Self-Checkouts Close As New Law Takes Effect

Grocers warned it might happen. Now, days after a new law regulating self-checkout took effect, several stores have shut down their self-checkout lanes indefinitely.

It’s happening in the city of Long Beach, California, where drug stores and grocery stores are now expected to comply with a first-of-its-kind ordinance passed last month, that imposes restrictions on the use of self-checkouts. Compliance, in theory, is as easy as maintaining sufficient staffing levels and limiting the number and type of products that can be purchased at self-checkouts. And most grocery stores in the city appear to have no problems meeting those requirements.

But the four Albertsons-owned Vons stores in the city, along with at least one Albertsons store itself, have responded to the new ordinance by closing down their self-checkout lanes altogether. Signs at Vons inform shoppers that “due to a new City of Long Beach ordinance, we are currently unable to operate our self-checkout lanes. The ordinance requires that locked or secured items cannot be purchased through self-checkout; as a result, self-checkout registers are unavailable.”

The signs direct customers who have any questions or concerns to “feel free to contact your local city council members.”

The ordinance’s staffing requirements have gotten the most attention, as employees assigned to monitor the self-checkout area now cannot be assigned any more than three stations at a time. And any time a self-checkout station is open, a store must have at least one staffed checkout lane available.

But the ordinance also imposes restrictions on shoppers. Self-checkout users cannot have any more than 15 items in their order. And it prohibits the purchase of “items that require customers to provide a form of identification,” such as alcohol and tobacco products, and “items subject to special theft-deterrent measures… that require the intervention of an employee to remove them before purchase.”

Supporters of the new ordinance have portrayed these restrictions as a safety measure, freeing up employees to better monitor self-checkout stations for potential theft, and limiting any extra tasks like checking IDs and unlocking items that might distract them from their monitoring duties. Opponents have portrayed the ordinance as a stealthy, union-backed way to force stores to hire more employees.

Vons made no mention of staffing levels impacting its ability to offer self-checkouts. But it also has not elaborated on the specific reason why the requirement that “locked or secured items cannot be purchased through self-checkout” is preventing it from offering self-checkout at all.

Some have speculated that the self-checkout software needs to be updated to better recognize which locked items cannot be purchased there. If that’s the case, Vons’ and Albertsons’ self-checkout closures may only be temporary. But so far, it’s not saying.

The California Grocers Association was a vocal critic of the ordinance, warning shoppers that “grocery stores will be forced to raise their prices and/or eliminate self-checkout altogether.” The same group also warned that San Diego’s recent ordinance requiring in-store alternatives to digital-only grocery deals could result in the complete “loss of all coupons and discounts for the city.”

San Diego’s ordinance takes effect later this week, so it remains to be seen whether it results in the end of some stores’ digital deals altogether. As for Long Beach, its ordinance aimed at improving self-checkout safety and security has already had some unintended consequences. Temporarily or otherwise, for shoppers in at least a handful of Long Beach grocery stores who prefer cashiers to scanning and bagging their own groceries, it turns out their wish may have come true.

Image sources: Vons/Coupons in the News