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BETWEEN THE LINES
Walmart's new policy is making the checkout process a hassle for customers
- Teresa Mettela
A WALMART shopper has shared how she picked up extra goods to help her pass the hour-long self-checkout wait.
She found a fantasy novel and snacks while waiting over an hour to pay for her cart of items.
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"Help I’m literally trapped inside Walmart," she tweeted.
"They are mainly self-checkout but the lines on either side of the store are so long they pass by each other in the middle I have taken shelter in the tech department and am reading a book to help pass the time."
She mentioned her love for fantasy novels and was recommended the popular book series A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas.
The series is known for being a notoriously long read, but the Walmart customer felt it was the perfect time to begin.
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"I’ve heard of it but never read so depending on how long I’m here I may even stay till it closes at 11 (it’s 8 now)," she tweeted later that night.
Fantasy novels weren't the only thing she picked up during her wait.
In her tweet thread, the customer shared she was craving frozen macaroons and added three boxes to her cart.
An hour after her initial tweet, the customer said she was "finally free."
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Walmart reached out in the comments eager to learn more about her experience and asking the shopper to reach out.
Elsewhere in the comments of her post, other shoppers sympathized with her experience.
‘Never shop at that store chain again,’ warn Walmart shoppers as they’re forced to pay subscription to use self-checkout
"I definitely feel this sometimes when I go to Walmart actually a lot of big box stores are like this only having a couple people checking and then expecting others to self-check out ugh," one X user replied.
Walmart operates thousands of locations across the country under the mission statement to "save people money so that they can live better."
They might be saving money, but customers feel that they're not saving any time.
Walmart recently introduced a new "pay-in-advance" feature at the self-checkout registers that is sending customers fleeing to competitor stores.
In March 2024, several shoppers began to notice signs that blocked off some self-checkout kiosks in-store, specifically forWalmart+ subscribersand Spark Drivers.
Customers with a Walmart+ subscription payan annual fee of $98for the membership which includes several perks like a Scan & Go feature for an efficient checkout experience.
Latest self-checkout changes
Retailers are evolving their self-checkout strategy in an effort to speed up checkout times and reduce theft.
Walmart shoppers were shocked when self-checkout lanes at various locations were made available only for Walmart+ members.
Other customers reported that self-checkout was closed during specific hours, and more cashiers were offered instead.
While shoppers feared that shoplifting fueled the updates, a Walmart spokesperson revealed that store managers are simply experimenting with ways to improve checkout performance.
One bizarre experiment included an RFID-powered self-checkout kiosk that would stop the fiercely contested receipt checks.
However, that test run has been phased out.
At Target, items are being limited at self-checkout.
Last fall, the brand surveyed new express self-checkout lanes across 200 stores with 10 items or less for more convenience.
As of March 2024, this policy has been expanded across 2,000 stores in the US.
However, customers without the membership are having the opposite experience.
With lanes now reserved for subscribed customers at many Walmart stores, some claim the chain is effectively making them pay almost $100 to use self-checkout kiosks.
The reserved lanes are pushing customers to take their business elsewhere.
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"Target can get all my money," a former Walmart fan said.
Shoppers are calling for retailers to bring back cashiered checkout and eliminate self-checkout.
