose one of many shady practices strong armed Rubbermaid in the '90's to close their American plants to manufacture cheaper products in China as Walmart consisted of ~60-70% of Rubbermaid's net profit. Walmart then opened a "brand new" location in the town that Rubbermaid supported, paying ex-Rubbermaid employees a fraction of what they earned with less benefits and more hours... just so we can have cheap goods made cheaply overseas.
Wake up people, we've sold ourselves out for cheaper products.
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Sounds like a perfect scheme to get Wal-Mart customers to work for them for free, and like it. First you don't hire enough checkers to do the job properly, then you make pitching in your own time, effort and hardware to avoid the understaffed checkout lines look like a customer service. Brilliant.
Fail. The point of a self-checkout is to get through faster and avoid the lines. If you have cases of soda or water, you cannot fit the damn things on the scale, and if you can, you have to remove the previous bags. And due to this, you need to get approval for all of the scenarios.
It's really just a variation of the Sam's Club approach. That's probably where it came from. At the longer lines at Sam's Club they have a roving employee with a scanner who scans your items while you're waiting in line. When you get to the register your purchase is already there and it just needs to finalize. They've just eliminated the rover with the scanner and made that the task of the customer. You're right, they're getting the customer to do the work.
I wish this was available to us here so much. Our WalMart has 25 checkout lanes but only four to six open at any one time. The lines get massive. Sadly, our WalMart doesn't have a self-checkout. Others in the region do but not ours.
I use the self-checkouts at other stores whenever I can but I get very annoyed when the "monitor" is bored and really tries to get you to let her check you out at the monitoring station. I try very hard to get to a self-checkout register and get one item scanned before they can say anything. If someone is at a self-checkout versus a cashier lane, why do they pester you to let them do it for you? It's obvious that you WANT to do it yourself. I can certainly get in and out much faster through self-checkout.
I find it interesting that people run into self-checkout oversize issues and the 'bagging area.' Every system I've used knows when something won't fit and TELLS you not to try to place it in the bagging area but to return it to the cart. WalMart is the worldwide master of logistics. They know every ounce and square inch that an item takes up. They move massive amounts of merchandise around the world without an inch to spare. Their system would be smart enough to tell you to not put the 40" LCD monitor in a bag.
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Anything involving Walmart is usually a bad idea, however, I understand some people have no choice or it's the only place for certain items. I feel for them.
http://www.peopleofwalmart.com
http://www.peopleofwalmart.com