Walmart is Testing Stores Without Cashiers

The retail industry has really made some major changes in the last couple of years. And now with the coronavirus pandemic still front and center, more modifications could be on the horizon.

If you've been in a Walmart lately, you've probably noticed a lot of transformative changes to your normal visit. For one, there are less cashiers. A lot less. And if you're looking around for one to ring up your items, good luck with that. You pretty much have to do it on your own, Which is ok if you're getting PAID to do that, but not so much just because they want to employ less people in the store. This is where I insert the "mad face" emoji. I don't like it when people lose their jobs to technology.

Now, Walmart made an announcement last week about some changes that are coming to their Fayetteville, Arkansas store. In an effort to speed up checkout and streamline the customer experience, the front end of the store has been completely re-figured. Kory Lundberg, who is the Senior Director of Corporate Communications at Walmart says calling it "Cashier Free" or "Self Checkout Only" is really simplifying the situation. He tells WAFB “Rather than having one cashier assigned to a single cash register, we will have multiple checkout hosts assigned to the checkout area to move back and forth to different registers to assist customers as they want to be assisted." He further explains that it makes good sense to have a new system with cashiers being spread around. “Instead of having 10 cashiers run 10 registers for their shift, we have can 10 self-checkout hosts covering multiple checkouts as needed."

Walmart says they want to eliminate lines altogether, and if the new system works at the Fayetteville store, then it could possibly be rolled out at other locations around the USA. Look, I'm not a Walmart hater, but this sounds like the customers doing all the work, and less jobs in the store. Prove me wrong, Walmart.