There’s always a new tech-enabled innovation breaking into the shopping world: Delivery apps, grocery subscriptions, etc. But have the days of self-checkout come and gone? TikTok creator @its.fredddy recently posted a viral video of empty self-checkouts at a bustling Walmart—and it has the internet buzzing.
The video has 3.6 million views and almost 200,000 likes as of Friday.
The text overlay on the video reads, “So it’s true … no more self checkout at Walmart.” The camera shows completely vacant self-checkout bays at an unspecified location of the retailer, with red lights turned on above the registers and security staff walking near the area.
“I only use self checkout cause I have social anxiety,” one comment read. “Pls be open again.”
Another viewer responded, “The ones I’ve went to they’re only open for people using the Walmart app. If you don’t they tell you to go to the register.”
“Now ill need to stand in line for 30 minutes just to buy 1 item,” another comment read.
“At my Walmart you could only use the self checkout if you had some type of plus membership,” one person wrote.
@its.fredddy ♬ Tron 1982 – New Retro Wave – Synthwave Nation
Some Walmart customers reported seeing the opposite.
“Nah cuz I went to the store today and literally no lines were open only the self checkouts n hella managers just standing around on their walkie talkies watching the lines!!” one viewer commented.
Another viewer wrote, “My walmart literally removed registers and filled it in with self checkouts.”
One viewer asked if @its.fredddy’s store had more cashiers to make up for the lack of self-checkout lanes. “They do — before only two were open — I think they were around 8/10 still not the same amount as self check out,” the creator replied.
Some viewers speculated that the self-checkouts were being closed to prevent theft, like this viewer: “People steal too much. It’s either close the self checkouts and actually make a profit or keep the self checkouts open and go further in debt and have the store close.”
That’s definitely a growing concern for retailers with self-checkout lanes, according to USA Today.
Business Insider reported earlier this month that many Walmart stores are indeed putting limits on self-checkout, such as reserving them for app users. A Walmart spokesman told Business Insider that local store managers “have [the] discretion to experiment and figure out what works best for their customers and employees” and may be experimenting with different check-out options.
The outlet also reported last year that self-checkout lanes have given rise to a phenomenon called “partial shrink,” where customers pay for some or most of their purchase, but not all. Last fall, Walmart said it didn’t have plans for “widespread” removal of self-checkout lanes at its stores, even as retailers began to rethink their checkout strategies.
This isn’t the first story about Walmart’s checkout lanes that has gone viral this week. One user claimed that her local Walmart was now “charging to work there” by only letting Walmart+ subscribers use the self-checkouts.
The Daily Dot reached out to @its.fredddy via TikTok and Walmart via email.
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