Pretty much the title. Like, get those handheld scanners and attach them to the carts. I scan items as I put them in, roll up to a “register” where the cart is weighed and verified by a cashier. I just hand over the cash then leave. Or even better, install load sensors in the cart.
Usually I like to pack my groceries into my boxes as I get them into the cart. Keeps things orderly and neat and I also don’t buy more than I can carry home. But this means I have to unpack them to place on the belt then pack them all over again after paying. It would be kinda nice to just pay by the cart load.
At least in Germany, at a lot of Rewes (supermarket chain), this is absolutely a thing and very common. You can place the handheld barcode scanners in a specialised holder on the cart handle and then scan as you go, and neatly package all your stuff before going to the checkout and paying at a terminal. If even Germany has got this by now, then every other country on the planet surely does too lol.
Our Edeka has a system like that too.
So does Kaufland and Albert in the Czech Republic
Do they make it easy to put something back if you change your mind?
Yup, you can just edit the amount of items you scanned. Also makes it easier to “scan” an item in bulk.
They dont check the cart weight, instead they just randomly pick out people where they go through their scanned items and check that nothing else is in the cart. I’m being checked about once every 20 times I go.
That all sounds awesome. We definitely don’t have that in NW US yet. Hope we get it eventually.
I’ve been doing this for years! My local grocery has a little scanner you can take around with you, I carry 2 wicker baskets, scan items as I fill them, and then the self checkout lane reads a code from the scanner, I tap to pay, and walk home. It’s honestly seamless.
Some giants have had handheld scanners for a decade… You just grab one as you walk in, scan and pack everything and hand it to the cashier on way out.
And you need a membership card because of course you do
Also why involve a cashier when self-checkout is available?
The grocery store I often go to had these barcode scanners you could borrow at the entrance and scan your stuff as you go, along with scales on which you could print a barcode sticker for the stuff you pay by weight.
Once you were done, you’d scan a QR card at the self-service checkout to upload all the stuff you scanned, then pay.
It was awesome, you could just pack as you go. Unfortunately they scrapped the project once they found out that the amount of theft was significantly higher with this system. So yeah, we can’t have nice things 😒
Walmart doesn’t even let you do the scan and pay thing with your phone unless you’re a Plus member. Which is fucking stupid. We basically already have a scanner with the ability to pay in our pocket, and they even have systems that let you do exactly what you’re asking about. But then they make you pay extra for it. Like, you’re already trying not pay employees and you expect me to pay you to do what a cashier does? Fuck that and fuck you, Walmart.
If you pack your groceries in boxes in the cart, wouldn’t that throw off the weight at the checkout?
Sam’s Club does it all with a self-checkout app and cart-scanning cameras at the exit. If you only get one or two things and don’t use a cart, then an associate needs to spot-scan on the way out, but otherwise it works great!
I do this with my phone at meijer. No need for a device when you’re phone can scan already.
Grabbing a scanner at the door makes more sense otherwise they would have to be made waterproof since people take and leave their carts outside.
I worked for a company that did a demo using RFID tags. Every item had one and you just walk through a scanner when you’re done shopping and it rings everything up instantly.
We do in Switzerland.
Not attached to the cart, but you can pick up a scanner at the entrance, scan all your stuff and at the checkout you scan your scanner. No need for the scale at the end, though.
Ikea does this with their app, but generally, you go to ikea to get one or two items, so it doesn’t really speed up the proccess of checking out
Honor system wouldn’t work in all places unfortunately
Already exists and being used, search for “smart shopping carts”
Tesco in the UK has had handheld scanners for years, and are trialling scales.
Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose all do this in the UK
amazon fresh stores do something like this.
They had this at Stop & Shop for a while in the US. Don’t know if that’s still how it works though.
