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As opposed to what? Tallying everything in my head? "Oh, how much was this carrot again? Let me go back to the carrots to check."
Barcodes are a labor saving device, not a compliance mechanism. It's absolutely trivial to circumvent.
Yes, and if YOU have to scan everything, rather than a cashier, that is also a labor-saving device... for the store that doesn't have to pay the cashier.
They're adding in an extra step for YOU, the customer to undertake mostly for the store's convenience. And they expect you to be honest while you do it, while still implementing anti-theft measures.
If you want an alternative, Sam's Club does Scan and Go where you can use your phone to scan your stuff as you shop, pay online, then mosy on past the checkout counter to the friendly staffer at the door who briefly checks if you've paid for all the items you said you bought.
Yes, we live in an era where every single person has a bar-code reader in their possession at all times.
THAT would be one hell of an alternative. Scan everything you're buying, and pay digitally (or pay at some automated kiosk), and then walk out the door.
Amazon Fresh had the best model for this, Just Walk Out. Cameras watch everything you do, associate you with the items you pick up and walk out of the store with, and charge you.
Unfortunately a few weeks back the store near me abandoned this. Now they've got a regular self checkout and "dash carts" that are basically a mobile self checkout, where you still have to scan items. According to Amazon customers didn't like it, which is baffling to me. Here's the press release: https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/amazon-just-walk-out-dash-cart-grocery-shopping-checkout-stores
The accuracy was perfect in my experience. To use Just Walk Out you'd have to scan your Amazon app when you entered and exited. Maybe folks figured out a great way to defeat the tech and theft was too great? But if not then they'd be much harder to defeat than regular self check out.
From what I recall, Amazon Fresh was the one where they needed to outsource the recognition to Indians for double-checking?
That was the media lying about RLHF.
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Seems petty to me to complain about scanning your own items when it's a miniscule additional task compared to visiting the store in person, carrying items from the shelves to the exit and (gasp!) bagging your own items.
I also don't see how using your own phone to scan the things and using your own phone to pay makes it easier. What if I have a 10 year old brick that takes a minute to open anything?
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We can quibble about who benefits the most from self checkout. The point I'm making is that the reason you scan stuff at self checkout is not to prove that you are honest, it's because that's the simplest way to implement self checkout.
Now, the guy at Sam's club who checks your cart and your receipt - that's obviously a compliance mechanism. It's probably not feasible to stop and frisk every shopper in a normal store, especially since in normal stores you bag your groceries and at Sam's club you don't.
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