"I Pay and Check Out Myself"…Self-Checkout Sparks Outrage, Leads to Proposed 10% Discount Bill

Customer Frustration Mounts Over Complicated Self-Checkout Process
Both Employee-Operated and AI-Powered Automatic Payment Systems Under Trial

Recently, there has been a heated debate about self-checkout counters in the United States.

Customers are scanning their items at the self-checkout counters in the U.S. grocery chain Stew Leonard's. Photo by AP Yonhap News

On October 1 (local time), The Washington Post (WP) reported that self-checkouts, once considered a fast and convenient technology, are instead increasing the workload for consumers. While there are some who prefer the experience of using self-checkout, the media also noted that message boards such as Reddit and social networking services (SNS) are overflowing with stories of frustration and anger.

This ongoing debate has become a challenge for the retail industry. Over the past 20 years, many retailers regarded self-checkout as the inevitable future of shopping, but now they are re-evaluating the level of automation preferred by both consumers and stores. Gary Hawkins, CEO of the retail technology consulting firm Retail Mindsteps, said, "Some companies are pulling back, while others are ramping up investment. It is difficult to say there is a single clear direction."

Overall, there has been a slight decline. According to a 2026 survey by the large grocery chain association FMI, self-checkouts accounted for 33% of supermarket transactions last year, down from 35% the previous year. In September, payment platform Toast surveyed 340 convenience stores, grocery stores, and liquor stores and found that only 36% operate self-checkout stands, a decrease of 7 percentage points compared to the previous year.

Meanwhile, new technologies are being tested, such as artificial intelligence (AI) that can automatically recognize products—reducing the need to search or enter codes manually—and cameras that estimate customers' ages to minimize ID checks when purchasing alcohol. In contrast, Trader Joe's maintains employee-operated checkouts as a core part of its in-store experience. Dollar General, a U.S. discount retail chain, only permits self-checkout for customers purchasing 10 items or fewer.

The issue is that "uncivil behavior," such as harassment, may increase. In a 2024 paper, Harvard University researchers explained that businesses equipped with self-checkout counters tend to reduce staffing due to high expectations for technology. As a result, remaining employees are often left to deal with already angry customers, making interactions more likely to turn hostile. Jeff Wells, executive editor of the industry publication Grocery Dive, noted, "People who dislike self-checkout really dislike it, and they express their complaints very actively."

Some point out that the supposed advantage of "faster checkout" may be an illusion. Christopher Andrews, a sociologist at Drew University, explained that customers often are not as skilled at scanning items as professional cashiers, which can actually make the process slower. If time feels like it is passing quickly, this may be due to the "funhouse effect,"—the feeling that time moves faster when you are actively engaged in something versus just waiting passively. He added that the trend of consumers taking over tasks formerly performed by employees, such as entering orders or printing airline tickets, is one of the reasons people feel they are "doing more work and feeling more fatigued."

In fact, New York State Assemblywoman Niki Lucas has sponsored a bill that would require businesses to provide a mandatory 10% discount to customers using self-checkout. The bill seeks to ensure fairness by returning the savings in labor and operating costs to consumers as price discounts, since they are performing the payment tasks themselves rather than relying on store employees.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.