Opinion: The problem with self-checkout at the grocery store

A customer scans an item at the self-checkout station at a grocery store.

By Aurora Hernandez

Aug. 20, 2024 3:02 AM PT

Something incredible happened four years ago. People suddenly realized that my grocery store co-workers and I are essential. It had a lasting effect on me, but some people clearly need a reminder — especially the leaders of the conglomerates that dominate the industry. These bosses have rewarded our essential frontline service during the pandemic by trying to replace us with machines.

California’s grocery workers are on the front line once again as we face the challenge of automation. This time we’re pushing back by supporting State Bill 1446, which, among other things, limits the number of self-checkout stations grocery and retail drugstore workers have to oversee at any given time.

The corporate strategy behind self-checkout is clear and heavy-handed: lower labor costs by forcing customers to do the work themselves and pass the increased profit on to Wall Street. Most of my customers at the Food 4 Less in Boyle Heights refuse to make the change. Instead of learning to navigate the bank of self-checkout machines our store recently installed, they line up deep into the aisles to be helped by a human being. And those are the customers who have time to wait: Every day I see customers give up and walk out the door without buying anything because the line is too long and they are frustrated by the problems they’ve encountered when trying self-checkout.

But our bosses have prioritized profits that benefit the shareholders of Kroger, the parent company of Food 4 Less, far above customer satisfaction. Workers’ well-being is even further down on their agenda. The addition of self-checkout at the store where I work has us managing increased workloads and dealing with disgruntled customers. Our physical safety has also been jeopardized by the shift.

That’s because, unsurprisingly, self-checkout machines provide more opportunity for shoplifting. The company accounts for this and apparently considers the increased losses worth the savings they get from reduced staffing expenses. But at my store, a single worker is expected to watch all six self-checkout registers, and when we see or suspect a theft it can be scary, especially during night shifts when there are fewer people around.

Workers aren’t the only ones unhappy with the self-checkout machines. Many shoppers find them difficult to operate and are frustrated by issues such as hidden barcodes or items not scanning. For people with only a few items, especially younger customers more familiar with touchscreen interfaces, they might work well enough. But grocery store work requires speed, skill and experience that not everyone can learn on the fly. And a lot of people just prefer interacting with a person.

I’ve worked at Foods 4 Less for five years, and I love serving my community. I have long-standing customers who seek out my register and with whom I share moments of personal connection week after week. But with longer lines at the fewer human-staffed registers, there’s less time to say “hi,” another way automation is shredding the social fabric.

The Boyle Heights Food 4 Less story is happening in industries across California and the nation. What choice do any of us have? Everyone needs a grocery store — they’re essential, remember? But if the Legislature passes SB 1446, those lines at the staffed checkout stations will be shorter and the workers helping you when the self-checkout computer has a glitch will be less stressed. Maybe everyone will even have a chance to say hi.

Aurora Hernandez works at Food 4 Less in Boyle Heights and is a member of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 770.