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Walmart begins credit only at self checkout stands

Started by roadman65, September 28, 2021, 11:51:18 AM

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hbelkins

One of the annoying things about self-checkouts is that there are certain items for which the cashier has to verify (or, in practice, override) the customer's age for purchase of certain products. Not just alcohol, either. I recently bought some JB Weld Epoxy and used a self-checkout. The system locked up until the self-checkout overseer could come scan her ID and verify that I was, indeed, over 21. (I'm 59 and certainly look it.) At another time recently, I bought some STP gas treatment and went through a regular checkout (the little Walmart in Jackson, Ky., doesn't have self-checkouts) and the cashier had to manually verify that I was over 21 before he could scan the next item.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.


abefroman329

Towards the beginning of the pandemic, I walked to Jewel to buy a six-pack of beer, and left my driver's license at home.  I scanned it at the self-checkout and a store employee walked over and overrode the warning to check my ID without skipping a beat.

It was...humbling.

SectorZ

Quote from: hbelkins on October 05, 2021, 03:20:14 PM
One of the annoying things about self-checkouts is that there are certain items for which the cashier has to verify (or, in practice, override) the customer's age for purchase of certain products. Not just alcohol, either. I recently bought some JB Weld Epoxy and used a self-checkout. The system locked up until the self-checkout overseer could come scan her ID and verify that I was, indeed, over 21. (I'm 59 and certainly look it.) At another time recently, I bought some STP gas treatment and went through a regular checkout (the little Walmart in Jackson, Ky., doesn't have self-checkouts) and the cashier had to manually verify that I was over 21 before he could scan the next item.

21? Up where I am it's 18 for each of those. Had those silly block checks on the register even when I worked there in the late 90's. Since I was in sporting goods (which has a register), I typically got to ring in a lot of automotive and toys stuff. The fuel injector cleaner boggled my mind because there is nothing in it that isn't in a dozen other things you can buy in the hardware department that doesn't flag. Better was airplane glue, which prompted an age check of 12 years old. As if a 12 year old has the means to prove their age on the spot.

Scott5114

#78
Quote from: abefroman329 on October 05, 2021, 10:37:11 AM
Quote from: kalvado on October 05, 2021, 09:44:23 AMA pretty boring job, I would think, so it is only to be expected.

That is the line that is trotted out every time a company automates a process, or offshores jobs - "oh, don't worry, they're just doing the most boring parts of your job, that will free you up to do more interesting things!"  Eventually they teach the robot or the offshore employee how to do your job, and you're out of a job.

Or, if they keep you around, they somehow find something even more boring they want you to do with your newly-freed time.

Quote from: SectorZ on October 05, 2021, 04:07:50 PM
Better was airplane glue, which prompted an age check of 12 years old. As if a 12 year old has the means to prove their age on the spot.

And what would an 11-year-old be doing there trying to check out without their parents around, anyway?
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

GaryV

Quote from: Scott5114 on October 06, 2021, 04:02:58 AM

Quote from: SectorZ on October 05, 2021, 04:07:50 PM
Better was airplane glue, which prompted an age check of 12 years old. As if a 12 year old has the means to prove their age on the spot.

And what would an 11-year-old be doing there trying to check out without their parents around, anyway?

Maybe their parents allow them to ride bikes around the city.

hbelkins

Quote from: SectorZ on October 05, 2021, 04:07:50 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 05, 2021, 03:20:14 PM
One of the annoying things about self-checkouts is that there are certain items for which the cashier has to verify (or, in practice, override) the customer's age for purchase of certain products. Not just alcohol, either. I recently bought some JB Weld Epoxy and used a self-checkout. The system locked up until the self-checkout overseer could come scan her ID and verify that I was, indeed, over 21. (I'm 59 and certainly look it.) At another time recently, I bought some STP gas treatment and went through a regular checkout (the little Walmart in Jackson, Ky., doesn't have self-checkouts) and the cashier had to manually verify that I was over 21 before he could scan the next item.

21? Up where I am it's 18 for each of those. Had those silly block checks on the register even when I worked there in the late 90's. Since I was in sporting goods (which has a register), I typically got to ring in a lot of automotive and toys stuff. The fuel injector cleaner boggled my mind because there is nothing in it that isn't in a dozen other things you can buy in the hardware department that doesn't flag. Better was airplane glue, which prompted an age check of 12 years old. As if a 12 year old has the means to prove their age on the spot.

Spray paint is another thing that triggers an age check. Lighters, too.

I don't know if the spray paint thing is done to deter its abuse as an inhalant, or as a means to create graffiti. If the former, I'm a bit surprised bug spray isn't also on the list. "Wasp dope" has become quite popular among the addicts here.

Does anyone remember the old anti-drug commercial from the 70s? "Inhale and sniff, it's aero-plane glue."


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

bwana39

Quote from: Rothman on October 05, 2021, 09:07:00 AM
Quote from: bwana39 on October 05, 2021, 08:16:11 AM
Quote from: Rothman on October 05, 2021, 06:57:55 AM
Quote from: bwana39 on October 05, 2021, 12:05:42 AM
Quote from: ethanhopkin14 on September 28, 2021, 01:21:59 PM
Yes, my closest Walmart converted to all self-checkout back in the summer.  Frankly it makes me mad.

Technically at those stores there is still a manned checkout or two at the service desk.

Believe it or not, at this point, there is no reduction of personnel. The Neighborhood Markets that they did this with often only had one full service lane plus the service desk open except at peak times.  There is a level of margin that is almost constant over the decades. The problem is traditionally reductions in staffing affected the cleanliness and shelf stock. IE the store was dirtier and the shelves were not stocked as well.

Fifteen years ago, probably 20% of the non-grocery merchandise in a store was in the back. Today that is less than half that amount with the goal to have it all out by the end of a given day.   It takes more bodies stocking, arranging, and cleaning to accomplish this.

Believe it or not, self checkouts actually don't cost jobs and get you out of the store faster.  If you want a full service grocery store, go to Kroger, Albertson's, or such.
I choose not on this one.  You may not lose them 1:1, but I do still think you lose some.

Maybe in the long run you lose a few. This was actually done at a time there was a need for a staffing INCREASE needed (shoppers for curbside and in-store pickup). This coupled with with the inability to hire folks even with the increased wage rate may result in minimal if any staffing increases. The reason they are doing this is to divert employees from  checkouts to doing necessary cleaning, stocking, and shopping.
Sounds like a party line.

I have been gone from Wal-Mart for a dozen years. It really is the way it works.  Staffing cost per dollar of sales per square foot is virtually unchanged since the early days of the supercenters. As far as that goes, it was pretty consistent with about half of the stores  before that. There was a significant rise in the early days of the supercenter because Walmart was pretty much clueless about running grocery stores. The other half of the stores before the advent of Supercenters are what we perceive WalMart to be today. A handful of managers got rich and the hourly employees got virtually nothing. I am not going to suggest that the GM of a given store doesn't still make an out of balance salary and bonus. They do. At the same time the assistants don't fare as poorly as they did 15 years or so ago. Hourly wages have increased too. The GM's and Co-Managers increases have not kept pace with the lesser wages while the sales per square foot have increased if purely by price increases.  Getting rid of price matching was a bigger windfall than they ever suggested. Probably half of the price matching was based on three unfair precepts. 1) Stores offering prices on limited quantities of items. Sometimes just to spite WalMart. 2) Sales were on items of different qualities of product, especially meat and produce. 3) Stores offering sales on items that are labeled pretty much identically but are really are not. A great example is those little lunch entrees with the crackers, cheese, and pieces of cold cut meat. The ones at some places have 4 of each item. The ones at WalMart have 5. I certainly am not in the business of defending WalMart.
Their desire to offer the lowest priced item has decimated the US consumer goods manufacturing segment. I could also argue that most of the time, they didn't make the first move. When they did however they closed down plants because the US manufacturers couldn't meet the import prices or even keep the WalMart prices below the competition.
Let's build what we need as economically as possible.

Pink Jazz

Never from a self checkout, but I have been asked for ID when buying Welch's Sparkling Rosé Grape Juice since it looks like a bottle of champagne.

US71

My "Neighborhood Market" still has manned checkouts. If I need something I can't get anywhere else, I go there and use the manned checkout.
Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast

dvferyance

Quote from: SkyPesos on September 28, 2021, 11:55:10 AM
Sort of frustrating that they're still not accepting Google/Apple pay.
They never will. I worked for Wal Mart they consider Apple pay a competitor.

bulldog1979

I commented about this to my mother when shopping with her the other day. Her Walmart-branded CapitalOne Mastercard has an NFC chip, but Walmart itself has never upgraded the debit terminals on their registers to accept the contactless function. The basic reason why is simple: NFC is the same core technology used by Apple Pay and Google Pay. Walmart was a member of the CurrentC system that was initially a competitor to Apple Pay in the mobile payments sector. When CurrentC flopped, Walmart started their own proprietary app rather than let in the competition in the mobile payments sector, among other reasons.

bwana39

#86
Quote from: bulldog1979 on October 08, 2021, 03:11:08 AM
I commented about this to my mother when shopping with her the other day. Her Walmart-branded CapitalOne Mastercard has an NFC chip, but Walmart itself has never upgraded the debit terminals on their registers to accept the contactless function. The basic reason why is simple: NFC is the same core technology used by Apple Pay and Google Pay. Walmart was a member of the CurrentC system that was initially a competitor to Apple Pay in the mobile payments sector. When CurrentC flopped, Walmart started their own proprietary app rather than let in the competition in the mobile payments sector, among other reasons.

Walmart doesn't run most of the debit cards through the standard debit or credit card channels. Most of them are done using agreements to do them directly with the bank that issued them. In a lot of cases, they are paying around 1% for processing versus the industry standard of 2.5-3.5%
Let's build what we need as economically as possible.

Dirt Roads

Just this morning, I noticed that our local Walmart in Hillsborough, North Carolina has gone back to cash at all self-checkout kiosks.  Off-and-on for the past six months or so, they've been down to only one kiosk with cash.  I don't recall that they ever went to fully credit only, but the nearby Walmart in Mebane did go cashless.

I try to avoid crowded store times, but the last two times I went to the Hillsborough store in the afternoon, all of the kiosks were closed near the pharmacy entrance.  Last week, that caused such long lines that it looked like Christmas in early October.  I have a haunting suspicion that this is due to staffing issues.

SectorZ

Quote from: GaryV on October 06, 2021, 06:25:56 AM
Quote from: Scott5114 on October 06, 2021, 04:02:58 AM

Quote from: SectorZ on October 05, 2021, 04:07:50 PM
Better was airplane glue, which prompted an age check of 12 years old. As if a 12 year old has the means to prove their age on the spot.

And what would an 11-year-old be doing there trying to check out without their parents around, anyway?

Maybe their parents allow them to ride bikes around the city.

Don't tell Highway Star.

And yeah I can confirm tons of kids in my town used to ride bikes to Walmart to buy stuff either buy themselves or in groups. Despite them having to ride on a bit of a heinous stretch of MA 38 for cycling. I used to gallivant all around my town at that age with friends, though no Walmart yet at that point.

jeffandnicole

Quote from: Pink Jazz on October 06, 2021, 08:09:05 PM
Never from a self checkout, but I have been asked for ID when buying Welch's Sparkling Rosé Grape Juice since it looks like a bottle of champagne.

Usually the register would prompt the cashier to see and/or enter ID.  The look of the bottle shouldn't be a trigger for an ID check!

jakeroot

I went to the Walmart Supercentre in Tsawwassen, BC today. They do not accept Walmart Pay, as I'm used to in the US, but they do accept tap to pay. So quite the opposite of the US.



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