Walmart Unrolling Something That Should Send The Fight For 15 Crowd Screaming

Whenever I have been forced to commit the act of Walmart, I will often look at some of the larger stores and see 20-25 registers.

It always makes me laugh because it seems that they would never have that many registers open except for a few times out of the year. It also makes you look at those self checkout aisles and how much the employees are really valued by their company.

They know that they can plain as day be replaced by a robot at any moment, yet so many of them in an entry level job are asking for minimum wage to be raised to fifteen dollars.



The problem with all of this is that Walmart and so many other companies have access to tech that can serve as several employees in one.

Just look at Sam’s Club for example. Half of their registers are self checkout…

Via AWM:

Shopping trips often take longer than you planned.

Not only can be it be difficult to find the items you need on the shelves (especially in big box retailers that are bolstering their online presence while stripping away their store experience), it can take forever to pay and get on with your day.

Checkout lines can stretch five, six, and sometimes ten customers long when they are at the height of busyness.

That’s why many retailers have added the self-checkout lanes.

Not only are they useful for people only buying a few items, but they also reduce the amount of staff the companies need to pay. But now Walmart has made an announcement that they are no longer going to try to increase the number of self-checkout lanes in their litany of stores. Here’s why.

Walmart introduced the “Scan and Go” technology for customers trying to get in-and-out as fast as possible. They were allowed to scan items on their phone as they browsed the store and then pay easily as they left. Then they would just go through the Mobile Express lane before leaving for a simple security check to prevent shoplifting.

Walmart was trying to solve a need. Customers want things faster than ever before, and the largest company in the world thought this would help. Not only did they think this could help a segment of customers, but they also hoped it would cut down on labor costs, making it great for their profits and shareholders.

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28 Comments

  • What did these pinheads think was going to happen? It’s cheaper to have a machine do this instead of a person. No insurance liability, no coffee breaks, no demanding raises, no employee discounts, no headaches. You fought for $15 an hour, now you’ll be getting $0 an hour. No compassion for self induced stupidity

  • Sam’s Club also has an app called Scan and Go. You download app, sync with your Sam’s Club account and enter your payment method. Just scan each item as you place it in your cart then when finished shopping, check out in the app. You’ll get a QR Code, go to the exit bypassing the checkout lines and door person scans QR Code on your phone. You get a digital receipt and never stand in line again. Walmart also has this app but it’s not usable yet.

    • Both Sam’s and Walmart are successful only because of their size. IMHO. Their inventory control stinks. Things you want and buy frequently are either never in stock…shelves are empty…or they stop carrying the item. Every week or so they are trying some new stupid idea. Then there are the people who demand $15 but don’t want to work for it. I’ve heard it first hand from employees at my Walmart.
      Now for the efficiency thing. My Sam’s put in Self-Checkout stations which I like to use. The other night we shopped at Sam’s and Self-Checkouts were empty. Because I was talking to an in-store Direct TV gal who lied through her teeth about Direct TV, my wife went to a normal checkout. They had a cashier and someone unloading shopping carts and packing. It took forever to get cashed out.

  • Kroger has introduced that same system here but to me it just makes it easier to shop lift especially when you have a lot of small items like you do in a grocery store.

  • “Please Consider Forwarding This Content VIA Email, We No longer Support Facebook”

    But they do support run-on sentences.

  • By the way Prices in Walmart is due to there size and clout and is a main reason most things are not made in america as they as when they want to lower price they went to there suppliers and told them, we need it cheaper and the response always was we cannot make it cheaper as the margin is extremity thin, Walmart response you could if you made it in china and here is how. Walmart did this very effectively as it was lower the price we find some else as it did not matter the quality of the replacement company was no were as good and a loss of a Walmart contract mostly meant bankruptcy for that suppler . Walmart did get in trouble as after the vast majority of there products were foreign made they still had made in america sign all over the place. the problem now is there Pushing there supplier for even lower prices and a supplier can only lower the price by two thing which is mostly cheeping the product which substandard quality also some time very unsafe which china has no problem doing

  • For those of us who hate having to interact with yet another screen, instead of a human, even though that human interaction is a toss up, …. I am sick of screens. I need someone with a heartbeat.

    Recently, I had to spend more money on swim goggles at a dive shop… or skip my workouts. I hate waiting for UPS, FedEx…paying for shipping. Also, Walmarts & other stores…. Seasonal.

    Thank God I found a major sporting goods store with goggles of better price… I lost 2 pairs. Lovely.

    I am old school.
    I like human interaction.
    “It is lonely out in space.” … Elton John’s “Rocket Man”

    People need income producing work.
    It is eye burning labor to stare at these screens…Desktop, TV or cellphone.

    I shop at Costco much more than Sam’s, because Costco takes care of it’s employees.
    I only shop at Sam’s when Costco does not have what I want or need.

  • Hi! I’ve been reading your web site for a long time now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from New Caney Tx! Just wanted to say keep up the great work!

  • I have not walked into a Sam’s or a WalMart in at least 5 years, though I order items from each online and have them waiting for pickup or delivered free of charge. I’m a busy and do not want to waste time in lines or show up for items stated to be in stock and they are out of stock. I have only encountered a couple of eclectic gourmet items which had to be back-ordered but they were shipped to me well packaged and quickly. So far, so good for about 5 years doing this, so I don’t see myself actually walking into a Sam’s or WalMart anytime soon.

    I do shop in my local meat market, bread store, convenience store, and local grocery (but even there, they have an online ordering and free delivery service so I may begin using that as well).

  • I like the self checkout only when I have a few items, otherwise I prefer to go to a cashier. As far as wage is concerned, it depends on locality. 15.00/hour would be peanuts in NY or anywhere on the East or West coast. However, 10 – 12.00/hour is more the norm in Kansas. Whenever Walmart or fast food places increase their minimum wage, they also lower the employment numbers as well as putting more of a work load onto the current employees, or adding more robots like McDonalds. Our local McDonalds went through an upgrade last year, but there has been no improvement in speed of service, or quality.

  • Magnus: Where in hell did you go to school? You should sue them to get your money back, you can’t spell and your sentences don’t make any sense.The words are their not there, there is a place, Where is a location The word is where not were, Cheeping is what birds do, the word you were looking for is cheapening, also America and China are the names of countries and always capitalized. You really should take the time to proof read what you write. If you can’t do this for your self then have someone do it for you. When you post stuff written like this you look the fool and no one can comprehend the ideas you are trying to get across. At least go and buy a dictionary and look up words you are not sure of. Look into taking a remedial English class at a local High School or Junior College as well.

  • I will not use self check out unless the store will pay me to do a job that their employees are supposed to be doing. Also I’m a union man and will not use them because they take jobs away from people that need the work and pay checks. I’m retired so I don’t mind a little time standing in line. When the check out lanes are not maned and the lines are long I complain loudly and I have been known to go to the manager’s office and voice my complaints directly to him or her. Our town only has a Walmart for groceries, and some beer and liquor, some clothing, a few auto motive supplies, some electronics and some toys and sporting goods. We have a hardware store, three tire stores, a Walgreens, two liquor stores, a custom leather goods store and a couple of Antiques and used items stores and that is about it.

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