The Self Check Out Gadgets at the Grocery Store
At the grocery store where I regularly shop, there are gadgets like these that shoppers can use to scan their own items. (This photo is from the internet, but my store has the same kind of set up.) I have not used them myself, but I see many Japanese people at my store using them. After scanning the items and putting them in the shopping basket, the shoppers go to a self checkout area with no live cashiers to scan their gadgets, then pay by cash, credit card, or smart phone.
Since I have never tried them, I don't know if the gadgets are more convenient or if they save the shopper time. Maybe they save the store money. Or it might be that there is a shortage of workers for the cashier jobs.
I take my basket to a live person cashier, who scans my items and directs me to a pay machine that takes my cash and spits out a receipt. I understand how this works, so that is what I do. The cashiers greet me and seem to recognize me. Sometimes they tell me things, like if I spend another 50 yen, my eggs will be half price that day. They know I can't read the sign next to the eggs. I appreciate their letting me practice speaking Japanese without laughing at me. I'm not in a hurry and I like the interaction with the store workers.
Do you have these store scanners where you live? Do you use them?
5 comments:
I have narrowed it down to one supermarket that I often go to. I also created a credit card exclusively for supermarkets for payment.I also downloaded the supermarket app to my smartphone. When you go to a store and open the app, a screen will appear to read the barcode of the product.
I use my smartphone’s barcode reading function to read the product’s barcode and add it to my cart.
At the end, the person who scans the barcode uses a dedicated payment machine to pay with the supermarket’s credit card. Why I use this payment method.
The dedicated cash register is empty, so I don't have to wait in line.
The reason I pay with a supermarket credit card is because I can receive great coupons the app and earn supermarket points.And, earn even more points by paying with your supermarket card. I accumulate points for a year and use them to purchase New Year’s products, which always go up in price.
Yes, we use the self scanners at our local supermarket. It saves a lot of time, as you scan the item and then put it straight into your shopping bag. It means that you can pack as you go and are not rushed at the checkout, shoving everything in your bags willy nilly, so we pack all the fruit and veg in one bag, cold things in another, tins etc in a third. Every now and then when you go to pay, a member of staff spot checks what you have bought, so they can catch people who put things in their bags without scanning them.
Those are different than ours. I avoid self-check because I like the personal option and don't want to put a worker out of work. But sometimes when there's a crowd or the lines are long, they're so handy!
They don't have individual scanners like that here. The self-checkouts are at the end of the store and you have to take things out and scan them one by one, then pack them into bags. And now they have added cameras which film you to make sure you are scanning things correctly. I hate it! I will use a staffed checkout if I possibly can, but there are very few available and the lines are always long.
I've mostly seen self checkouts at Ikea so far, but they are slowly becoming more common around here. I've never seen a setup like this with all the phones, though. And I, too prefer checking out with a real person! I might use a self checkout when I'm only buying one or two items, though.
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