Could Walmart In Missouri Ditch Self Checkouts?

So I was at the Walmart last night buying groceries. It was somewhat of a stock-up trip too. So with the items in my cart overflowing, and a frozen pizza on top precariously balancing on my other items, I had a decision to make. Self-checkout, or go to a checker?

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That's the thing, having to decide which will be quicker. Self-checkout, or going to a checker. Unless you're anti-self-checkout, or would rather just not interact with people it's probably one of the decisions you make at the store.

For me, it has to do more with how many groceries do I have. And do I have anything like produce that needs to be weighed, or alcohol, which is going to require someone to check my ID. In the case of last night, with beer in my cart, and a full cart at that, I thought using a checker was a fairly easy decision.

It's a question Walmart shoppers in Missouri may not need to worry about for much longer. KCTV is running a story this morning detailing how Walmart, Costco, and other companies are rethinking self-checkouts.

The short article talks about how Booths, a British supermarket chain is ditching self-checkouts from their stores after complaints that the "Machines are slow, unreliable, and impersonal."

Now, in my own experience, I can't say that Walmart's machines are slow or unreliable. I just think they're not very conducive for checking a lot of things out at once. And if you're buying liquor or cigs or something that requires a checker to eyeball how old you are, you're going to wait. So, yes, last night I let the checker do the work.

All that's fine and good, but slowness or people not liking the self-checkouts isn't a reason a major corporation will get rid of them. Errors in scanning items, theft, and missed scans are what will doom self-checkouts. Especially theft.

That's become a big issue for companies like Walmart, and I would expect they'll look at that when evaluating the use of self-checkouts. It's not unheard of for companies to tweak their strategies either. The KCTV article even says Walmart is one of the chains that has revised their self-checkout strategies.

So, yes, Missouri Walmart's might one day not have self-checkouts. That said, I wouldn't hold my breath.