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Woman V. Supermarket Self-Checkout
Author: Jeannie Walters
November 14, 2007
Jewel Food Stores (owned by Albertson’s)
Self checkouts seem to scare people. There can be a line 20 people deep at the lone cashier’s aisle, and some folks still avoid the self checkout lane like the plague. Why? Unfamiliarity is certainly part of it, but it’s also about not being able to find help when you need it.
So I took my varied items; including three boxes of Gerber’s Baby Rice Cereal, a gallon of milk, two hand-picked onions, a jar of peanut butter and a bottle of wine, and decided to give it a go. I was especially curious about the alcohol, since self checkout seems like an inviting avenue for the under-21 crowd.
To start, I scanned my preferred customer card and began scanning my items. The peanut butter and other packaged goods scanned easily and I had no problems, although it was slightly irritating to be reminded that I saved 33 cents every time I scanned a box of rice cereal. Imagine if I had bought 10 of something? Then I got to the onions. I placed them on the scanner where the friendly machine asked if it was fresh produce. Why yes, it was. Ok – let’s try the basics. Bananas? Potatoes? Nope. So I selected the “other produce” button and selected onions alphabetically. I was then offered a few varieties to choose from. Here’s where it got a bit tricky. Were they Vidalia or Bermuda? Um…I’ll take Vidalia, but I’m not 100% confident in my selection.
Next, I scanned the wine. Some sort of alert must have gone off because the cashier a few aisles over yelled “it’s ok!” She had to yell a few times before I realized she was talking to me. The machine just informed me to wait for a cashier. When I realized she was yelling at me, I looked down at the screen to see the machine was ready to go again. She must have punched a button remotely, after seeing I was (ahem) slightly older than 21.
Now on to payment. At this point, I looked around and realized I was one of the quick ones. Several people, stumped by some point in the process, are frantically looking around for help. A lone Jewel employee stands aimlessly in the self checkout aisle, apparently waiting to help people. You can tell that people don’t want to ask for help, but they’d take it if it was offered. What’s the employee waiting for I wonder?
Finally, I’m ready to pay. The machine wants to know if I’m sure. Have I checked my basket? I like this – it’s a helpful reminder. But, yes, I’m ready! What’s my payment method? There are - no joke - about 15 choices. I’m just trying to find the credit card option. Why so many choices? There is no rhyme or reason to the payment selection screen. There is nothing visually to help me determine one choice from the other; it’s just a bunch of boxes with words and graphics. The “bank card” selection is somewhere in this mess, but not standing out at all.
I selected the credit card option and I am asked to finish at the touchpad to my right. I scan my card, and the touchpad asks me to complete my transaction at the checkout screen. I almost make it through with my credit card, but get reprimanded by the machine’s friendly voice that I tried to take my bag too quickly. So you have to leave your bags until the very end. Don’t try to load up anything too quickly, Missy. Although an annoyance, I understand, because otherwise it’d be pretty easy to shoplift using self-service kiosks. Ooops – one more delay. Apparently any transaction over $50 requires cashier approval which seems very odd. What prompted this requirement?
After getting the ok from the same cashier who decided I looked just a day over 21, I’m out the door. My bags are not well organized. I am definitely not a natural-born bagger and it’s a good thing I didn’t buy eggs.
Literally one foot out the door and I hear my machine thank me for shopping at Jewel. A nice touch, but a little late…especially in the “Express Lane.”
Usability Scorecard Criteria
| Usability Criteria | Score / Grade |
|---|---|
| Orientation / Wayfinding | - B: Overall, pretty well organized. I found what I was looking for and the system guided me from one logical step to the next. |
| Search / Help Features | - D: I didn’t notice any help options. The Jewel employee was certainly there to help, but I got the impression you’d have to be very vocal if you required assistance. |
| Legibility | - A: No problems here. In fact, I found the produce image very intuitive. |
| Intuitiveness | - C: Definitely the least intuitive option, the transition from the main screen to the PIN pad (off to the side) was not clearly described. I was not clear where my receipt would be coming out. Scanning the items was indeed intuitive (and a little fun!) |
| Ease of Use | - B: It was easy, with the main exception around payment. |
Also, the Jeannie factors:
Cleanliness –Everything seemed pretty clean. The bagging system made it easy to transport items directly into the bags. The screen itself certainly had that “used” feel, but also looked like it was cleaned a few times per day. Everything seemed ok here.
Feeling secure –I’m not sure if this really applies here.
Convenience – Convenience comes with shorter lines. The actual act of scanning and bagging myself is probably slower than the experienced cashiers, but the line itself was much shorter.
Environmental Factors –The self checkout aisle is bigger and more open than traditional checkout lanes. It felt clean, bright and cheery. Signs for the self checkout aisle could be better. I saw people who ended up there without realizing it and others who pointed to it from their long line, saying they missed it.
Next up….. ATMs!
5 Comments »
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Jeannie:
I’m usually a big fan of self-checkout, it makes me feel more “in control”. But at Jewel, forget it. Try self check out on something lightweight, like Koolaid packets (Hint: “Unexpected item in bagging area”). Or if you fill up your two bag locations and need to move onto a third bag, where do you put it? You still have unchecked groceries in your basket… Plus you get the stern warning about not removing bags, but where should they go!
Unless the line is into the aisle on the checkers I avoid the self-check.
Comment by Brad — November 15, 2007 @ 12:09 am
I think we can agree the self-checkout is best used with only a few items. The process is slower versus a regular cashier, but I continue to try it… perhaps hoping that speed will come with experience. An upgrade in the machine processing time could significantly improve the experience.
Comment by Liz — November 27, 2007 @ 2:32 pm
I think Jewel’s self-checkout is an insult to the intelligence of its customers. Customers are doing the work of both a cashier and bagger, yet paying the same prices they always have. Why not offer a small discount?
It used to be that the discount grocery stores like Cub and Omni would make customers bag your own groceries, but would pass along the savings to the customer with low prices. Now we’re expected to just be overjoyed by “feeling in control”? Nice try.
Comment by Kim — December 19, 2007 @ 11:13 pm
I’m with you on the Jewel checkout analysis. It’s not easy to ring up produce. Some bar codes scan easier than others. The whole pressure sensitive deal is annoying, and you would think they could make the Credit/debit card choice a lot more prominent than all the other choices.
At my Jewel, there are 2 types of self-service checkout lanes. One allows for a 2-bag checkout. The other has a belt that allows for a shopping cart-sized purchase. For the latter, sometimes an employee will even step up and bag while I am scanning the rest of my items.
Comment by Dan Limbach — February 26, 2008 @ 4:43 pm
Being a self check out attendant I have a much different perspective. You have to realize that Jewels first concern is security. The whole process would be much smoother if not for the many people who use the self checkout to try and get away with something, whether scanning one cheap item and attempting to bag a more expesive item in its place or thinking it would be easier to use a stolen credit card because they think nobody is watching them. Keep in mind while using the machines that if people were honest and could be trusted the whole experience would be much smoother
Comment by M. — March 11, 2008 @ 11:33 pm