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Re:Shops return to rural Sweden but are now staff-free by tasogare on Tuesday March 09, 2021 @08:55AM (#26398746)
The value the self-scan systems have for the shop owners is not in automation but the fact the work is reported on customer, with of course no price reduction. That should be forbidden. I boycott those systems and wait for the human clerk to do his job, this way a little of the money made by the shop is redistributed.
Re:Shops return to rural Sweden but are now staff-free by sokoloff on Tuesday March 09, 2021 @09:37AM (#26399150)
No price reduction as compared to what? Maybe all the prices would be 0.5% higher if all the checkout was human-only? At the end of the day, the customer is paying for most everything in the shop. (They're the one bringing the money into the system. There may be a small amount of payment for placement or other advertising, or financing via invoices, but the vast majority of money coming into the shop is coming from customers.)

I can't see a reason why self-checkouts should be forbidden. If people don't like them, don't use them. Why should people who do like them be forbidden from shopping in a way that they prefer?

Re:Shops return to rural Sweden but are now staff-free by tasogare on Tuesday March 09, 2021 @01:34PM (#26401970)
It should be forbidden because it makes people work illegally (because of a lack of contract and pay). In France a restaurant was fined by the work inspection because they asked their customers to give plates back. Using the same logic and existing laws, a shop shouldn’t be allowed to make its customers work for it.
Re:Shops return to rural Sweden but are now staff-free by msh on Tuesday March 09, 2021 @09:03AM (#26398804)
I would rather do it my self for very little extra time use, rather than waste even more time waiting in line.
Re:Shops return to rural Sweden but are now staff-free by ghaff on Tuesday March 09, 2021 @09:25AM (#26399032)
For me it depends. If I have a shopping cart full, including typically, a bunch of produce, I'll go to a cashier. If I've got a half dozen bar coded items to scan, I'll probably just do self-checkout.
Re:Shops return to rural Sweden but are now staff-free by msh on Tuesday March 09, 2021 @10:02AM (#26399436)
Some shops have scan yourself where you scan things with your phone when putting them in your basket, even produce then have a barcode, maybe not on the item but then at a sign at their location.
Re:Shops return to rural Sweden but are now staff-free by dhimes on Tuesday March 09, 2021 @10:22AM (#26399602)
Mine you get a little "zapper" to scan the bar codes with. I select, scan, and bag into my cart. When I get to checkout everything is bagged, so I save that time as well.

The only "pain" is having to look up the produce and weigh it, but with a little practice I got to be pretty fast at that too.

Re:Shops return to rural Sweden but are now staff-free by ghaff on Tuesday March 09, 2021 @10:20AM (#26399585)
I've never seen that in the US and produce isn't barcoded unless it's shrink-wrapped--which it isn't in most stores. And I'm not sure that seems any easier than a normal self-checkout in any case.
Re:Shops return to rural Sweden but are now staff-free by dhimes on Tuesday March 09, 2021 @11:47AM (#26400599)
There are scales and look-up tables for the produce out in the produce area (the look-up tables are also programmed into the scales but the UI is slow and tedious).

So you gather your, say broccoli, look up the PLU code (it also might be on a sticker affixed to the item), put it on the scale, enter the code, and the scale prints out your bar code that you scan.

I'm a dozen miles north of Boston, MA.

Re:Shops return to rural Sweden but are now staff-free by kalleboo on Tuesday March 09, 2021 @11:17AM (#26400267)
Should flat-pack furniture that you have to assemble yourself also be forbidden?

Should Gentoo Linux that you have to compile the kernel yourself also be forbidden?

Should cooking at home also be forbidden?

Where does the line go where you have to pay someone to do something for you instead of doing it yourself?