A SHOPPER lost patience with Target after the store’s checkout policy left him wandering the store in shock.
Shoppers have complained for years about new rules leading to bad in-store experiences, but now customers are facing a different kind of problem.
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Policies designed to reduce shoplifting, staffing shortages or other problems have sometimes caused national retailers like Target and Walmart to rely on just one type of payment method.
For many buyers, the limitation creates a nightmare scenario.
A Target shopper recently captured the scene on video.
“@Target not a single lane open at Target in Plano West. Other than just one side of the self-checkout,” Luis G. (@Lou_ezgee) wrote in X.
Despite having several apparently working cash registers – none of the lanes were open, the clip showed.
Instead, the shopper was forced to use self-checkout.
The situation made him regret his decision to go to Target in the first place.
“To think I came here to escape Walmart,” he added.
NEW POLICIES, NEW EXPECTATIONS
Target made headlines earlier this year when the company announced sweeping changes to its checkout policies.
The biggest change required shoppers at its hundreds of stores across the country to use traditional checkouts for any purchase, including more than ten items.
A pilot program that limits self-checkout to shoppers with ten or fewer items has sped up the checkout experience at most stores, store representatives said.
It has also helped reduce shoplifting, which has been on the rise as self-checkout proliferates.
Other major retailers have also updated their checkout policies in recent months.
Walmart has completely removed self-checkout from some of its stores and limited some kiosks to Walmart+ members only.
Costco has increased its membership receipts and checks to reduce losses and the number of non-members shopping in the store.
SHOPPERS EVERYWHERE
Constantly changing checkout policies have already angered many shoppers – at many different stores.
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 updates, 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.
A woman shared her complaints about a Lowes in Georgia after being forced to use self-checkout.
“I’m definitely anti-self-checkout!!!” Janet Furgason wrote in a recent publish on Facebook.
“I was unhappy with the push for self-checkout here in the past, but now they’ve removed all the cash registers and you have no choice but to use self-checkout to pay for your purchases,” Furgason said. .
The longtime Lowes shopper said her family always loved going to the store until the recent changes at checkout.
“I feel like this store and any others that insist on self-checkout don’t appreciate our business enough to actually greet us and take our money.”
“I regret that we will no longer shop at this or any other Lowes store,” she concluded.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
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