Shoppers upset over lack of cashiers as self-checkout use soars

Linda Hause says a recent shopping trip to her local Walmart in Edmonton was a painful experience.

Hause, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, says sometimes her Walmart has no cashier lanes open, requiring her to get assistance at self-checkout. But she says that on this occasion, the self-checkout attendant declined to help.

"They didn't seem to understand that I had a disability," said Hause, who was driving a mobility scooter at the time. "I felt that maybe they thought that I was just being lazy."

Determined to finish her shop, Hause says she climbed out of her scooter to scan her 40 items — and paid the price.

"I was in fairly excruciating pain. It was mostly in my back, but my legs were sore as well," she said. "I just came home and went to bed with painkillers."

Hause is one of many shoppers raising concerns about the lack of cashiers in some stores as the number of self-checkouts increases.

She says that ideally, Walmart should always have a cashier option, so people who need assistance are guaranteed to get it. 

"That way, I don't have to ask for help," she said. "It's demeaning."

Self-checkout continues to be a divisive issue, with many shoppers embracing it and others, not so much. CBC News interviewed several people who said during recent visits to major retailers, they were frustrated to find cashiers weren't available — only self-checkout. 

"I'm disappointed," said Canadian Tire customer, Bob Valcov of Gatineau, Que. "It seems like they don't really want my business."

Valcov says he stopped shopping at his local Canadian Tire in June, following several store visits where only the self-checkouts were open and no staff members were available to help him. 

"What I resent is being made to work for the company, being made to do stuff for them," he said. "[Checkout] is normally a service that, throughout history, they provide to you."

However, times are changing.

VideoMining, a U.S. market research company, analyzed shoppers' checkout habits during 1.2 billion trips to more than 1,000 U.S. grocery stores in 2022.