Local Costco just installed self-serve checkout this week...

[SandyPGravel]

Speaking of "seasonal", I was looking for new toilet brushes and I had seen a 2 pack at Costco. When I went to buy them they were nowhere to be found. When I asked a clerk, I was told that they were seasonal and would return during "cleaning season". Well, knock me over with a feather. I didn't realize that there was a "cleaning season". I guess I can skip cleaning until the toilet brushes show up at Costco

I received the same response when I inquired about band-aids! Seasonal! Keep that in mind when you cut yourself.

 

[WinniWoman]

Never had a Costco where I live in NY and now in NH there is not one close by either. Have always belonged to Sam's Club and love using their phone app to scan things as I shop and then pay right on the phone and leave. No having to wait on line- take things out of the cart and then put them back in the cart.

Unfortunately where we are moving the closest Sams Club is an hour + away so I doubt I will use it, so not renewing right now. Not to mention in our little house we have a small freezer/fridge and not a lot of closet space to store stuff, other than the big basement.

Will see how it goes....

 

[Rolltydr]

The best checkout method I’ve ever seen was in Rockville, MD back in 2011, I believe. My daughter was living there at the time and there was a grocery store that had price scanners in the grocery car area. If you wanted, you could use one to scan your groceries and then bag them as you shopped. When you finished,you just gave the cashier the scanner which would be used as the input to the checkout system. You would pay her,take your already bagged groceries and leave. I’ve never seen it anywhere else.


Harry

 

[Brett]

Finally, the long lines at costco on weekends are scary

 

[Beachclubmum]

The new food court ordering kiosks have ruined my favorite “bypass the line” trick. I always call and place my pizza order (sometimes from inside Costco itself), pay for the pizza at the check stand with my other purchases, then sidle up to the side of the long line and am handed my pizza with no wait. Now there’s a kiosk pick up line messing me up!

 

[bbodb1]

The best checkout method I’ve ever seen was in Rockville, MD back in 2011, I believe. My daughter was living there at the time and there was a grocery store that had price scanners in the grocery car area. If you wanted, you could use one to scan your groceries and then bag them as you shopped. When you finished,you just gave the cashier the scanner which would be used as the input to the checkout system. You would pay her,take your already bagged groceries and leave. I’ve never seen it anywhere else.


Harry

Our local Kroger Superstore has this system and it works pretty well except you still need to deal with coupons at checkout.. and if your coupons are paper you will need to interact with an attendant (when one becomes available...)

 

[Rolltydr]

Our local Kroger Superstore has this system and it works pretty well except you still need to deal with coupons at checkout.. and if your coupons are paper you will need to interact with an attendant (when one becomes available...)

I finally remembered the store I was referring to was part of the Giant grocery store chain. Since we only went when visiting my daughter we didn’t deal with coupons so that would not have been an issue. I can certainly see where that would slow things down though.


Harry

 

[jackio]

Our Costco does not have self checkout. I do wish they would put in an express line or two for 10 items or less. I pop in to Costco quite often for milk, bananas, etc. it is a half mile from my house and I buy my gas there also.

 

[Snazzylass]

Our local Kroger Superstore has this system and it works pretty well except you still need to deal with coupons at checkout.. and if your coupons are paper you will need to interact with an attendant (when one becomes available...)

We have this at our local Kroger's, known as Fry's here. It works pretty well though I recall struggling with produce. Lots of coupons can be added to your loyalty card. I tried handing the cashier a paper coupon recently and she explained I had already received a credit from my digital coupon. Oops!

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

I wish all the Costco stores sold Gasoline. I was traveling in Florida last week and stopped by a Costco store which was selling gasoline @ #2.21 per gallon. All the other local stations were @ $2.49 or higher.



.

 

[Snazzylass]

We had self checkouts for several years when our Costco opened and then they were removed a year or so ago, when they upgraded the credit card readers to allow you to tap your card instead of inserting it. I often stop in for just a couple items and miss being able to quickly self check when there are long lines at the regular checkouts.

They have installed a self order/pay terminal for the food court. It sits on a small counter in the middle of the seating area, away from the actual food line. I haven't tried it yet, but you apparently enter your order, get a number and the go to the food area to pickup your items,

self order/pay terminal for the food court works great! I think it must be quicker. I find myself paying with my phone a lot!

With the minimum wage and labor shortage, I can see more and more locations going to these set ups.

 

[mentalbreak]

Our Costco does not have self-check-out, but SAM's does. BUT SAM's also has Scan & Go! I can scan things as I put them in my cart and then pay just before getting to the folks at the exit. I get a barcode and they scan that and count the items and away I go!

SAM's is closer to me, but there are a few things we like better at Costco, so we go there at least once a month. I spend less when hubs does not go.

I just read about this option at Sams and it sounds amazing. I do wonder how much it will slow down the check-your-receipt process at the door.
Although I am not sure how much of the door check is effective theft management vs. theater.

 

[DaveNV]

I just read about this option at Sams and it sounds amazing. I do wonder how much it will slow down the check-your-receipt process at the door.
Although I am not sure how much of the door check is effective theft management vs. theater.

At Costco, the point of the door check is to be sure you have the bigger ticket items you paid for. A jar of mustard that didn’t make it to your cart is one thing, but an electronic device that didn’t is another matter. It’s not a perfect system, but it helps reduce those people who come back and say, “I didn’t get my (whatever) that I paid for.” More about fraud than not.

The other comment someone made about the annoyance of putting things on the belt just so they could be put back into a cart is largely about those thieves who lay out something expensive under something larger, in an attempt to steal it. Transferring things from one cart to another helps catch those crooks. Again, not a perfect system, but they can only do so much.

Self-check at Costco will never be as simple as it is at your local grocery store. But they’re trying to meet customer demand.

Buy big, buy often. The rest is just details. LOL!

Dave

 

[Passepartout]

We had self-checkout a few years ago. It went away and so far hasn't returned. It only worked well for those few shoppers who had just a few items. For the 'usual' big buyers, the two person checkouts are faster and more efficient. Now, if they could just do something about that parking lot. . . .

 

[bbodb1]

I just read about this option at Sams and it sounds amazing. I do wonder how much it will slow down the check-your-receipt process at the door.
Although I am not sure how much of the door check is effective theft management vs. theater.

As a Sam's Club member, I use Scan and Go on almost every visit. For the most part, the app works pretty well but you do need to check prices posted on the signage versus what the app shows as on occasion there will be discrepancies between the two. With respect to exiting the store, all I show is a post purchase barcode on my phone (generated as a result of paying within the app, which the exiter scans) and they scan one item in my cart. I don't think it matters which item as it seems they usually scan the first item they can find with a barcode.

IMO, Scan and Go does not make the exit process (at the exiter station) any faster or slower than it would be otherwise. Also, IMO I do not see the Sam's exit process as being as thorough as that which Dave has described at Costco BUT come this summer, I will finally get to compare the two for myself as we are taking a trip to Hawaii and we now have Costco membership.

 

[pittle]

I just read about this option at Sams and it sounds amazing. I do wonder how much it will slow down the check-your-receipt process at the door.
Although I am not sure how much of the door check is effective theft management vs. theater.

It is very fast! They have a device to scan the code on your phone, do a quick count and check for one thing that pops up on their device. Your receipt will be on your phone and if you need to print it, you can when you get home.

I have been doing it since it started a few years ago. I used to be the person who bought the Sunday fellowship table snacks for church and would have a large cart full of stuff. I could get in and out so quickly. My oldest son said that while he likes Costco better with Scan & Go, he finds himself going to Sam's more - he had been skeptical when I first told him about it.

 

[bbodb1]

At Costco, the point of the door check is to be sure you have the bigger ticket items you paid for. A jar of mustard that didn’t make it to your cart is one thing, but an electronic device that didn’t is another matter. It’s not a perfect system, but it helps reduce those people who come back and say, “I didn’t get my (whatever) that I paid for.” More about fraud than not.

The other comment someone made about the annoyance of putting things on the belt just so they could be put back into a cart is largely about those thieves who lay out something expensive under something larger, in an attempt to steal it. Transferring things from one cart to another helps catch those crooks. Again, not a perfect system, but they can only do so much.

Self-check at Costco will never be as simple as it is at your local grocery store. But they’re trying to meet customer demand.

Buy big, buy often. The rest is just details. LOL!

Dave

 

[WinniWoman]

I just read about this option at Sams and it sounds amazing. I do wonder how much it will slow down the check-your-receipt process at the door.
Although I am not sure how much of the door check is effective theft management vs. theater.

It doesn't. It goes faster. The person at the door just scans your phone and you are good to go.

 

[mentalbreak]

At Costco, the point of the door check is to be sure you have the bigger ticket items you paid for. A jar of mustard that didn’t make it to your cart is one thing, but an electronic device that didn’t is another matter. It’s not a perfect system, but it helps reduce those people who come back and say, “I didn’t get my (whatever) that I paid for.” More about fraud than not.

 

[Luanne]

There is a Sam's Club about 15 minutes away. Costco is an hour. We shop Costco.

 

[Brett]

self order/pay terminal for the food court works great! I think it must be quicker. I find myself paying with my phone a lot!

With the minimum wage and labor shortage, I can see more and more locations going to these set ups.

yes, I especially like the self check-out at the Kroger food court - so much faster

 

[amycurl]

Yeah, I will never shop at Sam's, so that's not a concern, LOL!

Went back to Costco today. They've started to carry paneer, and I made homemade palak paneer for the first time for dinner tonight. I did manage to walk out of the store with just four or five items...one of them was the prime filet steaks that were an additional flat $10 off per package for, like, one day only. So it was still $100+! I may have a problem...

I did use self-checkout, because I only had a few items, and it was the Saturday before the Super Bowl. Someone immediately came over to scan the TP in my cart, and then, moments later, someone *else* came over to try and scan the same TP again! And this second guy? Is one of their fastest clerks, so it makes me sad to think they've taken him off one of the regular lines to do this.

 

[mrsstats]

We have them in one Costco b us but to be it is chaotic. No one knows what lane is what and there is no enough room to line up.

 

[Fredward]

Speaking of "seasonal", I was looking for new toilet brushes and I had seen a 2 pack at Costco. When I went to buy them they were nowhere to be found. When I asked a clerk, I was told that they were seasonal and would return during "cleaning season". Well, knock me over with a feather. I didn't realize that there was a "cleaning season". I guess I can skip cleaning until the toilet brushes show up at Costco

I hate to share this but it must officially be “cleaning season.” The toilet brushes are back and they’re right at the entrance


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Talent312]

If there is a cashier lane without much of a line, I use that as my bit to promote cashier employment.
I also avoid using kiosks at McDonalds and movie theatre.
.