> The only visible difference as a consumer is there are less (or no) automated checkout lanes.

...Really? That's a straight detriment in my book, as a customer.

I would generally prefer to support a union shop, but I'm extremely fond of self-checkout—and, in fact, further upstate, Wegman's has introduced a self-scan app that you can use to tally up your total as you shop, and just scan a code at the self-checkout register with your phone on the way out to pay.

One of the worst things unions can do is try to "protect jobs" at the expense of technological advancement, customer service, or improved product.

> Wegman's has introduced a self-scan app that you can use to tally up your total as you shop, and just scan a code at the self-checkout register with your phone on the way out to pay.

Kroger did that here a few years ago. They pushed it hard. Got very little uptake. It's still an option, but they aren't shoving it in your face when you walk in. There are just a handful of scanners on a rack by the entrance, and I've never seen anyone using them.

Wegman's hasn't been particularly pushing it, and it's not dependent on hardware scanners—it's an app for your phone, that just scans barcodes with the phone camera.

Works great.

My guess is that it reduces sales. If you can see a total dollar amount accumulating as you shop, you're more likely to stick to your budget, maybe select cheaper items or avoid impulse buys. If you don't know the total until you get to the checkout lane, you are more likely to just pay it rather than start setting some items out.

They are phasing them in for express in this area - but the company needed to negotiate with the union.

The point is, retail and warehouse unions don’t translate into retail apocalypse.

Does Wegman's pay you for providing them free labor?

You're subsidizing them at your own cost with self-checkout. After all, you are:

-Updating their inventory tracking system -engaging with the regulatory framework of purchasing on their behalf -being subject to their annoying "loss prevention hot days" where they turn the merchandise scales on.

I've started to take a different view toward these jobs over time. Being an employer is a high bar in the U.S., and if we (the taxpayers proxied through the markets/Federal Reserve) have an objective to have people participating in the workforce, then these "automated" checkouts cost workforce participation.

Which also means fewer training opportunities for low skill workers, fewer jobs of last resort, etc. Not everything is necessarily $$$.

Be a hell of an economics project to really suss out the difference in flow of money in grocers who took different approaches.

I could not care less that doing the scanning myself saves Wegman's money. It saves me mental energy and time because I don't need to deal with a human cashier, and I don't need to spend 10 minutes emptying a full cart, scanning every item, then packing them all back into bags and fitting those back into the cart.

In my experience, Aldi/Walmart/Lidl/Costco prices are much lower than Shop Rite. Also, Shop Rites are sort of like franchises, different ones have different owners and management.

I don’t know about Lidl, the the rest aren’t full service grocers either. I’m a big fan of Aldi in particular, but they don’t have a butcher, bakery, prepared food/deli, staffed produce. Awesome store for what they do though. Aldi also pays a premium hourly rate.

Walmart tries to do everything but they suck imo. The produce is garbage, but the dry goods are cheap due to their economy of scale.