It’s Debatable – A Youth Perspective

Do self-serve Checkouts really serve us?

When local supermarkets replaced many of their checkout lanes with self-serve options, it sparked a strong community reaction.

It was both a uniquely local reaction and a broad societal one, as supermarkets around the country have done likewise.

Yes, it’s about your nephew’s part-time job, your local retail area and your daily shopping experience. But it’s also about a broader shift to contactless service and everyday automation.

Let’s consider the human aspect. Many locals have asked if we’ll look back in thirty years and regret not being stronger in standing up for actual human service. It might seem unimportant but a twinge of missed happiness every shopping trip matters.

Similarly, mild annoyance with a frustrating self-service machine has a compounding impact over time. Each human interaction has the potential to uplift us and to fill our bucket just the tiniest bit.

Admittedly, this all depends on both parties in this ‘shopping transaction interaction’. If you’re tired and feeling snappish, then you’re likely to worsen an employee’s day. You want a swift impersonal experience. Similarly, if the employee feels, overworked and stressed that day then they’re hardly the romanticised smiling conversationalist you might yearn for.

Perhaps we just need to hold onto hope that most people are a daily force for good. Maybe the optimist in all of us compels us to believe that most people are casually nice.

And what about jobs? Are supermarkets obliged to provide entry-level jobs for young people? Should we support them if they don’t?

Others would argue this requires a bigger discussion around automation and technology. There are also plenty of people who like self-serve checkouts – especially younger and more tech-savvy people.

Still, it’s simple supply and demand. If you’re happy with self-serve checkouts, then use them consistently and regularly.

But if you want to stop this sort of change, take action! You can email supermarkets, sell your shares in supermarket companies, shop at smaller and independent supermarkets and grocers, protest at shareholder meetings, and even push for broader political action on automation technology.

And if all that sounds a bit hard, you can at least start by putting your groceries where your heart is. Take the checkout lane and smile when you do it.

Let your small step be through a checkout lane and see if you can’t brighten the employee’s day when you do it.

Author: Leonard Cavallaro.