Self checkout machines in Supermarkets.

lovingtescoforever

Tried to reply to most things (i should be revising ) but I do find the topic fascinating

geordie_joe wrote: »

How can they measure that? If you have something on the shelf and it "goes missing" how do you know how it left the store? The only way you would know is if you actually caught the person stealing it, if they get away without being caught/seen then you never know which till they went through.

Very true.

I suspect what you read was just a measure of those getting caught, which would obviously show a larger number getting caught going through a manned till.

As you, or perhaps someone else said, one person for 10 tills. You've only got 2 eyes, and assuming you can look at 1 till per eye, you are missing 80% of what is happening.

To be honest you can look at more than 50% of the tills depending on the layout (which Tesco layout is very good IMO compared to sainsbury's poor layout. Tesco layout has a one way in and one way out apporach with a clear straight line queue method. In that area you can stand and monitor quite a few tills. However if you do get stuck helping someone for a while then yes people have the chance to get away with theft whilst your back is turned, however just throwing it in the bag whilst still scanning isn't going to happen. More pay and then leave a few things you didn't scan then throw them in your bag thus no unexpected item... So theft is more increased in the last part of the transaction in my opinion that's why I often ask people whether they have paid for this item or paying via a seprate transaction.





Yes but my point was an increasing number of those people will shoplift. They don't see it as shoplifting, just "forgetting to pay" or "getting away without paying".

Yes I agree with that completely. They believe that becuase they are using the machine is a perk..:mad:

People completely walking off does happen and it really annoys me, as it makes me look like I was to blame :mad: I know it wasn't but I have high expectations of myself. I have caught people before. After working on self checkouts weekends only for over a year I have probably had on 6/7 occusions whereby someone has completely not paid. However for retailers who have a decent layout (like tesco) I believe it's much harder to just walk out.

You may not catch many shoplifters, and so think it doesn't happen very often, but I see the results/evidence of shoplifting every day.

Very true. But after a shift of 8 hours on there I can confidently say that I don't believe much has left the building unpaid for. I would say no where near 10%. Most likely 1% but that's because I'm a control freak and quite efficient in my opinion at dealing with people, I'm quick and love people watching so I don't think much gets past me, but when it does it :mad::mad::mad: . However I will say obviously not every staff member is like me.


Apart from trying to smuggle things through the till in boxes, a lot of our "customers" remove the items from the packaging and dump the packaging in the shop. It's not just "professionals", it's ordinary people who you would never think would do it, but they do. They will come in to buy a screwdriver, take it out of the package to inspect it, then the packaging "gets lost" and they have to put the screwdriver in their pocket then they forget about it when they go through the till.

They also take parts off things too! They may want a hacksaw blade, which we sell in packs of 10. They only want 1 so when they see the hacksaws on display they take a blade from one of them and slip it into their pocket. They may want 1 or 2 bolts, find we sell them in packs of 10, so they open a packet and take 2.

Every day I find empty packaging, items with bits taken off and packets with a couple of items taken out.

It's not professional shoplifters, or even people who think they are shoplifting. It's people who are short of money, who want/need small items and see a way of getting it for free. I bet they don't think of themselves as shoplifters or thieves, they probably just think they are someone who "got away without paying".

But I bet you one thing....... If they will go into a DIY store and steal the blades from a hacksaw, or take a couple of cup hooks from a pack of five, or open a box of 12 batteries and slip 2 into their pockets, they will think nothing of buying 3 tins of beans in your store and only scan 2 at the checkout.



I agree, but at least with a human checkout operator they mistakes are genuine and they could go either way. The operator may not scan an item, for whatever reason, so the customer gets it without paying. But they are just as likely to scan something twice, so they customer pays for something they didn't buy. There are whole threads on here with lots of people complaining they were charged for more items than they bought, so it does happen.

But........how often does a customer accidentally scan something twice and just pay for it and leave?
Very true, it never happens they often ask me to cancel it off.

It seems to me that manned tills are "you win some and you lose some", but self service are "you lose some every time".

I see your point the only thing they are winning is a labour budget.


Are you sure it's not just you thinking it's not high because you don't see it? I don't see things getting stolen, but I see the evidence left behind. I find the empty packaging hidden around the store, I see the opened packets with items take, I see the items on shelves/hooks with parts missing.

I don't see evidence often but I see your point entirely. I'm not superman so I can't see all tills at once. And I know for a fact many collegues would overrun anything without fully checking. Happens in every supermarket with self checkouts, and then that makes people believe that people get away with lots. Or maybe the staff member just slipped up at the moment? Human error again.



My point exactly, how many of the other 9 people who you weren't helping took the opportunity to "get away without paying"?
True, often when helping someone I will have a quick look around but I don't think everybody stuck something into their bag at that moment in time or else unexpected item in the bagging area would be shouted by every till (they could put it into their own handbag on the other hand). If someone was finishing paying then there's a chance.

Also remember not everybody is a fan of stealing so people do get paranoid by not just staff but also customers queueing! Customers around can help to prevent crime (depends if they are in on the act also..)

In my experience the number of previously honest people who are taking the opportunity to "get something free" is rising sharply. And if they are doing it in my store, then they are probably doing it at the self service tills too.

Professionals too, they used to steal clothes, electronics, cosmetics, DVDs etc. But their customers are getting short of money, they can't afford those luxuries, even if they are cheap. Now they want cheap food, and if they are willing to pay for cheap food the shoplifters will get it for them. Especially when getting caught stealing a DVD means a shoplifting charge, but "forgetting" to scan something can be sorted with an "Oops, I forgot about that.......actually, I don't want it now, you can have it back ....Bye".

lovingtescoforever

Cycrow wrote: »

Actually you can manually reduce stuff on self service (i mean staff can, not customers)

its just that alot of assistants dont know how to do it, and they are not trained to know it either.

when i worked at tescos, very people had any idea how to actually do it.
to be fair, the option is buried deep in a non-obvious place.
But then, most assistants cant do it on the manned tills either, because it required supervisor access on them

I know it's possible at sainsburys but we are not allowed to do so. I've tried to find the function and failed so god know's where it is... Even supervisors aren't allowed to do so and I don't think they know where the feature is...

On a manned till it's very easy at sainsburys on the other hand.

On a side note Sainsburys EPOS they use on tills will be getting updated this year which includes self checkouts features and I'm hoping reducing products will be able to do so. (A person can dream! I have sent a request for it to be added!)

lovingtescoforever

juliettet wrote: »

I used one this morning and forgot to lift the receipt. Annoying as I need to claim this back from work. The receipt slot is underneath.

Paid by card? Used a loyalty card? Possible to get the receipt re-printed if you pop in and query it at Customer service.

HTH.

lovingtescoforever

iammumtoone wrote: »

That is a valid point and I did wonder that myself. If it is the case then they should let these people leave the store and 'catch' them outside so they can have them charged.

It depends entirely on the product. If someone hasn't scanned a tin of beans I will inform them and make sure they do scan it.

If a more expensive item then I will watch and then let them leave and get security to catch them but that rarely happens as it's mainly low value items here and there.

Did have a guy who didn't scan two lots of whole chickens a while back. Supervisor watched and then followed him out the door and told him. He came back and said oh sorry I must have forgot I'll pay now. Of course, two whole chickens sir.. got the police to prosecute hopefully people will learn.

However remember it's up to store discretion, on occuasions I've seen the store manager allow shoplifters to go becuase the individual had kids and didn't want bad PR...

System

lovingtescoforever wrote: »

On a side note Sainsburys EPOS they use on tills will be getting updated this year which includes self checkouts features and I'm hoping reducing products will be able to do so. (A person can dream! I have sent a request for it to be added!)

Sainsburys need to make the navigation of looking up produce, loose rolls etc easier. Go to a Sainsburys self scan and press 'look up items'. There are things on the initial screen (popular items) that the store does not sell! Don't ask me why bramley apples are under c for cooking, than a with the other apples.

It would be nice for the individual stores to customise their self scan items and only put on buttons on the things they sell. It would make the customers' lives for finding the right one and colleagues' lives - for not voiding off customers' mistakes easier.

I know one thing with the EPOS update, it's going to knock off the offer discounts when you press finish and pay. At the moment, you need to press go back to see them.

System

Sainsburys self scans are useless in change giving sometimes. One time, my shopping came to £6.11. I put in the 11p, then £5 note and a £2 coin hoping to get £1 coin change,

Oh no! 4x20p and 10x2p. The 11p I put in was all in coppers as well! If a colleague on a manned till gave any customer £1 change, like the way I got they will be complaining.

Needless to say, the next time I went through a Sainsburys self scan - put that money back in as a bit of revenge!

lovingtescoforever

ScarletMarble wrote: »

Sainsburys need to make the navigation of looking up produce, loose rolls etc easier. Go to a Sainsburys self scan and press 'look up items'. There are things on the initial screen (popular items) that the store does not sell! Don't ask me why bramley apples are under c for cooking, than a with the other apples.

It would be nice for the individual stores to customise their self scan items and only put on buttons on the things they sell. It would make the customers' lives for finding the right one and colleagues' lives - for not voiding off customers' mistakes easier.

I know one thing with the EPOS update, it's going to knock off the offer discounts when you press finish and pay. At the moment, you need to press go back to see them.

Completely agree with this!
However I am one of those who tells customers to just type in the 4 digit number for items. It's faster.

Or just use the search by name option at the bottom (which many don't see). The amount of customers who select the wrong option for sweet potatoes is a lot. I cancel it of for them and then click on search , type in swee.. Bingo it's there. Instead of customers searching by letter for ages.

On a side note I don't think you will ever have a customised screen for each individual store as I think it will be too costly (the same can be said for all the same POS material which is sent to all the stores (when certain stores don't stock X,Y and Z. And DC sending stock not categorised)

BobQ

r2-hinds wrote: »

Just wondering what sort of problems people encounter with these machines and how people think they can be improved.

I think these machines are extremely rude. The ones in my local supermarket never answer me when I speak to them. Who do they think they are?

BobQ

I think cashpoints are even worse. We have now grown to accept these beasts, but I have always though it was a retrograde step and quite undignified to stand in the street and queue up to ask a machine to provide access to your money.

I imagine that in 10 years you will just walk up to the machine put your hand through a hole in the wall and say "give me fifty" before you are finger printed and a wad of notes is placed on your palm with the instruction "please remove your hand".

Edwardia

ATMs don't announce the amount you're overdrawn though ! I hate the unexpected item in bagging area ones they are a pain. I might try the scanners which you take round the store with you though.