Sainsburys self service scales

[Jethro_uk]

Now incorporate a camera to automatically select the price for you.

(Doesn't do weigh on settle though)

[Bob Eager]

But do they tell you how long a lettuce (or King Charles) will last?

[Jethro_uk]

There was a satirical piece in the register over 15 years ago about an "app" that could scan fruit and veg and give you the use by date ...

[alan_m]

Isn't that to overcome the problem where most people weighing fruit and vegetables input carrots as being the product on the scales. Some supermarkets were selling many tons more carrots than they put on the shelves.

I note in some of te supermarkets many more cameras monitoring the individual self service checkouts

[alan_m]

Sometimes you can just use your eyes to tell you how long something is going to last BUT you first have to remove the item away from the lighting illumination the shelving. Supermarkets are very good at proving green lighting for fruit/veg, red lighting for meat etc.

[Joe]

Costco and Walmart in the US have closed some self-service tills, allegedly due to 'losses'.

[Tim Streater]

Why might they do that?

[The Natural Philosopher]

Carrots are cheaper than avocados?

[Tim Streater]

In the hope that the checkout person doesn't see the words "Loose carrots" in large text on the sticky label the scroat has attached to the avocado?

[The Natural Philosopher]

might be self service checkout.

[Peter Johnson]

The customer using the self service scales and misidentifying the produce will also be using the self-service checkout.

[ken]

Because they are cheaper.

[Tim Streater]

Certainly. But such get checked from time to time.

[SteveW]

I wish Sainsburys near here would do away with some and man more proper tills.

I'm fed up of long queues at the trolley self-service, because no tills are manned and the basket self-service is closed, so that they only need one member of staff.

I'm fed up of scanning a bottle of alcohol (or even alcohol free wine or beer) and having it flag up as needing approval and needing a tag taken off, so I can't pack it and end up with the heavy liquids on top of stuff that gets squashed. Even worse, they now have changed to okaying the purchase, but they don't take the tag off until after you've paid - and of course they are then tied up with someone else and you're stuck, trying to get their attention

It's so much easier to go through the manned till, if any are open.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Shop at Waitrose, instead.

Scan alcohol, position starts flashing, carry on packing till assistant rocks up, confirms that you are not underage, and that's it. No tags on on the first place.

[SteveW]

Unfortunately, Sainsburys is 5 minutes away, while Waitrose is 30 minutes away, so not really worth the effort for just a few items.

[Jethro_uk]

SWMBO has just reminded me that the mushrooms we were weighing were in an opaque reusable bag - and therefore not immediately discernable as mushrooms. Yet the scales correctly selected "mushrooms" as the item to weigh.

I suspect there is a little bit more computing going on somewhere ... maybe a crude density calculation to act as a double-check.

If only they'd deployed this level of computing power when Covid loans were being dished out.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Sainsbury's is either 35 minutes away or 50. Oddly enough two Waitroses in different towns are my nearest stores, with Tescos very close behind. Maybe Lidl and Aldi are fractionally closer in the town I don't visit that often, but I didn't find they had the stuff I wanted. My favourite Waitrose is a very relaxed 25 minute country drive. Ample parking, relaxed and friendly staff. I don't care if it's ten quid more

[Animal]

Waitrose is only £10 more if you're just spending a fiver. OTOH Their Patak's were cheaper than Tesco last time.

[Dave W]

I wonder if the bag is opaque to visible light but transparent to infra red which the camera can see.