Hacker News Reader

Comment by Agentlien | Hacker News Reader

On a tangent: what about self scanning? Here in Sweden that is the norm. For the last ten years I've brought my own bags, packed everything like I want it as I grab it - with a quick blip from the scanner - and then checkout is no line, no cashier, no unpacking and packing things again. Just scanning my card and going through a brief screen to check that the summary looks right.

Instead of a guard there's a scanner by the exit gate where you scan your ticket. In my case just a small stub since the actual ticket is sent digitally.

I think it works so smoothly, much better than before this system was introduced. My recent experience buying groceries in Belgium was very similar.

View on HN

Here in sweden it is not "the norm" by any definition of "norm". Also it's incredibly slower and not "one blip away".

And the scanner to exit is terrible for fire safety and accessibility. Also I've seen it break with the result that you had to trigger the alarm to leave.

It does not work smoothly at all, but perhaps you live in a different sweden than I.

It works pretty well in the UK. The nice thing is, I can pack my bags as I shop, so I don't feel stressed when I get to the checkout.

I use this method of shopping whenever available.

In sweden you have to unpack and re-pack at the checkout. And if you have a backpack you can't place stuff inside it. No. You have to unpack, place everything on a scale and then place everything in your backpack again.

And for items like bread or so you need to navigate a number of menus to find it.

And of course you are asked if you are a member, if you'd like to become a member, if you want to do a donation, and a number of other useless questions.

That's just self checkout. Some places, like Ica, have self scanning which works so much better. You just scan the bar code as you pick things up - which is just in one motion as you put things in your bag. No need to unpack as you pay.

Yes you do need to be a member to use the system, but that's a very small price to pay for the convenience and speed of avoiding all lines and stress of the regular checkout.

Yeah there's like 15 places in sweden which have this, and it's "the norm"?

Sweden is a big country so I could definitely be wrong about how things look across it. However, in the greater Gothenburg area every Ica I've visited has it - that includes everything from big ones in the city and shopping malls to small ones in the suburbs 30km outside the city (where I live).

In the greater Göteborg area, no Coop, Willys, Lidl, has this. And some ICA have it. Casually, the one closer to your home, it seems.

Going from "a supermarket near my home" to "every single supermarket in sweden" is kinda of a big leap.

Try ICA in Olskroken or Godhemsgatan for example…

I Most supermarkets have self checkout, but even that isn't omnipresent (and it's usually slower).

British supermarkets mostly require the use of their app to self-scan. You need to either use your phone or use your app to start the scanner. Once you have done that it works OK. A bit error prone.

The other problem is that, like self checkout, it often requires human intervention (buying alcohol or high value items, for examples) still requires human intervention. This can require a long wait at the end. I once got so sick of waiting that I left my shopping and walked away and went somewhere else.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com