Self-serve checkouts. A blessing and a curse. An innovation of big-box retail that is here to stay, whether anyone likes it or not.
Like everything else, they’ve got their pros and cons.
PRO: They can be a much quicker way out of the store.
CON: Diminished human interaction.
PRO: A lot more self-reliance for the technologically savvy.
CON: Less jobs for teens starting out in the workforce to fill.
PRO: It’s a lot easier to run expensive seasonal fruit through as carrots.
CON: That’s technically theft, probably.
PRO: No actual human there to put judgy eyes on you when you buy nothing but ice cream and condoms at 10am on a Tuesday.
CON: UNEXPLAINED ITEM IN BAGGING AREA. UNEXPLAINED ITEM IN BAGGING AREA. UNEXPLAINED ITEM IN BAGGING AREA.
Nails on a chalkboard, that one. A drill digging into the skull.
Fortunately for all of us, salvation is at hand. Whilst Woolies had turned off the dreaded “Unexplained Item” feature in a majority of their stores a while back, Coles had still maintained the rage. That is until now.
The other half of Australia’s supermarket duopoly announced that they will be turning off the feature on their self-serve checkouts, removing the weight sensor bagging area technology that goes with it.
The change, a result of apparent customer unrest (which makes it sound like some of deli-section riot was imminent, which would’ve been AWESOME), comes as part of a system-upgrade on self-serve machines nationwide.
A Coles spokesperson explained the upgrades thusly:
“We are trialling new technologies at our self-check-outs that reduce customer frustration and enable our customers to get through quicker. This has freed up more time for our team members to provide a better service experience.”
It’s a brave new world we’re in, dear friends. We’re now all free to bag our shit to our hearts’ content.
It’s a new day, yes it is.
Source: Herald Sun.
Photo: Quinn Rooney/Getty.
