Retailers are pulling back from self-checkout after years of theft, errors, and questionable time savings

Retailers within the same chain seem to have different policies on how many check outs are staffed.

I’m in Australia and buy our groceries from woolworths.

There’s one I go past on my way home and there’s very rarely any proper checkouts manned. There’s usually one “express” at which you can only buy 12 items or something, but there’s usually several people queued there.

The other one where we go to do our weekly shop always has several proper checkouts manned. Usually when there’s more than 1 person being scanned and 1 waiting they will call over the PA to get another staff member to open another lane.

IDK who’s decision it is or what strategy they follow to decide which stores will do check outs what way.

Grocieres…from Woolworth? Funny. Here (Germany) it’s just a horribly shitty dollar-store without any food.

We have two chains which form an oligopoly in the grocery market here. Coles and Woolworths (Colesworth). Like tesco or something. Better presented than Aldi.

So, like everywhere else I guess. 1-3 chains taking over everything. When I was young we had a Mon&pop near our house. Now it’s like 3-5 supermarket brands, of which most are from the same group and only virtually competing.

Yes, we recently had a formal govt enquiry into the lack of competition. Not very effective.

Until a few years ago there was an independent supermarket just down the road. They did very well, but sold to a foreign group that owned a few dozen stores and they just didn’t understand the market here - it collapsed within months.

Our left wing party just announced a policy for govt owned grocers like mamdani has implemented. However, they have no chance of applying any pressure to govt to implement that.