Over the past few years, self-checkouts have become increasingly common. According to Grocery Dive, “the number of self-checkout lanes in the U.S. has increased by 10% in the last five years,” and self-checkouts now make up about 40% of checkout options available to customers.
However, that doesn’t mean that consumers are happy about this switch. In an article titled, in part, “Nobody likes self-checkout,” CNN Business author Nathaniel Meyersohn notes that a recent survey found that “67% [of respondents] said they’d experienced a failure at the self-checkout lane.” Additionally, self-checkout machines can lead to greater losses and create the need for additional staff to monitor the machines.
In recent months, some internet users are calling out stores for their use of self-checkout machines. Some legal experts have shared their reasons for not using them; others have questioned their role in general. Now, another user has gone viral after sharing their own self-checkout story at Zara.
In a video with over 797,000 views, TikTok user Amir (@amirrors_world) documents an experience he had at the popular fast fashion chain.
“If you wanna buy clothes in Miami, you basically have to become an employee of that store to buy those clothes,” he explains.
He then goes on to explain that he picked up some items from Zara and took them to the self-checkout. After putting them in the bin, the machine automatically detected all of the items and provided him with a list of everything he was planning to buy.
“And I’m like, cool, I get to pay right here, simple process, hit a credit card, no cash,” Amir says. “I’m like, OK, I’m basically doing all the work that an employee should be doing. I don’t got no problem with that. Everything’s in the basket, hit payment, I paid.”
However, at this point, Amir was given another direction from the screen—remove the magnetic security tags.
“And I’m like, oh, I really do work for you guys,” Amir jokes. “Am I clocked in now?”
After struggling to remove the tags, an employee has to show him how the machine works. From there, he has to sort the security tags and bag the items.
“How am I doing all this and the prices are still going up of clothes?” he asks.
At first, some commenters criticized Amir for complaining about having to use self-checkout, among other issues.
“Crazy how people will complain about using a machine then when it comes to an actual person doing it they treat them like a machine,” wrote one user.
“Ohhh nooo, does daddy’s spoiled little slugger have to bag his OWN shopping items?! Soooo much physical labor,” added another.
“People act like having to scan YOUR own items and bag them is a punishment. Self checkouts are so much more convenient and easy to use,” shared a third.
@amirrors_world Are we moving backwards, supermarkets, retail, we need less and less employees but prices keeping going up. #retial #miami #305 #florida #zara #employees #brickell #citycenter ♬ original sound – Amir Mohamed 🇪🇬
However, others quickly came to Amir’s defense.
“Less wages, more profit. Which will lead to more affordable clothing. Right?….. RIGHT???!!” joked a user.
“less and less jobs. how long until there’s no jobs left and the only people with money are the ones who develop this technology?” said a second.
We’ve reached out to Zara via email and Amir via Instagram DM.
