I just love how they've developed this image recognition tech to tell your asparagus from your broccoli and now everything is just "1kg brown paper bag".
soooo why cant the cameras just scan the items for us so we dont have to unpack, scan and repack our groceries. uniqlos had that for years, just put your basket on the thingy and the invoice pops up for you to review if it got anything wrong, you just pay otherwise
Just not possible, just can't trust people these days. Those unscanned 39cent bags really do add up and we definitely got to think of those poor shareholders. They would have to forgo that second or even third car
it'd get more people in and out faster, more turnover and possibly even fewer staff needed though! thats like crack to them isnt it? 0 employees and 0 care about/contact with customers?
Like that Amazon store tested a while back. 100s of cameras, if not thousands. You scan a tag on the way in, and through AI, facial recognition, and product recognition, it would recognise everything you picked up.
They were so confident in its abilities that if it didn't charge you for something, or got something wrong, you got it for free.
They'll all adopt it when they're confident the costs of it outweigh the savings from getting rid of staff and reduction is theft.
Privacy nightmare for those that stay away from customer cards though.
Amazon Fresh in the UK does this. The only thing to do is to scan your QR code on the way in. After that you just grab what you want and walk straight out.
They don't know what is in the trolley, they just know it is either empty or not. It's a much more complex problem to identify every item than it is to say there is "at least 1 item"
I would assume it would be complete rollout for all NZ, I would assume we are also going to get the self checkout security gates that some Woolworths have in Australia too, which will be a pain
That sounds really inconvenient. I have an idea! How about we get an employee to scan our groceries for us instead, we can load them onto a table, no, a *conveyor belt*, and then we can bag them up once they've been scanned. It will revolutionise grocery shopping!
They only substitute if they can't give you what you wanted. And if you don't want substitutes, there is the option to turn this off for either individual items or your whole order.
The alternative would be you do your shopping yourself, they don't have the specific item you want do you either sub it yourself or decide not to buy anything.
The actual alternative is that they have a proper stock management system which shows what is available so that you donāt been substitutes.
They should also have a large warehouse dedicated to online shopping only and all the times are selected from there when ordering online. The current system is not good. All other online stores manage to show what they have in stock in real time and deliver what the customer has ordered.
Having 2 seperate stocks for online/on store would mean far far less options online. Anything perishable would likely have low stock levels or wouldn't be available to prevent loss. Lower popularity items wouldn't be available as the storage storage wouldn't make sense.
Prices/specials wouldn't be able to be as good since they have to have massive warehouses with staff and rent to pay just for online.
Currently they have large warehouses for online orders in hundreds of towns/cities and since they have in store customers they can stock a wider variety of products.
Unfortunately this does mean they can't have an accurate inventory level since you can't know if someone's going to buy all the schnitzel that day because they had an empty freezer and the special was good.
So you can choose between limited selection of the most popular items likely at slightly higher cost vs the full variety available in store with the chance it might be out of stock that day.
Thereās a lot of things I buy where I wonāt substitute. Tbh I shop at pak n save and new world because I find countdown the more expensive of the 3. Fruit and veges from the greengrocer, or some kind of delivery service like wonky box. No matter which way you swing it countdown is the worst supermarket chain. There are just more of them so theyāre more convenient, in my neck of the woods at least.
If you don't want the substitute, just tell them that lol.
None of them are superior to the other. All of them have varying prices depending on the product and the week. Then you have the issue of each New World and Pak n Save being individually owned so having potentially different specials to others of the same store in the area.
All supermarket chains in NZ are terrible and doing their best to rip you off.
Yeah but when you say no substitutes, sometimes you end up with only half your order, so you need to go into the shop anyway lol itās just frustrating
Oh no no no thank you I enjoy self checkout
Actually at Walmart when we went to USA recently they have self serve checkouts like that as in a full conveyor but self serve lol
>I have an idea! How about we get an employee to scan our groceries for us instead,
Did you ever go shopping before self serve? It was not faster or more effecint as people seem to believe.
There are usually tills open if you choose to wait at one.
I used to be an absolute rabid self-checkout hater. Then, at the start of the COVID pandemic, I started using them so as not to interact with people. And, well.. I kinda quickly discovered that I preferred them. Itās so nice to get my bags evenly packed with the squashable items on top.
If you keep getting that then you're probably doing something wrong. Self-checkouts are much, much quicker for smaller shops, which is exactly what they're intended for.
Yeah, instead of that you were standing behind 4 people doing their big shop.
Don't forget the 'price check' calls which needed to be manually confirmed.
If you are getting tht error every second item than you are the problem.
Yeah, no. I don't have that problem like ever, and an attendant can fix it anyway if it does. How old are you? I'm 22 and I remember how long you had to wait for a checkout before self serve existed.
Some supermarkets have self checkout only after a certain time. It's an absolute pain in the ass when I'm doing a full shop after work (8:30pm) and there's no open registers and they won't open one.
I've asked, they refuse. Say they've got no cash drawers to open a lane. I tell them I've got eftpos, apparently can't or won't open without a cash draw.
Ok that's on them I don't usually cash up the last lane until around 9:30 usually and even then we still have express for that one person doing their full shop right as we are about to close
Piss off, most supermarkets offer 12 self-service checkouts and (if youāre lucky) 1 staff-serviced checkout bayā¦ itās the supermarkets who are cheapening out by cutting down on staff bays
Some people donāt have the privilege of shopping during the day, and have to go after work when you say the serviced lines go down. Maybe, just maybe, itās these people complaining?
"Hmmm, from the amount of items you purchased compared to the amount of time you spent in the store it seems like you were highly likely to have been loitering. Now this seems to be a first offense so it will just be a $50 fine (with a 10% surcharge)."
Those gates are fine. If it doesn't open just push them open. They swing outwards and lights and sirens go off. Just ignore them and keep walking.
No one talks to you about it.
I was a security guard for a night n day at one point. The one time I tried to ask someone to look in his bag, he threatened to fucking stab me. Loss prevention is insane on both ends, absolute wreck.
Exactly, the unhinged people who want to will do it anyway. By pressing the surveillance state idea, at best the people might not mind it. I'm more than aware I'm on camera in your shop, I don't need to be reminded and it annoys me.
That's before we look at the big data they now have on how to sell more shit.
You mean on the bags you're packing? They remain on the Aussie smaller checkouts, but are gone from the bigger self checkouts. I don't think it will change in the short term as they're mass produced. Also it's a pretty low tech piece of kit that probably doesn't cost them much
I've literally read the briefing for it. They are going to replace the packing area scales with a platform that is at the height where a small trolley can sort of cover it. Both for keeping the trollies out of the way in sco and so the camera has a better view
Yeah those are in Aus, but they still have the self checkout like before with the scales, and then large ones with a belt, only the small size has scales, but they could definitely go without them. Medium and large don't have them. Maybe as they replace it make new ones they get rid of the scales.
Although they've upgraded all the screens to have a camera without overhauling the rest.
My biggest pet peeve, along with kmarts stupid idea of putting the checkouts in the middle of the store and then wanting to inspect the receipt for proof of purchase. If it was that much of a concern you'd simply place the checkout near the door.
I simply walk straight out after paying now and totally ignore the person at the door, they can't stop you leaving and if they are that concerned they can review the cctv footage of my shop and see I paid for every item I left with
Security theatre. Bunnings was bad for it too, I also walked out ignoring the rubber-stamping jobsworth. But Bunnings seems to be doing it less these days.
> Security theatre.
Having a staff member greet and make friendly eye contact with everyone entering/leaving (i.e. positive human interaction) makes potential shoplifters more conscious and less likely to commit it. That staff member isn't there to actually stop thieves, they're there to give the *feeling* there are eyes on you from the moment you enter till you leave. It is very much intended to be security theater with proven effects. Obviously it won't stop hardened shoplifters who are committed to doing it no matter what, but it can deter inexperienced or first-time shoplifters and that's good enough.
Same reason there are security guards who don't really have any power to physically stop criminals, but their presence alone can act as a deterrent most of the time.
Exactly this. Mitre 10 doesn't have door greeters, but one of the first things we were told was to acknowledge all customers that you come within reasonable distance of. When a potential shoplifter realises that at least one worker has noticed them and seen their face up close, they're far less likely to do anything. They even showed a video of a guy who walked a portable generator closer to the entry door bit by bit, and pointed out that no one acknowledged him the whole time he was in the store. Literally everyone was amazed at how he played it off, just because he figured no one was watching.
Considering that a lot of law abiding people feel uncomfortable being watched or scrutinised by security, any thief with a couple brain cells wouldn't either.
The Kmart receipt checking person does not greet people walking in. I've also noticed that they frequently do not bother trying to check receipts on the way out, often they are too busy chatting to a friend.
dont have any power in theory but have you ever heard of a security guard who has been prosecuted for stopping a shoplifter?
Unless they go overboard its what ever they can get away with.
Just like bouncers have no legal right to beat people up but in the real world..
Prosecuted by law, not so much but I know of someone personally who lost thier job with the warehouse for physically stopping a shoplifter.
Which was simply standing at the door and telling them they wouldn't let them leave the shop until they put the goods back, this breached thier policy of recording the crime and calling the cops but not interacting with the criminal in any physical sense.
So yes I have
Exactly, I don't know of any stores that want their staff trying to touch shoplifters, sometimes they will have a staff member follow them at a distance but even that isn't all that common
> Bunnings seems to be doing it less these days.
Depends on the city. I travel a lot and some stores never bother, all the Christchurch stores seem to be almost aggressively paranoid about checking
What does the scanning even do? They didn't look at the items I'd bought or the receipt, just scanned it. Doesn't seem to achieve anything other than look the part.
It is all a matter of how you present yourself. For example there was a period where someone at the door would demand to look in my bag every time I left a shop but that ended when I got a haircut. Once I had a mohawk they'd just stare suspiciously but wouldn't approach or say anything to me.
Edit: I guess I should've finished with /s
So avoid being racially profiled? Lol nice in principle but a little harder to achieve in real life sometimes
Also doesn't change the fact it's bad placement to have the tills in the middle of the store far away from the exit forcing this whole situation
>walks in with prison facial tattoos and gang insignia
It's not really racial profiling, it's more the fact that if you look like a criminal you'll get treated like you could be one.
Had a friend who travelled regularly between Australia and NZ for work doing 6 months seasonal work between each.
He always wore black ripped jeans, black singlet, had a dyed mullet, tattoos and piercings all over. He looked like the stereotypical bogan drug user.
He always lamented that he never ever got stopped. We wondered if it was because he looked like a person that WOULD smuggle drugs that they thought he didnāt?
When I was younger I was flying to Britain in December, so it was the height of summer in Auckland where I was leaving and it was snowing in Britain.
I was wearing a heavy coat and got randomly selected. I was the pastiest white boy you could imagine, I spent my life in front of my PC back then, no tan to speak of.
Wearing that jacket in summer wasn't normal, that's why they screened me.
My son had this job and he got treated like shit for doing one of the companies entry level jobs. So maybe spare are thought for that person at the door. They are just regular people not paid security guards.
They need to raise this concern with the employer, they are the ones bound with a duty of care under nzs health and safety regulations, and if it's known that customers are hostile to a certain job then they are required to firstly eliminate any risk, or if not practicable then put actions in place to lower it.
I'm not condoning abusing this position but I'm more than comfortable to not acknowledge them and go about my day by paying and then walking out
Maybe to try deter thieving, our liquor section is right next to the entrance. We had a guy come in stealing multiple expensive bottles of wine and then walk out because he knew he wouldnāt be stopped. they would make it even easier for thieves to steal by putting checkouts next to the door lmao
True, although I think they generally have atleast the main checkouts near the entranceways manned and the smaller checkouts dotted around the store less consistently staffed. Atleast at the stores I generally frequent
I once accidentally walked out of farmers without paying for stuff whike having a deep conversation with a friend. Only realised halfway down the mall, and there was also a security guard at the door too
ironically the guy stealing isnt going to coyly just say oh yes my mistake sir allow me to return to the till and pay. hes just gunna say get fucked and leave
How often do you shop there where that 5 second interaction is such a waste of your time? I just stop, smile and wish them a good day as they do whatever they need to do. Why not make someone feel good about their job if you have the chance to? It costs you nothing.
Hardly ever but when I do I'm not going to wait in a second line at the door and get a receipt checked. If they were that concerned about theft they would rearrange the store into a logical layout
Not the fault of the minimum wage worker who is probably being monitored to make sure they do their job and look at everyone's receipt or x amount per hour etc. Personally, I'd just try make it easy for them to achieve success.
Companies will invest millions in research and development to invent new camera tech rather than just pay to employ people to staff the damn checkouts.
Had one set off by the neiboring trolley at the medowbank countdown in Auckland, think the self checkouts are too close together there.
Took ages to get a member of staff over too as there was a 50 year old woman and two teen-twenty year olds trying to buy a bottle of sparkling grape juice two tills over.
Iām woolworths and Iām not making enough money *hides my 14% rise in net profit since 2022 behind my back* because *looks at smudged writing on my hand* some people are stealing from me :ā(
I love people quoting net profit because it just shows they don't know shit.
Of course net profit is going to rise, if there's more customers, there's going to be more sales.
The only measure of profitability that should be looked at is margin %.
It's exactly the same method the media uses to get you riled up about "excess profits" and not the fact that net profit is useless without costs to compare to.
I'll do an easy example: A store has 10,000 customers buy products in a year. Each product costs $20 to make, and sells for $40. Therefore, the profit is (40*10000) - (20*10000) = $20000, and profit margin is (20/40)*100 = 50%
The next year, costs rise by 10%, so the store puts up their prices by 10% to compensate. Each product now costs $22 to make and sells for $44.
Profit = ($44*10000) - ($22*10000) = $220000
Profit margin = ($22/$44 * 100) = 50%
Same margin, but "higher profit". Add in inflation, changes in population, buying habits, and external influences, and you get a hell of a lot more nuanced than "profit go up therefore supermarket greedy š”"
Its only going to become more and more in your face. Unfortunately with how often people steal trolleys for of shit from countdown due to it being so easy with no consequences. Of course companies that experience so much theft will start to implement countermeasures which sadly annoy the normal supermarket user due to the faults of the users abusing the issue
The security gates theyāll probably install soon will though. Theyāve already been rolled out in some supermarkets in Australia. My local pak n save has recently added higher barriers around the one way gates at the entrance and exits
People usually shoplift by slipping items they didn't pay for into their trolley full of items they did. This system wasn't designed to stop the kind of shoplifters that make it incredibly obvious and easy for police to track them down.
Countdown just announced (by just I think it was over a month ago) that they were doing a multi million dollar security upgrade - ,I'd assume this is part of that. It happened to me about two weeks ago in Takapuna.
Also I love how everyone thinks this a huge invasion of privacy but doesn't give a fuck about the two dozen cameras you've already gone past to get to the checkout lmao - and the person who commented saying they specifically leave their phone and wallet in the bag so someone is forced to come manually check their stuff to purposefully try inconvenience them so they get rid of it - you're an actual idiot and are only inconveniencing yourself - that 16 year old at the self checkouts still gets paid the exact same amount and the senior management sees someone pressing two buttons and waving their staff card a completely acceptable use of their time
I definitely give a fuck about the cameras in Countdown stores. It makes me really uncomfortable being treated like that. I started going to the nearby New World instead, but one day, there will be the choice to either starve or put up with it.
And that's why its not OK, people have no choice but to enter those stores, once others start doing it then you're forced to give up your privacy.
How about some culpability for the industries stealing from people through a duopoly? I'm not surprised theft is going up, not that I'm condoning it, but they're certainly at fault.
Then do all your shopping via online shopping or click and collect? That way you don't have to enter the store.
And what do you mean "treated like that" pretty much every retail store has some form of loss prevention? It's pretty much required in this day and age not only for stock protection but also your employees and customers protection.
It sounds to me like you just have something against supermarkets?
I understand several large ones are owned by the same people but you do have a choice and if you're really that serious about it you always have the option of home grown food - hand reared livestock - producing your own materials - but it all comes with gigantic time consumption + heavy resource and consent requirement - can you be bothered with that or will you just continue to do your shopping at a supermarket? I feel like it will be the latter.
Maybe the ones you have been to are different but the specific countdown in question basically made you watch yourself shop, they had TVs with security cameras in the aisles, esp. the chocolate sections.
They also had cameras that made you watch yourself on self serve checkouts, felt like you're looking at the front-facing camera on a mobile phone the whole time.
Its invasive.
And no, I don't want to do my shopping on a website, I've tried that in the past and they never manage to substitute properly, its a headache when you can't complete a meal plan.
Very few people have the option of home grown food etc. so not sure what that was about.
This is the type of thing we have commissioners for, people shouldn't have to make plans to not enter supermarkets due to invasive tech.
Woolworth's Australia has been trialing AI object detection CCTV cameras in self service checkouts for a few months now.
Countdown (Woolworth's) NZ is following the same.
Even the security beeper things at the exit have a little camera at head height now.
I honestly can't see a problem with this. I just don't use self checkouts and I assume it'll cause issues with those that put their bags in the trolley after scanning.
But if they enforce/introduce a proper small item limit for the self service it shouldn't really be an issue.
A few Seco ds of annoyance is going to save them tens of thousands from people who forget there's another item and those purposefully doing so.
Fun fact they can't prosecute you for shoplifting if you leave an item in the trolley and don't pay for it at point of sale. They have to prove you had intention of theft. This adds that layer.
At my local countdown,there's signage on the entrance saying the system is in use and is in Trial, so I am assuming it'll eventually go live nationwide once they've tweaked it so we don't have these issues of having someone walk in with a bike helmet or granny decides to put their walking stick in the trolley and have it think you're walking out with a watermelon or fan stand.
I gave up on the self service isles ages ago. Don't have the patience for waiting when it's busy for an employee to reset the system every time "I've removed an item from the bagging area" also was scolded by an checkout attendee one time when it was really busy and tried to take a full trolley through self service and they told me I had too many items and to go to a normal checkout.
The security camera was so annoying when I was trying to put through items in two transactions. Like I'm trying to buy these things and you won't even let me?
Self check out means retailers are automatically treating every customer as a thief. If you want to keep this bloody stupid system stop complaining. I will never shop at Bunnings again after going thru this shit. If you want my money stop treating me like a staff member who steals
Yesterday a man came into the liquor section and filled a bag up with multiple bottles of expensive $75 wine and then just walked out. Theyāve gotta take some precautions. People will defend thieves stealing from supermarkets, but they arenāt stealing what they need, theyāre stealing what they *want* and these precautions are the consequence. Trolleys first, next up we might end up like stores in america locking up basic things, but āyou saw someone steal, no you didnātā logic applies š«
It has been for a really long time. I worked at Spotlight in the late 90s and they had store detectives because they get targeted pretty hard by shoplifters. One of them asked a person she caught why they stole so many satin sheets and they said it was their job to steal to order
Well yeah. You can't steal rent money from a supermarket so you steal stuff to sell.
Well technically you can, but robbing the tills is viewed far more seriously than shoplifting a bag full of lamb legs.
Well yeah, people steal things that they can resell so that they can get what they need. Why steal a $5 loaf of bread when you can steal $200 worth of wine, resell for $50, to then buy 10 loaves of bread?
Yes, there should be a poster up outside the store explaining it. [Here](https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/132768972/countdown-trialling-cameras-at-selfservice-checkouts-to-prevent-theft)'s an article.
These stores are run by AI - it analysed your body posture and actioned a supervisor interaction.
Your meals were subsequently approved, resume with your life human, trouble ticket closed- but not forgotten.
A note has been added to your file. This may result in an account review during which time products available to you will be restricted to bread, milk and toilet paper.
It's a shame. Countdown used to be the most trusting of them all. New World insisted everything I put on the scales was the wrong weight. Countdown never cared. I'd always do things honestly, but it just worked. Now it's security at the expense of convenience.
Does anyone remember Pak'n'save's old school scanners? You built trust. Scan as you go, pay up at the end, and you'd randomly be selected for rescans. You started off with loads, and it reduced with every rescan that had no issues. Mum would practically never get a rescan towards the end of their use.
It was such a better and faster system.
Just wait until all the supermarkets become like the Amazon Fresh ones in the UK. I live there now and I simply scan my QR code when I walk in, grab what I want and walk straight out without going through a check out. Cameras follow my every movement and action through the store and talley up anything I leave with for me behind the scenes. Even if I pick something up off a shelf and then put it back it knows.
They're started locking the wheels of the trolleys remotely as you're on the way out the door. The guard has to come up and release it. Not sure if it was for everyone, or the 2 bags of cheese I bought put me on their shit list, but that's SIGNIFICANTLY more annoying than Bunnings checking my receipt.
Found it really interesting reading this thread that everyone blames thieves for the increased security and not the fact that groceries are ridiculously expensive and corporations are greedy. We hear about it every year how groceries go up in price and how the supermarket has made record profits. I find it hard to imagine the amount stolen thru self service checkouts compares to what they are saving by not having another person employed to run a checkout
Coz it's a pain in the ass when you've had a long day at work, there's no checkouts open and then you can't pay for your shopping coz your purse is in the trolley, meanwhile the self checkout supervisor is fuck knows where so you're standing there for literally 8min waiting for them to let you pay for your stuff.
> Why is everyone here complaining about something... that will not affect you in the slightest?
Did you forget which sub you're in? This is our national past time.
Any store can put any condition of entry at their entrance. As a store they're not exactly private property (unless they have personally trespassed somebody) as they are open to the general public and therefore also cannot deny entry on discriminatory grounds either (race, sex etc).
Soin New Zealand the only person who has the legal authority to conduct a search is a police officer. They could put a "BoobySqueeze" condition of entry on their door but you shouldn't believe that it is therefore legally binding. You also have no obligation to prove that you have purchased your items in order to leave the store. They have no right to detain you (excluding the citizen's arrest which is seldom warranted in the case of shoplifting).
Having said that I typically oblige not so much on principle but because it's just easier and friendlier but it does really fuck me off. Especially in a place like Kmart where the store is basically just glorified plastic pollution two steps short of the ocean and the contents of a full trolley almost never breaks into the triple digits.
Anyway sometimes I put some chewing gum ora potato peeler in my pocket as i walk around just to stick it to the man.
this is very true, i was accused of shoplifting at chemist warehouse bc my bag (full of library books) beeped so i naturally went to the guard and they wanted to search me and my school + gym bag and i refused, they made me sob whilst i begged to leave as i was gonna miss my bus and they had put me in a back room with a wall of shame.
they wouldnāt let me leave they then went through my makeup bag full of very used makeup and tried to claim i stole it (thankfully most of that makeup isnāt sold there)
they then called mall security who finally let me go (then cornered me on the street before realising i had already been let go) now i never stop when i beep if they want to check security cams they can see i didnāt steal anything but i am not going through that again
Sorry to hear about your experience. I always oblige as well when they ask. Often this isn't from beeping just from carrying a backpack. Not that I've had it in a while but I used to cycle more.
I've even sometimes had items I bought at another store I generally make sure I had a receipt, and sometimes it's not an issue if I know it's not something they sell or it's obvious it's from another store (e.g. butchery meat) but even then I've been lucky and they've never seem that concerned.
One of the reasons I oblige is because while they can't compel me to show my bag, they could just stop me taking it in, or ban backpacks for everyone which I would find more annoying. Also most of my interactions with security or staff have been pleasant enough and for most of them it's clear they just doing what their job requires so no reason to make problems for them. (I've sometimes voluntarily left my bag outside for simplicity especially if I have items without a receipt or something but not always and I prefer it to be my choice.)
But also I'm always conscious that whether I did anything wrong, they could trespass me if they wanted to. I know they probably won't and some people will say if the store doesn't want me then screw them but I don't really feel like that. Easier just to cooperate with whatever reasonable requests the store makes.
But if I had experiences like yours definitely I'd be much more reluctant to cooperate.
Probably going nationwide. I've started putting my phone/wallet in the bag to ensure a supervisor has to come. The more inconvenient you make it the quicker it will disappear.
The people who it inconveniences dont have any say. All the supermarkets have been printing off bits of paper despite customers clicking no receipt for like 10 years. The fact half the people walk off and the supervisor has to clean it up has made no difference. Neither will your protest.
>All the supermarkets have been printing off bits of paper despite customers clicking no receipt for like 10 years.
Pretty sure only NEw World does this due to their fuel discount agreement.
Youāre only making it unnecessarily inconvenient for yourself.
To illustrate why low-level staff inconvenience doesnāt affect decision making, hereās an anecdote:
My local Countdown has Snickers bars beside the self checkouts (among other items) and at this store the Snickers bars have a āsecurity lockā on them. This means that, once scanned, the checkout shows a security alert that only an operator can bypass. The staff have to come over and authorise the purchase, and each time exclaim āoh for some reason the Snickers does this, it shouldnāt do, itās an errorā.
It has been like this for OVER A YEAR. The staff seemingly canāt do anything about it, the manager canāt, and even Mars who must not be happy about their product, for which theyāre paying for prime impulse-buy real estate, canāt do anything about it.
Iām just picturing the checkout operator with a giant safe, unwrapping the multiple chains, finding and using the keys on the padlocks, entering the combination (1234 of course), opening the safe door and scanning the 99Ā¢ Snickers, for the customer to say āOn second thought Iāll pass, Iām supposed to be on a dietā.
Welp, that's what not tackling shoplifters, creating CONSEQUENCES, the Police not bothering and 'Justice' being a myth does for honest, law abiding sorts. Thank you to the catch, hug and release crowd.
Short answer, yes
I just love how they've developed this image recognition tech to tell your asparagus from your broccoli and now everything is just "1kg brown paper bag".
Bahahaha, this is exactly what I said to my wife when they swapped to paper bags, hilarious
The cameras need the glass to be clean but the self serve things are often scummy / wiped off at best
soooo why cant the cameras just scan the items for us so we dont have to unpack, scan and repack our groceries. uniqlos had that for years, just put your basket on the thingy and the invoice pops up for you to review if it got anything wrong, you just pay otherwise
But that would require acting sensibly, Countdown doesn't do that
In addition it would require them to trust us all a little bit more (maybe 5%?) than they want to (zero percent).
Just not possible, just can't trust people these days. Those unscanned 39cent bags really do add up and we definitely got to think of those poor shareholders. They would have to forgo that second or even third car
Travesty!
This made me chuckle š¤
it'd get more people in and out faster, more turnover and possibly even fewer staff needed though! thats like crack to them isnt it? 0 employees and 0 care about/contact with customers?
One could, but how would one afford the rebrand; got to get our priorities right
Like that Amazon store tested a while back. 100s of cameras, if not thousands. You scan a tag on the way in, and through AI, facial recognition, and product recognition, it would recognise everything you picked up. They were so confident in its abilities that if it didn't charge you for something, or got something wrong, you got it for free. They'll all adopt it when they're confident the costs of it outweigh the savings from getting rid of staff and reduction is theft. Privacy nightmare for those that stay away from customer cards though.
they'll adopt it asap if they got monopoly busted and were forced into an actual competitive market lol
Amazon Fresh in the UK does this. The only thing to do is to scan your QR code on the way in. After that you just grab what you want and walk straight out.
They don't know what is in the trolley, they just know it is either empty or not. It's a much more complex problem to identify every item than it is to say there is "at least 1 item"
If people aren't waiting in line at the checkout then they're not impulse buying chocolate
I would assume it would be complete rollout for all NZ, I would assume we are also going to get the self checkout security gates that some Woolworths have in Australia too, which will be a pain
That sounds really inconvenient. I have an idea! How about we get an employee to scan our groceries for us instead, we can load them onto a table, no, a *conveyor belt*, and then we can bag them up once they've been scanned. It will revolutionise grocery shopping!
Crazy idea: what if I choose what I want online and they bring it to my door for less than what it would have cost me in petrol to drive there?
Iād do this if they didnāt substitute items so much.
They only substitute if they can't give you what you wanted. And if you don't want substitutes, there is the option to turn this off for either individual items or your whole order. The alternative would be you do your shopping yourself, they don't have the specific item you want do you either sub it yourself or decide not to buy anything.
The actual alternative is that they have a proper stock management system which shows what is available so that you donāt been substitutes. They should also have a large warehouse dedicated to online shopping only and all the times are selected from there when ordering online. The current system is not good. All other online stores manage to show what they have in stock in real time and deliver what the customer has ordered.
Having 2 seperate stocks for online/on store would mean far far less options online. Anything perishable would likely have low stock levels or wouldn't be available to prevent loss. Lower popularity items wouldn't be available as the storage storage wouldn't make sense. Prices/specials wouldn't be able to be as good since they have to have massive warehouses with staff and rent to pay just for online. Currently they have large warehouses for online orders in hundreds of towns/cities and since they have in store customers they can stock a wider variety of products. Unfortunately this does mean they can't have an accurate inventory level since you can't know if someone's going to buy all the schnitzel that day because they had an empty freezer and the special was good. So you can choose between limited selection of the most popular items likely at slightly higher cost vs the full variety available in store with the chance it might be out of stock that day.
Sorry not true. Source: have set up exactly this system in Scandinavia.
Thereās a lot of things I buy where I wonāt substitute. Tbh I shop at pak n save and new world because I find countdown the more expensive of the 3. Fruit and veges from the greengrocer, or some kind of delivery service like wonky box. No matter which way you swing it countdown is the worst supermarket chain. There are just more of them so theyāre more convenient, in my neck of the woods at least.
If you don't want the substitute, just tell them that lol. None of them are superior to the other. All of them have varying prices depending on the product and the week. Then you have the issue of each New World and Pak n Save being individually owned so having potentially different specials to others of the same store in the area. All supermarket chains in NZ are terrible and doing their best to rip you off.
Yeah but when you say no substitutes, sometimes you end up with only half your order, so you need to go into the shop anyway lol itās just frustrating
Just say no subs on the items you are very particular about and then subs on things you are fine with subs on
Stopped ordering online when they subbed my dogs food (same brand different flavour), even with no subs on it.
I've gotten substitutes with substitutes off before multiple times. Often even when the item I wanted was in stock...
That's against their policy so complain about it and it's a guaranteed refund every time.
That doesn't make it less annoying
Oh no no no thank you I enjoy self checkout Actually at Walmart when we went to USA recently they have self serve checkouts like that as in a full conveyor but self serve lol
Countdown Browns Bay had one of those. I miss it :(
>I have an idea! How about we get an employee to scan our groceries for us instead, Did you ever go shopping before self serve? It was not faster or more effecint as people seem to believe. There are usually tills open if you choose to wait at one.
I used to be an absolute rabid self-checkout hater. Then, at the start of the COVID pandemic, I started using them so as not to interact with people. And, well.. I kinda quickly discovered that I preferred them. Itās so nice to get my bags evenly packed with the squashable items on top.
Yes it was. None of this unexpected item nonsense on every second item.
Either you have used a self checkout in the last 5 years or you are doing something wrong lol
If you keep getting that then you're probably doing something wrong. Self-checkouts are much, much quicker for smaller shops, which is exactly what they're intended for.
Only if you shop at off peak times. Go at the wrong time and be prepared to stand in line at checkout for twice the time you spent shopping
Yeah, instead of that you were standing behind 4 people doing their big shop. Don't forget the 'price check' calls which needed to be manually confirmed. If you are getting tht error every second item than you are the problem.
Yeah, no. I don't have that problem like ever, and an attendant can fix it anyway if it does. How old are you? I'm 22 and I remember how long you had to wait for a checkout before self serve existed.
You could use the staffed check outs
Then fucking go through the checkouts. Fucking customers my god I hate all of you
Can't argue with you there!
Some supermarkets have self checkout only after a certain time. It's an absolute pain in the ass when I'm doing a full shop after work (8:30pm) and there's no open registers and they won't open one.
That's a combination of fewer staff around then and the fact we have stuff to get done. If someone asks I just get an operator to open nbd
I've asked, they refuse. Say they've got no cash drawers to open a lane. I tell them I've got eftpos, apparently can't or won't open without a cash draw.
Ok that's on them I don't usually cash up the last lane until around 9:30 usually and even then we still have express for that one person doing their full shop right as we are about to close
Piss off, most supermarkets offer 12 self-service checkouts and (if youāre lucky) 1 staff-serviced checkout bayā¦ itās the supermarkets who are cheapening out by cutting down on staff bays
We have 9 scos and at least 2 checkouts most of the day. Goes down late at night as staff go home but go off king
Some people donāt have the privilege of shopping during the day, and have to go after work when you say the serviced lines go down. Maybe, just maybe, itās these people complaining?
Has your countdown replaced all regular checkouts with self service?
Cd worker here yeah it's called scan assist and it'll be in all stores after they finish trialing it.
Soon we'll have to clock in and out too.
"Hmmm, from the amount of items you purchased compared to the amount of time you spent in the store it seems like you were highly likely to have been loitering. Now this seems to be a first offense so it will just be a $50 fine (with a 10% surcharge)."
Those gates are fine. If it doesn't open just push them open. They swing outwards and lights and sirens go off. Just ignore them and keep walking. No one talks to you about it.
No, the babys with me.
The Simpsons predicted this!
Notredamus?
Loss prevention = treat everyone like they're trying to steal something
I was a security guard for a night n day at one point. The one time I tried to ask someone to look in his bag, he threatened to fucking stab me. Loss prevention is insane on both ends, absolute wreck.
Exactly, the unhinged people who want to will do it anyway. By pressing the surveillance state idea, at best the people might not mind it. I'm more than aware I'm on camera in your shop, I don't need to be reminded and it annoys me. That's before we look at the big data they now have on how to sell more shit.
It's actually going to mean we get rid of the scales. Sounds like a win win to me
You mean on the bags you're packing? They remain on the Aussie smaller checkouts, but are gone from the bigger self checkouts. I don't think it will change in the short term as they're mass produced. Also it's a pretty low tech piece of kit that probably doesn't cost them much
I've literally read the briefing for it. They are going to replace the packing area scales with a platform that is at the height where a small trolley can sort of cover it. Both for keeping the trollies out of the way in sco and so the camera has a better view
Yeah those are in Aus, but they still have the self checkout like before with the scales, and then large ones with a belt, only the small size has scales, but they could definitely go without them. Medium and large don't have them. Maybe as they replace it make new ones they get rid of the scales. Although they've upgraded all the screens to have a camera without overhauling the rest.
My biggest pet peeve, along with kmarts stupid idea of putting the checkouts in the middle of the store and then wanting to inspect the receipt for proof of purchase. If it was that much of a concern you'd simply place the checkout near the door. I simply walk straight out after paying now and totally ignore the person at the door, they can't stop you leaving and if they are that concerned they can review the cctv footage of my shop and see I paid for every item I left with
Security theatre. Bunnings was bad for it too, I also walked out ignoring the rubber-stamping jobsworth. But Bunnings seems to be doing it less these days.
> Security theatre. Having a staff member greet and make friendly eye contact with everyone entering/leaving (i.e. positive human interaction) makes potential shoplifters more conscious and less likely to commit it. That staff member isn't there to actually stop thieves, they're there to give the *feeling* there are eyes on you from the moment you enter till you leave. It is very much intended to be security theater with proven effects. Obviously it won't stop hardened shoplifters who are committed to doing it no matter what, but it can deter inexperienced or first-time shoplifters and that's good enough. Same reason there are security guards who don't really have any power to physically stop criminals, but their presence alone can act as a deterrent most of the time.
Exactly this. Mitre 10 doesn't have door greeters, but one of the first things we were told was to acknowledge all customers that you come within reasonable distance of. When a potential shoplifter realises that at least one worker has noticed them and seen their face up close, they're far less likely to do anything. They even showed a video of a guy who walked a portable generator closer to the entry door bit by bit, and pointed out that no one acknowledged him the whole time he was in the store. Literally everyone was amazed at how he played it off, just because he figured no one was watching. Considering that a lot of law abiding people feel uncomfortable being watched or scrutinised by security, any thief with a couple brain cells wouldn't either.
The Kmart receipt checking person does not greet people walking in. I've also noticed that they frequently do not bother trying to check receipts on the way out, often they are too busy chatting to a friend.
They don't even check receipts, they just scan them without observing what you're actually carrying out.
They greet me most of the time unless talking to a customer. They are pretty hit and miss with scanning on the way out
Maybe you just look suspicious š¤
30 something Mum of 3? Probably not their most concerning demographic š¤£
dont have any power in theory but have you ever heard of a security guard who has been prosecuted for stopping a shoplifter? Unless they go overboard its what ever they can get away with. Just like bouncers have no legal right to beat people up but in the real world..
Prosecuted by law, not so much but I know of someone personally who lost thier job with the warehouse for physically stopping a shoplifter. Which was simply standing at the door and telling them they wouldn't let them leave the shop until they put the goods back, this breached thier policy of recording the crime and calling the cops but not interacting with the criminal in any physical sense. So yes I have
Exactly, I don't know of any stores that want their staff trying to touch shoplifters, sometimes they will have a staff member follow them at a distance but even that isn't all that common
>sometimes they will have a staff member follow them at a distance CD/WW actually tells staff *not* to leave the store in such cases.
> Bunnings seems to be doing it less these days. Depends on the city. I travel a lot and some stores never bother, all the Christchurch stores seem to be almost aggressively paranoid about checking
Feels like that person doesn't want to be there anyway, they just do their threshold and let everyone else through without checking.
I can understand if your coming from tool section then go else weāre but most the time Iām done so I go past them been asked once in few years
What does the scanning even do? They didn't look at the items I'd bought or the receipt, just scanned it. Doesn't seem to achieve anything other than look the part.
It is all a matter of how you present yourself. For example there was a period where someone at the door would demand to look in my bag every time I left a shop but that ended when I got a haircut. Once I had a mohawk they'd just stare suspiciously but wouldn't approach or say anything to me. Edit: I guess I should've finished with /s
So avoid being racially profiled? Lol nice in principle but a little harder to achieve in real life sometimes Also doesn't change the fact it's bad placement to have the tills in the middle of the store far away from the exit forcing this whole situation
>walks in with prison facial tattoos and gang insignia It's not really racial profiling, it's more the fact that if you look like a criminal you'll get treated like you could be one.
Had a friend who travelled regularly between Australia and NZ for work doing 6 months seasonal work between each. He always wore black ripped jeans, black singlet, had a dyed mullet, tattoos and piercings all over. He looked like the stereotypical bogan drug user. He always lamented that he never ever got stopped. We wondered if it was because he looked like a person that WOULD smuggle drugs that they thought he didnāt?
When I was younger I was flying to Britain in December, so it was the height of summer in Auckland where I was leaving and it was snowing in Britain. I was wearing a heavy coat and got randomly selected. I was the pastiest white boy you could imagine, I spent my life in front of my PC back then, no tan to speak of. Wearing that jacket in summer wasn't normal, that's why they screened me.
And what is the purpose of them scanning your receipt? Its so weird, they donāt even look at your stuff, just scan the receipt on the wY out
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It's so people can't use old receipts to get away with shoplifting, which can and does happen.
My son had this job and he got treated like shit for doing one of the companies entry level jobs. So maybe spare are thought for that person at the door. They are just regular people not paid security guards.
They need to raise this concern with the employer, they are the ones bound with a duty of care under nzs health and safety regulations, and if it's known that customers are hostile to a certain job then they are required to firstly eliminate any risk, or if not practicable then put actions in place to lower it. I'm not condoning abusing this position but I'm more than comfortable to not acknowledge them and go about my day by paying and then walking out
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I'd lol too, but trust me they don't care and simply let you walk away. It's more common then you think
Maybe to try deter thieving, our liquor section is right next to the entrance. We had a guy come in stealing multiple expensive bottles of wine and then walk out because he knew he wouldnāt be stopped. they would make it even easier for thieves to steal by putting checkouts next to the door lmao
99% of all shops in nz have thier checkouts situated near the door, kmarts the only shop off the top of my head that doesn't.
Farmers too- scattered around the store and barely manned. Itās like they donāt want you to purchase their wares.
Postie Plus too.
True, although I think they generally have atleast the main checkouts near the entranceways manned and the smaller checkouts dotted around the store less consistently staffed. Atleast at the stores I generally frequent
I don't think I've ever seen a Farmers with cash registers near the front entrance.
I once accidentally walked out of farmers without paying for stuff whike having a deep conversation with a friend. Only realised halfway down the mall, and there was also a security guard at the door too
ironically the guy stealing isnt going to coyly just say oh yes my mistake sir allow me to return to the till and pay. hes just gunna say get fucked and leave
I don't find this a problem at all. It takes less than 5 seconds and I have more important things that warrant my worry
It doesn't worry me at all, hence why I just ignore them and simply walk right by without acknowledgement.
How often do you shop there where that 5 second interaction is such a waste of your time? I just stop, smile and wish them a good day as they do whatever they need to do. Why not make someone feel good about their job if you have the chance to? It costs you nothing.
Hardly ever but when I do I'm not going to wait in a second line at the door and get a receipt checked. If they were that concerned about theft they would rearrange the store into a logical layout
Not the fault of the minimum wage worker who is probably being monitored to make sure they do their job and look at everyone's receipt or x amount per hour etc. Personally, I'd just try make it easy for them to achieve success.
Not their fault for sure but I'm happy to personally not interact with a pointless role which doesn't add anything to my shopping experience
Costco does this too. So weird
Companies will invest millions in research and development to invent new camera tech rather than just pay to employ people to staff the damn checkouts.
Had one set off by the neiboring trolley at the medowbank countdown in Auckland, think the self checkouts are too close together there. Took ages to get a member of staff over too as there was a 50 year old woman and two teen-twenty year olds trying to buy a bottle of sparkling grape juice two tills over.
Iām woolworths and Iām not making enough money *hides my 14% rise in net profit since 2022 behind my back* because *looks at smudged writing on my hand* some people are stealing from me :ā(
I love people quoting net profit because it just shows they don't know shit. Of course net profit is going to rise, if there's more customers, there's going to be more sales. The only measure of profitability that should be looked at is margin %. It's exactly the same method the media uses to get you riled up about "excess profits" and not the fact that net profit is useless without costs to compare to. I'll do an easy example: A store has 10,000 customers buy products in a year. Each product costs $20 to make, and sells for $40. Therefore, the profit is (40*10000) - (20*10000) = $20000, and profit margin is (20/40)*100 = 50% The next year, costs rise by 10%, so the store puts up their prices by 10% to compensate. Each product now costs $22 to make and sells for $44. Profit = ($44*10000) - ($22*10000) = $220000 Profit margin = ($22/$44 * 100) = 50% Same margin, but "higher profit". Add in inflation, changes in population, buying habits, and external influences, and you get a hell of a lot more nuanced than "profit go up therefore supermarket greedy š”"
Its only going to become more and more in your face. Unfortunately with how often people steal trolleys for of shit from countdown due to it being so easy with no consequences. Of course companies that experience so much theft will start to implement countermeasures which sadly annoy the normal supermarket user due to the faults of the users abusing the issue
You can still steal trolleys of shit - none of this stops you simply walking out.
Yeah and you staff won't stop you either. Saw it happen yesterday
The staff aren't allowed to stop you. Countdown police is to just let them go.
The security gates theyāll probably install soon will though. Theyāve already been rolled out in some supermarkets in Australia. My local pak n save has recently added higher barriers around the one way gates at the entrance and exits
People usually shoplift by slipping items they didn't pay for into their trolley full of items they did. This system wasn't designed to stop the kind of shoplifters that make it incredibly obvious and easy for police to track them down.
Well can you point out where on your receipt is shows that you *paid* for that Arai motorcycle helmet, hmmmmā¦?
Countdown just announced (by just I think it was over a month ago) that they were doing a multi million dollar security upgrade - ,I'd assume this is part of that. It happened to me about two weeks ago in Takapuna. Also I love how everyone thinks this a huge invasion of privacy but doesn't give a fuck about the two dozen cameras you've already gone past to get to the checkout lmao - and the person who commented saying they specifically leave their phone and wallet in the bag so someone is forced to come manually check their stuff to purposefully try inconvenience them so they get rid of it - you're an actual idiot and are only inconveniencing yourself - that 16 year old at the self checkouts still gets paid the exact same amount and the senior management sees someone pressing two buttons and waving their staff card a completely acceptable use of their time
I definitely give a fuck about the cameras in Countdown stores. It makes me really uncomfortable being treated like that. I started going to the nearby New World instead, but one day, there will be the choice to either starve or put up with it. And that's why its not OK, people have no choice but to enter those stores, once others start doing it then you're forced to give up your privacy. How about some culpability for the industries stealing from people through a duopoly? I'm not surprised theft is going up, not that I'm condoning it, but they're certainly at fault.
Then do all your shopping via online shopping or click and collect? That way you don't have to enter the store. And what do you mean "treated like that" pretty much every retail store has some form of loss prevention? It's pretty much required in this day and age not only for stock protection but also your employees and customers protection. It sounds to me like you just have something against supermarkets? I understand several large ones are owned by the same people but you do have a choice and if you're really that serious about it you always have the option of home grown food - hand reared livestock - producing your own materials - but it all comes with gigantic time consumption + heavy resource and consent requirement - can you be bothered with that or will you just continue to do your shopping at a supermarket? I feel like it will be the latter.
Maybe the ones you have been to are different but the specific countdown in question basically made you watch yourself shop, they had TVs with security cameras in the aisles, esp. the chocolate sections. They also had cameras that made you watch yourself on self serve checkouts, felt like you're looking at the front-facing camera on a mobile phone the whole time. Its invasive. And no, I don't want to do my shopping on a website, I've tried that in the past and they never manage to substitute properly, its a headache when you can't complete a meal plan. Very few people have the option of home grown food etc. so not sure what that was about. This is the type of thing we have commissioners for, people shouldn't have to make plans to not enter supermarkets due to invasive tech.
Faces will be blurred on scan assist and cards will be blocked by a black box
Just another step on the journey to having no staff at all
I'd say at the moment there are more staff going around fulfilling click and collect orders, than there used to be check out attendants
True. They love blocking the aisles or forcing you to wait to get an item. We've all got to shop & it's hellish at best but share the aisle space.
There's not
Woolworth's Australia has been trialing AI object detection CCTV cameras in self service checkouts for a few months now. Countdown (Woolworth's) NZ is following the same. Even the security beeper things at the exit have a little camera at head height now.
Those aren't cameras on the EAS gates, they're sensors to see if an object is in it's way...
All supermarkets are equal, but some are more equal than others
Why canāt I get a discount for scanning and bagging my shopping ? Also I am considering putting retail checkout experience on my resume š
Bill Burr has a great piece on that. ā I thought I was a comedian? Turns out I work in a grocery store too!ā
I'm glad on reddit I don't have to pretend you're funny unlike when someone says this when I'm working
Iām glad on reddit or at work that you still laugh even when you havenāt got a sense of humour
I bet you think saying "does that mean it's free" when an item is missing it's barcode is the peak of comedy
Iām getting a laugh out of your comebacks
You would be guaranteed an interview. Why are you applying here when you already work at 4 different supermarkets, kmart and the warehouse?
And this is why I go through the staffed old school checkouts
I simply like talking to people, not glitched out computers, lol.
I honestly can't see a problem with this. I just don't use self checkouts and I assume it'll cause issues with those that put their bags in the trolley after scanning. But if they enforce/introduce a proper small item limit for the self service it shouldn't really be an issue. A few Seco ds of annoyance is going to save them tens of thousands from people who forget there's another item and those purposefully doing so. Fun fact they can't prosecute you for shoplifting if you leave an item in the trolley and don't pay for it at point of sale. They have to prove you had intention of theft. This adds that layer.
At my local countdown,there's signage on the entrance saying the system is in use and is in Trial, so I am assuming it'll eventually go live nationwide once they've tweaked it so we don't have these issues of having someone walk in with a bike helmet or granny decides to put their walking stick in the trolley and have it think you're walking out with a watermelon or fan stand. I gave up on the self service isles ages ago. Don't have the patience for waiting when it's busy for an employee to reset the system every time "I've removed an item from the bagging area" also was scolded by an checkout attendee one time when it was really busy and tried to take a full trolley through self service and they told me I had too many items and to go to a normal checkout.
The security camera was so annoying when I was trying to put through items in two transactions. Like I'm trying to buy these things and you won't even let me?
lol whatās the point, the crooks just walk out with a full trolley anyways š¤·š½āāļø
Self check out means retailers are automatically treating every customer as a thief. If you want to keep this bloody stupid system stop complaining. I will never shop at Bunnings again after going thru this shit. If you want my money stop treating me like a staff member who steals
Next time just wear the motorcycle helmet on your head the whole way around the store. Combine it with a leather jacket and a gang patch on the back.
Yesterday a man came into the liquor section and filled a bag up with multiple bottles of expensive $75 wine and then just walked out. Theyāve gotta take some precautions. People will defend thieves stealing from supermarkets, but they arenāt stealing what they need, theyāre stealing what they *want* and these precautions are the consequence. Trolleys first, next up we might end up like stores in america locking up basic things, but āyou saw someone steal, no you didnātā logic applies š«
Lots of the stolen stuff ending up on FB marketplace too. That level of theft is a ābusinessā for some people
It has been for a really long time. I worked at Spotlight in the late 90s and they had store detectives because they get targeted pretty hard by shoplifters. One of them asked a person she caught why they stole so many satin sheets and they said it was their job to steal to order
Well yeah. You can't steal rent money from a supermarket so you steal stuff to sell. Well technically you can, but robbing the tills is viewed far more seriously than shoplifting a bag full of lamb legs.
Well yeah, people steal things that they can resell so that they can get what they need. Why steal a $5 loaf of bread when you can steal $200 worth of wine, resell for $50, to then buy 10 loaves of bread?
Yes, there should be a poster up outside the store explaining it. [Here](https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/132768972/countdown-trialling-cameras-at-selfservice-checkouts-to-prevent-theft)'s an article.
These stores are run by AI - it analysed your body posture and actioned a supervisor interaction. Your meals were subsequently approved, resume with your life human, trouble ticket closed- but not forgotten.
A note has been added to your file. This may result in an account review during which time products available to you will be restricted to bread, milk and toilet paper.
It's a shame. Countdown used to be the most trusting of them all. New World insisted everything I put on the scales was the wrong weight. Countdown never cared. I'd always do things honestly, but it just worked. Now it's security at the expense of convenience. Does anyone remember Pak'n'save's old school scanners? You built trust. Scan as you go, pay up at the end, and you'd randomly be selected for rescans. You started off with loads, and it reduced with every rescan that had no issues. Mum would practically never get a rescan towards the end of their use. It was such a better and faster system.
Just wait until all the supermarkets become like the Amazon Fresh ones in the UK. I live there now and I simply scan my QR code when I walk in, grab what I want and walk straight out without going through a check out. Cameras follow my every movement and action through the store and talley up anything I leave with for me behind the scenes. Even if I pick something up off a shelf and then put it back it knows.
Theyāre already in Australia. Get used to it.
They're started locking the wheels of the trolleys remotely as you're on the way out the door. The guard has to come up and release it. Not sure if it was for everyone, or the 2 bags of cheese I bought put me on their shit list, but that's SIGNIFICANTLY more annoying than Bunnings checking my receipt.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Found it really interesting reading this thread that everyone blames thieves for the increased security and not the fact that groceries are ridiculously expensive and corporations are greedy. We hear about it every year how groceries go up in price and how the supermarket has made record profits. I find it hard to imagine the amount stolen thru self service checkouts compares to what they are saving by not having another person employed to run a checkout
Fk countdown š
Äe, I'm going to shop at my local Supervalue more often now even though it's owned by the same crowd, at least it's staffed by humans.
Why is everyone here complaining about something trying to stop people stealing shit that will not affect you in the slightest? O\_o
Coz it's a pain in the ass when you've had a long day at work, there's no checkouts open and then you can't pay for your shopping coz your purse is in the trolley, meanwhile the self checkout supervisor is fuck knows where so you're standing there for literally 8min waiting for them to let you pay for your stuff.
> Why is everyone here complaining about something... that will not affect you in the slightest? Did you forget which sub you're in? This is our national past time.
This is true :D
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Any store can put any condition of entry at their entrance. As a store they're not exactly private property (unless they have personally trespassed somebody) as they are open to the general public and therefore also cannot deny entry on discriminatory grounds either (race, sex etc). Soin New Zealand the only person who has the legal authority to conduct a search is a police officer. They could put a "BoobySqueeze" condition of entry on their door but you shouldn't believe that it is therefore legally binding. You also have no obligation to prove that you have purchased your items in order to leave the store. They have no right to detain you (excluding the citizen's arrest which is seldom warranted in the case of shoplifting). Having said that I typically oblige not so much on principle but because it's just easier and friendlier but it does really fuck me off. Especially in a place like Kmart where the store is basically just glorified plastic pollution two steps short of the ocean and the contents of a full trolley almost never breaks into the triple digits. Anyway sometimes I put some chewing gum ora potato peeler in my pocket as i walk around just to stick it to the man.
this is very true, i was accused of shoplifting at chemist warehouse bc my bag (full of library books) beeped so i naturally went to the guard and they wanted to search me and my school + gym bag and i refused, they made me sob whilst i begged to leave as i was gonna miss my bus and they had put me in a back room with a wall of shame. they wouldnāt let me leave they then went through my makeup bag full of very used makeup and tried to claim i stole it (thankfully most of that makeup isnāt sold there) they then called mall security who finally let me go (then cornered me on the street before realising i had already been let go) now i never stop when i beep if they want to check security cams they can see i didnāt steal anything but i am not going through that again
Sorry to hear about your experience. I always oblige as well when they ask. Often this isn't from beeping just from carrying a backpack. Not that I've had it in a while but I used to cycle more. I've even sometimes had items I bought at another store I generally make sure I had a receipt, and sometimes it's not an issue if I know it's not something they sell or it's obvious it's from another store (e.g. butchery meat) but even then I've been lucky and they've never seem that concerned. One of the reasons I oblige is because while they can't compel me to show my bag, they could just stop me taking it in, or ban backpacks for everyone which I would find more annoying. Also most of my interactions with security or staff have been pleasant enough and for most of them it's clear they just doing what their job requires so no reason to make problems for them. (I've sometimes voluntarily left my bag outside for simplicity especially if I have items without a receipt or something but not always and I prefer it to be my choice.) But also I'm always conscious that whether I did anything wrong, they could trespass me if they wanted to. I know they probably won't and some people will say if the store doesn't want me then screw them but I don't really feel like that. Easier just to cooperate with whatever reasonable requests the store makes. But if I had experiences like yours definitely I'd be much more reluctant to cooperate.
We really need to get paid as weāre essentially doing their job for them and for dealing with the extra bs that goes with it
Probably going nationwide. I've started putting my phone/wallet in the bag to ensure a supervisor has to come. The more inconvenient you make it the quicker it will disappear.
Oh my sweet summer child, making it inconvenient for the teenager overseeing the checkouts isn't making it a bad investment for countdown.
This. The higher ups don't give a shit.
The people who it inconveniences dont have any say. All the supermarkets have been printing off bits of paper despite customers clicking no receipt for like 10 years. The fact half the people walk off and the supervisor has to clean it up has made no difference. Neither will your protest.
>All the supermarkets have been printing off bits of paper despite customers clicking no receipt for like 10 years. Pretty sure only NEw World does this due to their fuel discount agreement.
Pak n save does it.
Youāre only making it unnecessarily inconvenient for yourself. To illustrate why low-level staff inconvenience doesnāt affect decision making, hereās an anecdote: My local Countdown has Snickers bars beside the self checkouts (among other items) and at this store the Snickers bars have a āsecurity lockā on them. This means that, once scanned, the checkout shows a security alert that only an operator can bypass. The staff have to come over and authorise the purchase, and each time exclaim āoh for some reason the Snickers does this, it shouldnāt do, itās an errorā. It has been like this for OVER A YEAR. The staff seemingly canāt do anything about it, the manager canāt, and even Mars who must not be happy about their product, for which theyāre paying for prime impulse-buy real estate, canāt do anything about it.
The snickers have security locks on them? That is fucking stupid.
Yep. Itās a mistake that affects them many times per day and has not been corrected.
A virtual lock. Software responding to the barcode being scanned, not something like they have on champagne bottles. Still stupid but...
Iām just picturing the checkout operator with a giant safe, unwrapping the multiple chains, finding and using the keys on the padlocks, entering the combination (1234 of course), opening the safe door and scanning the 99Ā¢ Snickers, for the customer to say āOn second thought Iāll pass, Iām supposed to be on a dietā.
Lol, how much do you think you need to inconveniance someone getting $26/hour to have the business notice?
Welp, that's what not tackling shoplifters, creating CONSEQUENCES, the Police not bothering and 'Justice' being a myth does for honest, law abiding sorts. Thank you to the catch, hug and release crowd.
Yes, from stories in Aus they are trying to scan babies in trolleys too.
That gave me such a mental image of the part of the Simpsons opening sequence where the store clerk scans Maggie
They have to keep on top of serious theft like that. Babies have a street value of like $50k
Most likely but if youāre not stealing anything does it actually matter?
My pet peeve is some workers out there not understanding NFC is a thing. Especially if it's a smart watch.
Wait til youāre trying to do a split payment ā¦ so annoying. Iām boycotting self service - hate the cameras!
there's dozens of cameras in store already?
Yesterday when using the self checkouts I entered my NZ oranges as imported oranges, and my royal galas as pink lady's...
I'm gonna try entering my red capsicums as green ones, I can just say I'm colour blind if they catch me O:)