Grocery Shopping II: Self check out, like or loath?

[Andy768]

I love self checkout. I'm an awkward introvert.

[samhexum]

A downstate lawmaker has introduced a bill that would require NY stores selling food to offer a 10% discount to customers using self-checkout lanes.

Assemblywoman Nikki Lucas of the 60th District in Brooklyn proposed the bill. If passed, any food retail stores would be required to give customers a 10% discount on any purchase if they use self-checkout.

That includes Wegmans, Aldi, Tops, Walmart and Costco.  News10NBC’s Garrett Chan spoke with shoppers at the East Avenue Wegmans to see where they stand on the proposal.

For most shoppers, anything to save money helps. Valerie Yanus said she and her family already uses self-checkout at Wegmans.

“I’m for it. I mean, we use self-checkout anyway, so saving money would be great, especially with the issue prices seeming to be higher than usual,” Yanus said.

Chan bought lunch at Wegmans and scanned it through self-checkout. The total cost came to $15.16.

If the law was in place, after the 10% discount, he would have paid $13.64. Despite the savings, some shoppers have concerns.

“I think my concern with it will be, you know, is it worth it for us if we start implementing this procedure and it results in layoffs or the cutting of hours for service workers who already are desperate for those hours. So I don’t know if that trade off is necessarily worth it in the long run,” Daniel Davis said.

Kevin McCully said it sounds like a good idea with one condition. “As long as people behave themselves and don’t go crazy stealing at the self-checkout, I’m all for it,” McCully said.

Chan reached out to Assemblywoman Lucas to speak on the bill. She plans to send a statement as soon as possible.

Chan also reached out to representatives for Wegmans, Aldi, Tops and Costco. So far, only Tops has responded. Read the full statement below:

“As this is only a proposed bill, we haven’t evaluated it or its potential impact. Because the legislation is still in the early stages, it’s premature for us to speculate on any potential financial, staffing, or operational implications. We appreciate you reaching out and will continue to monitor the legislative process.“

At this point, the proposal is just a bill. It hasn’t made it to committee yet, let alone been discussed by the full state legislature.

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