50. Self-Checkout

The Economics of Everyday Things

Grocery stores have turned shoppers into cashiers. Zachary Crockett runs two bags of chips and a Gatorade over the scanner.

• SOURCES:
  • Sara Alloy, experience retail lead for North America at Publicis Sapient.
  • Christopher Andrews, professor of sociology at Drew University.
  • Phil Lempert, founder and C.E.O. of SupermarketGuru.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Feeling Rewarded and Entitled to Be Served: Understanding the Influence of Self- Versus Regular Checkout on Customer Loyalty," by Farhana Nusrat and Yanliu Huang (Journal of Business Research, 2024).
  • "It’s Not Just You: Self-Checkout Is Awful. These Retailers Finally Agree," by Sarah Bregel (Fast Company, 2023).
  • "'I'm Banned From Walmart Over a Bag of Reese's,' Houston-Area Woman Says After Self-Checkout 'issue,'" by Matthew Seedorff (Fox26, 2023).
  • "Self-Checkout Is a Failed Experiment," by Amanda Mull (The Atlantic, 2023).
  • The Overworked Consumer: Self-Checkouts, Supermarkets, and the Do-It-Yourself Economy, by Christopher Andrews (2018).
  • "The Banana Trick and Other Acts of Self-Checkout Thievery," by Rene Chun (The Atlantic, 2018).
  • "Self-Service Checkouts Can Turn Customers Into Shoplifters, Study Says," by Christopher Mele (The New York Times, 2016).
  • "Check This Out: A Revolution in the Supermarket," by Daniel P. Puzo (Los Angeles Times, 1987).

• EXTRAS:
  • "How the Supermarket Helped America Win the Cold War," by Freakonomics Radio (2019).