NY Struggles With the Grocery Checkout

Some people are bothered by self-checkout options at retailers, and in a place like New York, this means that legislators will try to “address their concerns.” Now, it’s not surprising that retail-staff unions would voice such objections, but the beef that others have is more vague. Some want to support the clerks, but there’s also fear the automation (actually just customer use of automation) will lead to errors, enrich corporations or just diminish humanity in the shopping experience. Hello, Amazon? Not all retailers have embraced the practice–Trader Joe’s is one notable holdout, while Aldi has pulled back–and others have found they need to employ additional security to combat cheating/thievery. Not content to let the market decide, however, lawmakers have favored proportional limits on self-checkout grocery registers or now, with this bill by a Brooklyn assemblywoman, a mandatory 10% discount for those who choose them. I’m not sure she realizes this pricing differential would increase the demand (and lengthen the lines) for self-checkout, or that it most likely would inspire merchants instead to charge more for clerk help–which is what they’d wish to do anyway. But no matter, the bill surely will attract further tinkering in the days ahead. At least Albany–unlike the nabobs of neighboring New Jersey–never got around to outlawing self-pump gasoline.

https://www.whec.com/top-news/new-york-state-bill-targets-self-checkout-savings-at-major-retailers-including-wegmans-costco-and-walmart