E-Ink price tags at Walmart

[Renate]

I like self checkout.
If there are free stations at the time I can take my time packing directly at the station.
If I go through a manned station I get my goods stuffed at me and I have to waddle to a packing shelf to organize them in my backpack.
I realize that self checkout enables a lot of theft.

[DNSB]

Sounds like the reason I like self-checkout as well. I don't have some lackwit decide that placing a 2 litre milk carton on top of a loaf of bread or tomatoes is a good idea. And yes, I did end up arguing with one cashier about a refund when my tomatoes were squashed and I had tomato juice dripping out of my reusable bag.

[Quoth]

No-one uses packing shelves here. Also the Checkout operators do not stack stuff here.

I'd not use online grocery ordering ever again unless it was all tins, jars etc, i.e. no fresh items or bread. Stuff is crushed with that. I'd sooner find someone to go for us if I was ill or car broken.

OTOH the "self-check" terminals teach people to steal, don't work reliably or use cash.

[Renate]

Originally Posted by Quoth

No-one uses packing shelves here.

I don't know what the trade term for them are.
They are long shelves after checkout where you can pack stuff, maybe even remove the cardboard from your corn flakes.
We have them in Aldi in the US and at various stores in Europe.

As far as getting your stuff shoved at you, I've been at supermarkets early in the morning, with no one behind me and the cashier impatiently shoves my purchases almost over the edge of the counter. I don't like that.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Renate

I don't know what the trade term for them are.
They are long shelves after checkout where you can pack stuff, maybe even remove the cardboard from your corn flakes.
We have them in Aldi in the US and at various stores in Europe.

As far as getting your stuff shoved at you, I've been at supermarkets early in the morning, with no one behind me and the cashier impatiently shoves my purchases almost over the edge of the counter. I don't like that.

Yes, Only Lidl & Aldi even have them. And no-one uses them.

The other supermarkets (Tesco, Dunnes, Supervalu/Centra etc) don't even have them. Not sure about M&S as the nearest is over an hour away.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Quoth

OTOH the "self-check" terminals teach people to steal, don't work reliably or use cash.

They don't teach people to steal; they provide the opportunity for thieves to steal which is different. Honest people are still honest. They work as well as the manned checkout stations; it's exactly the same set-up. And, finally, here at least they can take cash although not all do.

I prefer self-checkout myself. I don't understand people grumping about doing the work employees are paid to do.

[Renate]

Only slightly tangential...

Most of the hardware stores in Germany have at least free brown paper and twine after checkout.
Some of them have a few low-grade tools chained down there too in case you'd like to cut that 2 meter thing you just bought in half.
The DM drugstore has gift paper and even colored ribbon!
I really should wrap my next purchase, even if it's just shampoo for myself.

[nana77]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Yes, Only Lidl & Aldi even have them. And no-one uses them.

The other supermarkets (Tesco, Dunnes, Supervalu/Centra etc) don't even have them. Not sure about M&S as the nearest is over an hour away.

In here there is still a difference between LIDL and ALDI, where the first have shorter ones, as like:

Spoiler:

The firsts times I saw it there, I'd wondered why they don't just let the idems slip onthe floor, so then the buyer can easily take 'em within a shovel lOl.
I mean, the short ones are made within the reason the guest has to run away from there quicky. Period. .
OMG just saw what you was meaning: there are shorter ones even:

The most common ones are still those in here:

Ps: AFAIK the tags price are menaged by a central point, rather than locally.

The longer ones have the leaving space divided in two sections, generally; so - imho - there is no real lag time waiting, as the previous customer can finish to pack the idems while the next starts.

[nana77]

Originally Posted by issybird

They don't teach people to steal; they provide the opportunity for thieves to steal which is different. Honest people are still honest. They work as well as the manned checkout stations; it's exactly the same set-up. And, finally, here at least they can take cash although not all do.

I prefer self-checkout myself. I don't understand people grumping about doing the work employees are paid to do.

Pardon, but I don't understand: that's still a working place, for someone.
I don't know how much they earn, I heard a guy that had a good pay, but he was in the previous 6x2 months contracts, and didn't knew what the actual salary might have been if employed within the indeterminate time other, which he was close to reach.

Generally now almost all those places are open on sunday and holidays too, while I wonder if that's not too much, the pay also differs and rises for them, as for manufactures others.
I mean if there is a thing nowadays' needs more than ever, is good contracts within indeterminate time.
Also, I don't pay less on self-cashiers.

[nabsltd]

Originally Posted by DNSB

(I'm looking at you, Walmart where their compliance seem more theoretical than practical)

I've seen these E-Ink tags in a couple of WalMarts in the US, now, and they are basically WalMart's way to make sure they never have to honor the price tag.

I was looking on a shelf, and the tag had a price and about 10 text characters, which was not nearly enough to allow me to determine which of the 15 solar outdoor lights the tag applied to, since I needed to know:

• manufacturer
• lumens
• style
• count per package

Then, too, there's the fact that WalMart never cleans up their shelves, so items are often nowhere near the price tag that they should be connected to.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by rkomar

I don't see what the big deal is about tags on the shelves being changed by hackers. You don't pay what the tag says at the registers, you pay what the database says the price is for the scanned item.

I California you pay the lower of the shelf / ad or as rung.
Note: paper shelf tags also have the PLU code to invalidate simple tag moving.

Weights & Measures does pop 'scanner' inspections. They scan the item with their test gun, key the price from the label. This prints both on a paper tap, that they then use to ring up at a cash register (they also choose the lane if more than 1).
There are fines for over charges detected (they might RED TAG the store if there are too many).

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Quoth

No-one uses packing shelves here. Also the Checkout operators do not stack stuff here.

I'd not use online grocery ordering ever again unless it was all tins, jars etc, i.e. no fresh items or bread. Stuff is crushed with that. I'd sooner find someone to go for us if I was ill or car broken.

OTOH the "self-check" terminals teach people to steal, don't work reliably or use cash.

I use Self Checkout all the time and rarely have an issue (that would not be the same at a regular station). The only time I use the regular ones (when a SCOT is available) is for age restricted items.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by issybird

I don't understand people grumping about doing the work employees are paid to do.

Because they are having to pay for the labor that they themselves are doing?

[j.p.s]

Grocery checkout with a cashier has been optimized to be very fast and efficient over time. Also, most of my groceries have to be weighed and have no bar code. I can quickly unload my cart onto the conveyor belt and repack the cart as the cashier rings each item up. Since I am doing my own packing, any packing mishap is on me. There is no way I will ever be anywhere as fast as a cashier at looking up and entering product codes, much less remembering them. The staging areas at self checkout stations are ridiculously small. It is far too awkward and slow for me when I have more than a few items that have to be weighed. On top of all that, at my preferred store, SCO requires far too much futzing around with the touch screen menus.

I do most of my grocery shopping when the store opens and the line is short to non-existant and self checkout is closed anyway. If I need a couple of things mid day, then self checkout is more convenient.

[Graham44]

Originally Posted by nana77

Also, I don't pay less on self-cashiers.

No, no, no, it's not about the consumer gaining from having less cashiers, it's about allowing the supermarket to have a higher profit margin . Personally I prefer the manned tills, I have nothing against the self checkouts but the manned ones generally have more room and if something doesn't scan properly or needs age verification you don't have to wait for someone to come over the cashier sorts it out.