For better or worse, the new operational reality has to take this into account
There’s a grocery store – which will remain nameless – near my home in Baltimore County. It’s one I shop at because it’s very close by… not because I like it.
A lot of that stems from being not infrequently stymied and trapped in the self-checkout. Odds are you’ve had this happen, too: You’re scanning your items, something goes wrong, freezing the entire process, and the light above flashes… and no one comes to help you out… and no one comes… and so on. Maybe someone shows up, maybe you hop to a different POS, leaving the problematic item behind. Maybe you leave the whole mess there.
Or you’re stuck in line behind another unfortunate, overwhelmed shopper in a similar predicament.
I’d bet this mishap unfolds in every self-checkout in the country. In the good stores, human help is there immediately; in the subpar stores like the one I’m stuck with, well…
The whole thing makes a joke of the promise self-checkout held when it went big-time in the nineties.
Little wonder consumers – and their elected representatives – are fed up. In Rhode Island, they just did something about it at the state level.
The Ocean State Legislature Steps In
The Rhode Island measure would require grocery stores to maintain at least one staffed checkout lane for every three self-checkout stations in operation, while also imposing staffing requirements on employees assigned to monitor self-checkout areas.
If signed, as expected, by Gov. Dan McKee, we would see the nation’s first statewide self-checkout staffing ratio.
Interestingly, similar policies are already emerging elsewhere, although on nowhere near the scale of what’s happening in Rhode Island.
Earlier this year, the city of Costa Mesa, Calif., adopted a self-checkout ordinance covering grocery and drug retailers. The measure requires dedicated staffing for self-checkout areas, limits attendants to supervising no more than three active kiosks, and – I have to admit smiling at this one – restricts self-checkout use to smaller baskets.
The ordinance took effect this spring and is being closely watched by retailers throughout the Golden State.
Supporters, chief among them the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), argue the legislation addresses three concerns that have become increasingly intertwined: retail theft, labor displacement and customer service.
Union leaders contend that grocery employees are frequently assigned to monitor too many self-checkout stations at once, creating delays for shoppers while increasing stress on workers. They also point to studies suggesting theft occurs at significantly higher rates in self-checkout environments and note that Rhode Island lost an estimated $17.1 million in sales tax revenue to retail theft in 2022.
UFCW International has characterized self-checkout as a system that shifts labor onto customers while reducing employee hours, while supporters of the legislation say minimum staffing ratios will improve service levels, assist older shoppers and customers with disabilities, and ensure that automation supplements workers rather than replacing them.
Senate President Valarie Lawson and Rep. Megan Cotter, the bill’s sponsors, have similarly argued that the measure strikes a balance between technological convenience and maintaining a positive experience for both shoppers and employees.
Critics, including grocery retailers and the Rhode Island Food Dealers Association, quoted in The U.S. Sun, counter that self-checkout remains a popular convenience for many shoppers.
They argue staffing mandates reduce operational flexibility while increasing labor costs. The law’s opponents contend that retailers must be able to adjust staffing levels throughout the day as customer traffic fluctuates and warn that requiring dedicated attendants for self-checkout lanes could leave employees underutilized during slower periods.
Industry representatives have also questioned why grocery stores are being singled out when self-checkout technology is widely used by other retailers. Some operators warn that rigid staffing ratios may ultimately result in fewer self-checkout lanes, longer wait times and higher operating costs that could eventually be passed on to consumers.
Critics further argue that the proposal sends an unfriendly signal to retailers at a time when supermarkets are already facing significant cost pressures and labor shortages.
The National Conversation Is Growing Louder
The debate and rhetoric from both sides mirrors similar fights playing out in Connecticut, New York City and California, where lawmakers have been weighing the tradeoffs between automation, labor policy, and consumer convenience.
It’s just that Rhode Island offers a particularly clear example. In recent weeks, lawmakers there have not only advanced self-checkout restrictions but also approved legislation limiting certain restrictive grocery real estate covenants, a move intended to encourage supermarket competition, fairer prices, and reduce barriers to new store development.
Looking at all of this in total, one gets the impression policymakers are becoming increasingly willing to influence both how grocery stores operate and where competitors can locate. Once upon a time, these were purely operational decisions.
This new, muscular regulatory stance bears watching.
Whether the issue is self-checkout staffing, dynamic pricing, restrictive covenants, or other competitive practices, grocery retailers are finding themselves at the center of a broader policy debate over technology, labor, consumer protection and market competition.
What begins in a city like Costa Mesa or a small state like Rhode Island often has a funny way of appearing elsewhere a few legislative sessions later.
