WALMART’s latest self-checkout has limited the number of people who can use it, pushing customers to other stores.
Walmart is the latest retailer to limit how many items can be brought in through self-checkout lanes.
Only shoppers who purchase 15 items or less can go through self-checkout now.
There was an instant reaction from customers, who attributed the change to long queues.
“Is Walmart trying to lose customers?” asked buyer Jonathan (@jkalen133) in X.
“They removed the cashiers for self-checkout, they don’t have a strict 15-item limit on them.”
He said an employee counted the items in people’s carts to make sure they were complying with the rule.
Unfortunately, only a few other registers were open for shoppers with larger purchases.
“No more trips to Walmart for me,” he wrote.
Another customer faced a similar problem when shopping at a peak time.
“I’m seeing four front desk employees looking at each other’s phones and talking while I’m in the checkout line with 20 other customers on a Friday afternoon,” they he wrote.
They claimed they waited in line for 20 minutes.
A third shopper was forced to use self-checkout despite the new rule because her store had no cashiers open.
“If you can get seven workers watching everyone, you can put them on a record,” she said. he wrote.
“I’m 68 and I don’t want to work at Walmart checking my stuff!”
LOSING THE BRAND
Target rolled out a similar rule earlier this year, limiting self-checkout to just ten items or fewer.
Latest self-checkout changes
Retailers are evolving their self-checkout strategy in an effort to speed checkout times and reduce theft.
Walmart shoppers were shocked when self-checkout lanes at several locations were made available only to Walmart+ members.
Other customers reported that self-checkout was closed at specific times and more cashiers were offered in its place.
While shoppers feared that shoplifting would fuel the upgrades, a Walmart spokesperson revealed that store managers are simply experimenting with ways to improve checkout performance.
One bizarre experiment included an RFID-powered self-checkout kiosk that would thwart fiercely contested receipt checks.
However, this test has been discontinued.
At Target, items are being limited in auto-checkout.
Last fall, the brand researched new express self-checkout lanes in 200 stores with 10 items or less for added convenience.
In March 2024, this policy was expanded to 2,000 stores in the US.
Shoppers also identified their local Walmart stores restricting customers to 15 items or less to use self-checkout machines.
Called “express self-checkout,” the change was supposed to shorten lines.
But customers saw the opposite in stores.
“Dear Target, you can’t change self-checkout to 10 items or less and then just open a regular checkout lane,” wrote one dissatisfied shopper on X.
“Nobody has 20 minutes to wait in line to check out.”
Target apologized to the customer, but similar complaints weren’t far behind.
“Target’s new 10-item self-checkout limit is garbage,” wrote another customer.
“I will simply never buy more than 10 items from there again.”
A Target customer said he would boycott the store because of the change.
Walmart shoppers have also complained about the store’s limited payment options.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
