I guess I am not one of the fortunate to live in a good neighborhood as our Stop N Shop does not have the new Scan It! technology!!!...this is different from Self Check out now so don't get the two confused!!! LOLI shop at Waldbaums anyway not Stop N Shop but I still feel like I'm missing out on something.
So who does have this new Scan It technology at their Stop N Shop raise your hand!!!
What's "Scan It" I hear someone in the back ask...LOL (yes crazy people think they have an audience!)
From what I've read, (because you know my neighborhood isn't good enough for it yet so I haven't seen it first hand) when you enter the store you pick up a small portable scanning device.
I would imagine it's similar to those fun gadget things they give you when you start a bridal registry at the store and you whiz around the store like a mad man scanning everything but the kitchen sink!!! (Knowing full well that some idiots going to buy you the pots and not the lids, or the folks and not the knives, basically nothing you scanned, but you scan all the same because you don't work in retail 7 days a week and you therefore, find it fun! Isn't it crazy how chemicals get released in the body even during pretend shopping, it's just like the real thing right! LOL)
You then have to scan your loyalty card as they call it...you know that small key chain savings card that takes tons of money off when you get to the cash register because you're a "loyal" shopper!
Then as you puruse the store and pick up items, you scan them and put them right into you "recycled" grocery bag (you all have one of those right? plastic bags are bad!).
When you're done and all your groceries are neatly stacked by you (and not by that 14 year old high school student who hasn't been trained that the eggs don't go UNDER the canned green beans) you then whiz on over somewhere and pay for the items you've scanned!!!!
How fabulous is that!! NO MORE; putting them in the cart, then standing on line for an hour while the person in front of you argues that the it's the 6 oz and not the 8 oz yogurt that's on sale, then pulling them out of the cart, then putting them on the dirty conveyor belt, then waiting for another 14 year old high school student to scan them and shove them in another bag (once again putting your eggs at the bottom), then hauling all the bags BACK into your cart to finally leave the store!!!
The only draw back is for those that think big brother is watching them...I'm obviously not one of them, heck as long as I'm not breaking the law they can watch me until the cows come home. (where does that phrase come from anyway, "Until the cows come home", what are the cows doing wondering the streets by themselves anyway?).
I digress...back to big brother.....oh yeah....as you shop it recommends coupons and such based on what you're picking up and scanning and based on previous purchases, so it's keeping an even closer tab on what you're buying than just the loyalty card did. I guess it could encourage you to buy more depending on if you listened to the coupon recommendations that the scanner spits out.
But if you guys are anything like me..."Oh I can get how much off that, even though I don't use it, or I have 6 already at home!" and you rush over to the aisle and pick up a few! Yikes!
I guess another draw back would be to the store. I know many stores ripped out their self check outs as they realized their theft rate was increasing. Our Waldbaums still has self check out (so I guess our neighborhood isn't THAT bad). I ALWAYS use the self check out...I'm not a control freak but at least that woman who wants to argue about the 6 oz and the 8 oz yogurt on sale seems to steer clear of the self check out line. But I think with the self scanners they do random spot checks around the store on customers using the device.
Anyway, like I said, though this all sounds lovely and the most efficient shopping tool yet, it's not in my area yet, so if anyone has it already and has experienced it please post your pros and cons efficiently and expeditiously!! LOL I hear it's at Giant Foods as well but we don't have those in my area either! My area's sounding worse and worse isn't it! It's really not that bad and could be tons worse! LOL
Ciao for Now!
i'm sure you're in large company with those who don't have this. we have self-checkout and i love that!
ReplyDeleteAre human beings becoming obsolete?!?
ReplyDeleteI've never seen these, but I do love the self check out. My kids though...they also love it. And I turn into a raving lunatic having to shoo them from the scanner, "NO! No, I already scanned that one! Put it in the bag! PUT IT IN THE BAG, they're coming for us!! You're making alarms go off, JUST put it in the bag!"
And then the 14 yo you mentioned comes rushing over, "Ma'am. Ma'am, your child needs to put that it the bag. Ma'am, he needs to let go of the bag. Ma'am, ma'am, please set the can down and back away from the scanner."
Then it all seems like more hassle than it was worth and I try to make a mental note to just go with the 14 yo egg smasher next time.
All that to say, if I had a store that used those scanner gun things, I probably wouldn't use them. The kids get excited about the scanner at the front, I can't imagine how thrilled they'd be to use such a nifty "gun."
:)
We don't have a Stop n Shop around here.
ReplyDeleteBut I do love the self checkout lanes. I use them all the time!
I guess I live in a good neighborhood because the grocery store nearest my house has it but I rarely see people using them.
ReplyDeleteOh MY! That sounds kinda neat! However, wouldn't the line get kinda long at the point where you pay, if several people were paying at the same time? I guess we'll always have SOME sort of line, huh?
ReplyDeleteOk, about this self check out thing. Although I do enjoy being able to scan my own stuff from time to time...cuz honestly, sometimes I just don't feel like hearing about Suzi Cashier's uncle Fred's hurt big toe; I don't like when I purchase something too lite-weight to trigger the bag scale thingy. Know what I mean? Packs of Kool-Aid or gravy or whatever, are not heavy enough and when you drop it in the bag, the machine doesn't know it. However, our local Super Walmart has a "skip bagging" feature, which I really like.
Anyway, I could go on (obviously). But the little contraption that you've featured is pretty darned cool. "COMING SOON TO A STORE NEAR YOU!!!" LOL
OH...one more thing about this new scanner thingy. Is this a mandatory device? I mean, what if all the scanners are being used when you get there? Do you have to wait for someone to get finished with one?
ReplyDeleteThat will be all :-).
no we don't have them at my local grocery store. we do have self check out. I am totally laughing @ Camport. I can so relate!
ReplyDeleteYou know we are supposed to be improving our lives but I have to say shopping is the one area I feel has gone backwards.
ReplyDeleteI hate the self checkouts. They never work properly whenever I've used them and I keep getting a voice telling me I need help. Understatement of the century!
Now I'm going back a while, quite a long while but I remember when the chap from the large grocery shop came and took our order. My Mam would check in the pantry what we needed while he waited and all the stuff would be delivered to the door the next day. Now I'd like some of that. The nearest to it is online shopping I suppose. Not quite the same.
Hi Brown English Muffin, I felt I had to read your blog after seeing your name. I am from the UK and also enjoy reading about other people's lives and customs. Your family looks so happy and contented and I did so enjoy your blog.
ReplyDeleteYvonne.
Yeah, nice idea, but, there are too may untrustworthy people in the world.
ReplyDeleteI work in a retail bookstore in an "upper-middle class" neighborhood (I don't live there, of course. I live downtown in the low rent district)...anyway, we catch someone, literally, at least once a week, shop-lifting.
The first person we ever caught was an old lady, well into her '70's.
There was an old man about the same age who was going through books, looking for security devices and taking "clean" ones out to his car, in the "handicapped" space, a half dozen at a time.
The other day, as I was walking into the drugstore, I watched a 40-something lady, after having checked out, steal a cord of firewood from their outside display with her 12ish year-old daughter, literally, screaming at her to pay for it...as Mom put the wood into the back of her SUV and yelled at her daughter to "be quiet and come on". I feel so badly for that kid...
Tha scanning sounds neat, but I guess I must not live in a good neighborhood either because we don't have one of those!! ;)
ReplyDeleteI loved Camcort's comment. She is so funny. I can't stop laughing. Please ma'am put the can down and step away from the scanner.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen this as of yet. It sounds like the baggers are being outed and will need to find work somewere else.
Wow! I never knew such a thing existed. This would eliminate the problems I complained about in my blog, but they would never put something like that around here. Even if they did, the line to pay would probably have me pulling my hair out. I can see it now: the person in front of me misplaces his cash and takes 10 minutes of molesting his own pockets to figure it out, or the old lady in front of me wants to use a credit card but can't figure out how to swipe it. Arrrrrggggh!!!!!
ReplyDeleteLOL@Camport...I failed to mention "your kind" in my blog about self scanners. But you're right up there with those that I mentioned. ;)
I would wonder if people would steal stuff? I mean, what if you ahve a big cart full, how are they going to know if people really scanned it all? Hmm... I like my check out girls too much! :)
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of the scanner thingy! We do have self check here but I never use it. And yes, always I pick the wrong and slowest check out line. I think God is testing my patience.
ReplyDeleteI don't know any stores that have this but i'd love it! I guess my neighborhood isn't that "good" either! LOL
ReplyDeleteHow cool is that? I rarely go into the Stop and Shop by me but it is pretty nice and clean.
ReplyDelete