A Store Without a Checkout Counter? JCPenney Presses on with Retail Revolution

[madengr]

They were bad at first, however, have gotten better over the years. If you do it correctly, let's say at Home Depot, you can't place (in the bagging area) a gallon jug of toilet cleaner, followed by a bag of washers. Do it the other way around at it will be fine. Sometimes you can't even bag the washers.

Contrast this to teenage grocery baggers that bag leaky raw chicken with your fruit, or don't put all the frozen stuff in one bag when it's 100 degrees out, or they are unsure of what to do with that paper bag with the picture of the penguin on it. Have a blank stare when faced with collard or mustard greens, or Swiss chard. Can't tell the difference between a jalapeño and a cayenne pepper.

 

[Danan]

Sounds interesting. Standing in a long line, waiting for seniors to find the right cash in their pockets while kids are crying behind you, having to pack your groceries (we don't have any "packers" here...) while simultaneously the cashier asks you to pay and annoyed people waiting for you to hurry up... - this really sucks. I hate it.

We have the technology for better payment systems, we should use it. One could "check in" at the entrance with his smartphone and "pay" by checking out at the exit without all the unnecessary trouble. At least as an optional choice for now, since especially older folks are likely to have some problems with this model.

I believe this technology (or a similar one) is already used successfully in Japan. At least that's what a friend told me, I haven't checked that myself. I hope that catches on where I live.


And the argument we shouldn't want that because it "destroys jobs" is completely stupid as many people here already pointed out. This is in no way a position anyone fighting for liberty or who understands economics could hold. Some people seem to love the idea of living in a medieval, static "fair price theory"-environment. Only the overcoming of this ancient sentiment made it possible for the ideas of property rights and voluntary contract rights to succeed and therefore for humanity to progress. This is what has built the foundation of liberty.

I'm completely fine with it if you don't like such a form of payment-system out of any other reason, to make that clear. Let the free market sort that out.

 

[invisible]

Unless I'm ordering something online because I can't buy it locally, I refuse to do business with machines. I'll pay cash at the register, thanks.

I've seen very few people actually use these "self checkouts". I hate that stores have 8 of those things sitting around idle for the most part, and have 12 cashier stations manned by two cashiers while 40 people stand around in line. Of course, not only do stores not put prices on the individual items anymore, but cashiers aren't even taught how to ring prices into a register anymore. Whenever someone has an item that won't scan or doesn't have a barcode sticker on it, the entire line gets held up while a supervisor is called over. Then you have the cashiers who ring up your sale and just stand there like a moron until you prompt them with "how much is it?", and they point to a screen. My response to that is, "I asked you, not the machine". This is service? This is progress?

 

[specsaregood]

//

 

[KingRobbStark]

That menial job may put food on someone's table.

The market will find a solution.

 

[madengr]

So what ever happened with the grocer union vs. Albertsons a few years ago in CA?

 

[specsaregood]

The market will find a solution.

So far the market's solution seems to be to give them government jobs.

 

[Nickels]

Somebody hates efficiency and unemployment. Doesn't he know that destroying computers will give everybody jobs? hasn't he heard of "broken window fallacy"?

 

[MelissaWV]

Sounds interesting. Standing in a long line, waiting for seniors to find the right cash in their pockets while kids are crying behind you, having to pack your groceries (we don't have any "packers" here...) while simultaneously the cashier asks you to pay and annoyed people waiting for you to hurry up... - this really sucks. I hate it.

We have the technology for better payment systems, we should use it. One could "check in" at the entrance with his smartphone and "pay" by checking out at the exit without all the unnecessary trouble. At least as an optional choice for now, since especially older folks are likely to have some problems with this model.

I believe this technology (or a similar one) is already used successfully in Japan. At least that's what a friend told me, I haven't checked that myself. I hope that catches on where I live.
...

Using Japan as your model for innovation might not be a great idea. They have automated everything, oven just for the novelty of it. They also have a "theme park" for just about anything you can think of. I won't go into details; that's what the internet is for.

The problems you pointed out above do not happen at every grocery store, or even a majority of them. Part of the problem with the cashiers is a lack of training. It really also does not matter what produce you pick up, so long as it has the sticker on it. That's the PLU she's going to key in. The bigger problem consumers don't seem to notice is that cashiers do not use the "tare" key anymore. You are now paying for the plastic bag those bananas are in.

You can always shop elsewhere, and yes that includes places with automatic checkout or self checkout. The problems there go far beyond $1 worth of cracked eggs, though. Automatically paying for things doesn't always jive very well with the consumer's budget. I don't have a Smart Phone. I prefer to pay cash. There are people at the other end of the extreme who long for the day that an RFID chip will just tally up their purchases and relieve them of their paycheck automatically.

 

[Nickels]

That menial job may put food on someone's table.

So would using a typewriter or waiting tables, but what happens when people stop eating out or don't use paper anymore? Tough luck, that's just life, nobody owes you a job.

 

[donnay]

The market will find a solution.

Not as it stands now. Government intervention/regulations throughout history have been the leading factor of people starving in a country.

 

[Nickels]

So far the market's solution seems to be to give them government jobs.

sadly, that seems to be the short term solution, to find people jobs at tax payer expense or debt. And while that, people don't seem to be cutting their spending which leads to continual propping of the housing and tuition market.

 

[Nickels]

Not as it stands now. Government intervention/regulations throughout history have been the leading factor of people starving in a country.

He said market will find a solution, who said anything about government regulation?

 

[donnay]

So would using a typewriter or waiting tables, but what happens when people stop eating out or don't use paper anymore? Tough luck, that's just life, nobody owes you a job.

How did you get what I said that someone owes me a job? It's up to me to find a job, but what happens when there are no jobs available? That was sort of my point. That is why the illusion of free market has so many people duped. What we have today is no free market, it is the appearance, the illusion, of one.

 

[donnay]

He said market will find a solution, who said anything about government regulation?

LOL! How does the market find a solution when government is involved? A free market means the regulators would be the people not the government. You are not free to open up a business and sell things right out of your house until you get a permit. A permit means the government/State gives you permission to be in business.

 

[Nickels]

How did you get what I said that someone owes me a job? It's up to me to find a job, but what happens when there are no jobs available? That was sort of my point. That is why the illusion of free market has so many people duped. What we have today is no free market, it is the appearance, the illusion, of one.

If nobody owes you a job, what is the point of you complaining that there are none available? Where did you get the idea that free market equals jobs don't disappear or everybody has a job at all times? Ever heard of "job creation"? Oh, I don't mean government dumping money for you to be their task monkey, I mean finding things you can do and begging for money in return for it (ie, getting creative to solve other people's problems). I don't care what you call today's system, facts do not change that you are not entitled to a job, and the government didn't force you to not have one either.

 

[puppetmaster]

You don't have to pay automated self-checkout machines minimum wage. Or provide health insurance. Or withhold taxes. Or pay social security taxes. Or pay unemployment fees/taxes/insurance. Or worry about discrimination lawsuits. Or collectively bargain.

The government's mandates incentivize automation and disincentivize hiring people.

yep!

 

[Nickels]

LOL! How does the market find a solution when government is involved? A free market means the regulators would be the people not the government. You are not free to open up a business and sell things right out of your house until you get a permit. A permit means the government/State gives you permission to be in business.

I never said government, who said that word? Fair enough that there are actually lots of regulations as to where and how you can sell things, and that's mostly due to taxation and liability. However, these are not any new laws that just started yesterday, they've been in place for years if not decades, and have more than enough time to adjust to, work around. You do not need a permit to sell things online, or by craigslist, but you're expect to report your income if it's enough to matter.

 

[Nickels]

yep!

So basically government causes or encourages unemployment. Is that saying the government is good because it causes unemployment? or bad?

 

[PaulConventionWV]

A Store Without a Checkout Counter? JCPenney Presses on with Retail Revolution

(...)

Johnson explained that physical retailers should be able to do everything an online-only retailer like Amazon does and more—including face-to-face customer service and options such as in-store pickup.

Most noteworthy of all, Johnson announced JCPenney’s plans to completely change the checkout experience at stores. Using advanced Wi-Fi networks, mobile checkout, RFID (radio-frequency identification) tracking systems for goods, and all sorts of self-checkout possibilities, JCPenney will get rid of cashiers, cash registers, and checkout counters, the staples near the exits of virtually every store, as soon as 2014.

“Think of a physical store without a cash rep,” Johnson said. “About 10% of all the money we spend, half a billion dollars a year, goes to transactions. Well that could be done through technology.” The money saved could then be used to help bolster customer service.

Will consumers embrace a cash-less, cashier-less, checkout counter-less store? Investors seem to like the idea. After Johnson’s statements made news, JCPenney’s stock jumped to over $21 per share, after trading for around $19 early on Wednesday.

Continued...

All these nice corporations setting us up for the cashless grid--another UN agenda

How are you going to bolster customer service when the customers never get to see a live human being?