Breaking news!
Customers finally realised the long-promised gains of automation /s
Is anyone surprised though?
You get less and less of service (having to fish shit out of massive pallets, self-weighting produce, fighting with the retarded auto-checkout) just to pay more and more. Great deal!
Yes, you pay more (or the same for less - it is riddiculous how much cheap filler is now in every single thing that can be cut with it)
A major supermarket chain in my area is in the process of phasing out their self-checkout lanes.<p>A family member is friends with many of the staff at their store. The inside word, not promoted publicly, is "shrinkage".<p>They are losing enough that the cost of remodeling out the self-checkout lanes, and the cost of additional staff, is still seen as a net savings.<p>For my part, I'm glad for the change. Their staff are competent and helpful, and it's a union shop: Wages at least for long-term employees seem to be living wages, people actually get vacations, etc.<p>They still employ young adults, providing initial jobs and e.g. jobs for people in the local community college.<p>And staff, while hardly idle, have enough time and the freedom to e.g. provide enough boxes for my friend's recent move. (Already collected in a shopping cart as they had worked, so it really didn't cost them much if any productivity to do so.)
Honestly if I'm going to risk going to prison/getting prosecuted it's going to be for much more than claiming a $5 lemon wasn't organic and switching the barcode over ...