These Illinois Grocery Stores Are Getting Rid Of Self Checkout

You may notice less self-checkout stations next time you're grocery shopping.

One of the most divisive things in modern times seems to be self-checkouts. They can be a love/hate relationship. You can scream at the thing "There's no unscanned item in the bagging area!" and curse your decision to use the machine as you try to find someone to help you. But the self-checkouts also allow you to get your groceries and get out without having to talk to anyone. So it's a catch-22.

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Why Grocery Stores Are Getting Rid Of Them

The self-checkout stations were useful during the pandemic, for sure. But now they are problematic for a number of reasons, according to Yahoo Finance. Some of those include:

• they can make it easier to steal stuff
• they're difficult to use
• some items have multiple barcodes that could be mistakenly scanned
• they put job duties of the store's paid employees on unpaid customers

What Stores Are Scrapping The Self-Checkouts

New York Times reports that Walmart said earlier this fall that they'll be getting rid of self-checkout lanes in several stores. Costco has reportedly removed a few self-checkouts too, on top of adding more staff in the self-checkout areas once they figured out non-members were sneaking in using membership cards that didn't belong to them.

ShopRite, Wegman's, and even Five Below have all taken similar measures to try to combat theft from self-checkout.

There's no word or timeline on exactly what stores are in line to lose self-checkout lanes in 2024, but don't be surprised if you see it.