For many years I made grocery trips as early as possible given bus schedule and daylight. Two years ago Safeway limited the hours of real checkout, so I switched to a later storetrip to stay in the real checkout. The later schedule was inconvenient in several ways: more traffic, more crowding on bus, more delays in the store, too hot in summer. It didn’t fit my sleep/eat/dump schedule.
Last week I finally bit the bullet and learned the self-check. Nice feeling of victory. Old dogs can sometimes learn new tricks. Now I’ve returned to the sunrise time, which fits everything better.
There are many online tutorials for self-checkout. None of them match the system used by Safeway here in Spokane. Might as well outline it in case someone else happens to be googling various tutorials. I always pay cash, so this is aimed at cash people.
Safeway self-checkout for old cash codgers.
1. Be sure you’re using a machine that takes cash. Some of them don’t. They say so on the default screen. You don’t need to hit a Start button, just begin scanning.
2. There’s no need to keep the unscanned items on a platform to sense their weight, as most tutorials say. I just left them in the cart and scanned them into a bag.
3. There’s also no need to pack everything into one bag to sense its weight, as other tutorials say. I filled one bag, placed it in the cart, then filled another bag.
4. Each item is easy to scan, no need to move them in a certain way. Hold the code downward, get it near the glass, and the machine beeps and says the price.
5. Produce is also different from most tutorials. Before placing the item on the scanner, hit ‘Select from list’, then page through the pictionary until you see the item. Hit the picture, then place the item on the scanner and take your hand away. When it gets the weight, it shows an Accept Weight button. Hit that. There is also a button to Enter Produce Code. This is faster than the pictionary if you already know the four-digit PLU Code. These codes are standard for all stores, and you can look them up in advance here.
6. When done, hit Finish And Pay, tell it how many bags you used, and select Cash. Put bills in the slot, which gobbles them hungrily. After you’ve inserted enough to cover, it says Payment Completed and spits out the change and receipt.
7. That’s all. It’s a well-designed UI/UX.
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You’d think Safeway would have a tutorial on their website, but they hardly even mention self-check. The workers wouldn’t need to provide as much assistance and advice if there was more information elsewhere. But the workers DO provide good advice, so I guess the problem doesn’t need a different solution!
Polistra's Mill 