How to self-scan at grocery stores

by Jen (February 11, 2008)

More and more grocery stores are providing those U-scan (and similar) stations where you can check yourself out instead of waiting in line (at least the scanners usually don’t have lines as long as the regular lanes). But a lot of people don’t make use of them. Why?

• There were a lot of bugs when they first came out, and people have the impression they aren’t reliable. Some of these “bugs” were the store employees not being trained enough to keep them working; some of the bugs were just the usual glitches that happen with computer-based systems.
• People are technophobic. Yes, in a world where people are still freaked out by the concept of email, of course they worry they’ll touch the wrong button and blow something up, or it will eat their money and leave no evidence they paid, or whatever.
• They seem impersonal. From my experience, so do most of the checkers, but then I’m not a chit-chatter.
• People assume they don’t take coupons. This is untrue, at least of any I’ve seen. Coupons have barcodes - you just scan ‘em in the same way the checker would.

Self-scanning can save you loads of time, especially on quick grocery runs (you know, the ones where you’re the only person with a handbasket with 10 items, the express lane is closed, and you’re in line behind 12 people with carts full of stuff, all paying by check). In the past year, I’ve had no trouble with self-scanners working. The screens are very easy to read - much like a TV screen - and the buttons and instructions are easy to read and learn.

If you’re afraid of something going wrong, pick a time when foot traffic at the grocery store is light. If something goes wrong, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting someone to help you. But once you learn how to do it, you’ll never go back.

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