I’m just wondering what the title asks: do you organize your groceries in the order you will check them out, if doing self-checkout, or arrange them on the belt/counter in a standard checkout line, in the hope that they’ll be bagged in a specific way?
I didn’t know there was any other way people do it, but just learned some people prefer to checkout/bag without pre-arranging things. I’m kind of curious to see what’s more common, or if there’s some other options I haven’t considered?
Since I usually self check at Walmart and other places that have it, I place the big items in the cart with the bar code accessible for hand scanning without removal, frozen/refridgerated items generally together, everything else in cart doesn’t really matter to me. The upper cart space (where toddlers/baby could go) is where I place my eggs, bread, and fresh veggies. Then I scan in this order: Frozen items, regular cart items, eggs/bread, weighed veggies, (bagging and putting back in the cart as i scan them) lastly use the hand scanner for the big items. Sometimes I scan the big items first if i know i need to place bags on top. Once I see that everything has been bagged and back in the cart, then I’m confident that I didn’t miss anything, pay, and then GTFO. I’m an efficient self checkout machine, haha
We have hand scanners you can take with you through the store. I pack everything into collapsible crates as I go, so at the checkout it’s just putting the scanner back and paying.
I put the heaviest and least breakable things first in line so they end up at the bottom of the bag(s). Canned food, stuff in plastic bottles, then all the cold/ frozen stuff altogether, light and delicate things like bread, chips etc last
Soft and fragile things on top, heavy things on the bottom, square things in the middle, circular things on the outside, cold things in one bag, non-cold-things in another bag, and anything that can’t be organized in this way in a third bag.
If I have a large cart of groceries I don’t like self checkout. if i have time I turn all the items so the bar code is on the bottom and stack them so they are easy to drag over the scanner. I also only use the first 2/3 of the belt that’s closest to the checker so they don’t have to lean over and reach for anything.
Staggering produce items introduces slowdowns so best to put them all at the end so you can do your payment info while stuff is being weighed.
My checkouts are fast af.
I just scan and bag as I go in the supermarket and pay at the end. Much easier than staying in line and bagging everything at the end.
A Tesco where I lived introduced this system couple of years ago, but since they left the country entirely no other supermarket chain picked it up; not sure why, to be honest, doesn’t seem much more prone to theft than regular self-checkouts.
Heavy stuff first, cold things together, fragile stuff last.
This is the way
This is the way
Basically this, but with cleaning products/ chemicals last.
And for me, it’s the snack I just bought to eat now that’s last.
Last? I want those first, they are usually in very sturdy containers so putting some stuff on top is fine. They are also usually heavy and heavy stuff goes first. Also if they leak, I want them to leak out of the bottom of the bag and not over all the groceries and then out of the bottom of the bag
I see. I always put them on a separate bag so they’re always dead last. If they’re on the same bag, then it makes sense to be at the bottom.
Seperate bag seems smart. I usually don’t have a whole lot of groceries and a big grocery bag, so if I can I try to get it all in one bag.
Yeah I’m trying to remember how we used to do it (the last time I went through a normal checkout with a full shop was probably 10 years ago) and this seems right.
Gotta have the heavy stuff handy so you can put it straight into the bottom of the bags. Anything else is wasting time!
Do you have conveyor belts going straight to your fridge now?
Not OP but home delivery got very common since covid lockdowns in my country.
It’s been common for a lot longer than that in the UK, we’re very lazy :D
There is no such concept as “groceries getting bagged for you” in Germany. I have a backpack with me where I put my groceries.
Regarding your question, yes have a strategy.
The basic order on the belt is heavy to light items, so that the heavy things such cans or glas bottles go to the bottom, light stuff like yoghurt and eggs at the end of the belt so they come on top of the other groceries.
Of course this is not fixed, as light but bulky items may get a prioritized place on the belt. The worst thing that can happen is that you have to repack your backback.
However this is not all. As our cashiers are usually professionals, you will need to stategically slow them down, you want to avoid the shameful and pressuring looks of your successors. I do that by putting items inbetween the other stuff on the belt that have to be counted or weighed, such as pastry and vegetables. This gives you time to pack your stuff or rearrange in case you made mistake a step earlier.
It’s wild for me how different that peer pressure in the line is in different countries. In Spain people would even try to make you slow down and take your time when they notice how stressed you are with trying to pack everything fast 🥲 that’s very considerate of them
It’s true Germans are not known for being very patient and easily get annoyed when standing in line, but I may have exaggerated a bit ;)
As a European, I have never once had an extra person there whose sole purpose is putting your groceries into bags, what a strange concept.
As an american who shops and walks my groceries home like a european, the self checkout is the only option for me. I must have the ability to choose where to put products to keep my bags/backpack balanced to my liking and to prevent bags from failing on my walk home. Stranglely in the us, i risk approaching the “self checkout item limit” which is definitely more social expectation than actually enforced by staff.
A more specific question for you: how often do you encounter scales on self checkouts?
walks my groceries home like a european
We do buy bulk as well, I’d say maybe 10% actually walks them home? I guess it depends greatly on the type and location of the store.
how often do you encounter scales on self checkouts?
Every store with self-checkout has them, usually there will be one scale before you actually use a register. It gives you a sticker with the weight/price barcode to scan yourself.
Here in New Zealand, different supermarket chains do it different.
- One is literally called Pak n Save, you pack your own bags.
- One very often has a second person packing bags. This is a pricier store.
- And one just has the cashier drop your things into the bag after they have scanned them.
The third one seems most natural to me. Why not have them put your stuff in a bag since they are already holding it?
I can’t speak for the US, but in poorer countries (like my home country of South Africa), it’s common for someone to bag your groceries. The simple reason is because it provides extra jobs at the store. It’s the same for filling your car with petrol.
So is it customary to tip the person doing the bagging? Or maybe a designated bagger will do it faster, resulting in less wait times?
My favourite system is where I place my cart next to another one, and the cashier will scan everything while placing the item in the other cart, where I could have placed boxes if I wanted to.
It’s the same for filling your car with petrol.
But how does this person provide any value though? That person has to be paid as well, and doing something a customer can do well by themselves provides very little value. It used to be necessary, older petrol pumps had to be manually enabled or had no stop valve that person is required. With modern pumps having a person fill up your car is equally unnecessary.
So is it customary to tip the person doing the bagging?
When I was in South Africa, this wasn’t very common. I suppose you could tip them but there isn’t a very big tipping culture there.
Or maybe a designated bagger will do it faster, resulting in less wait times?
Personally, I’ve never thought that having a designated bagger was that much faster (by themselves). Sometimes you’d see someone helping the bagger, this would be faster.
But how does this person provide any value though?
It’s not necessarily about the value they provide. Since unemployment is so high, if you can create extra jobs, the business will do it. When I left, unemployment in my province was at 50%.
It’s the same for self checkout. You could easily do it yourself but you’d lose out on potential jobs (bagger and cashier). This article is really good at showing why these systems are the way they are.
I always thought that such jobs would be best replaced with universal basic income. Maybe even not universal, and only for those who need it
There was this one time when I got that service at an Asian store (in Europe). I guess the Asian workers just imported the practices of their home country, which is nice.
I think people are being lazy, in a selfish, tragedy of the commons sort of way.
When standing in line, they all watch the customer stand there doing nothing as the cashier checks out items. If only they’d bag their own things, we’d all be able to get on with our lives that much sooner. Instead, they continue standing there doing nothing, as the cashier now bags their items.
Then the next person in line moves up and also just stands there, also unwilling to do anything to help speed things along.
In Australia the checkout person does the bagging themselves, no second person required.
Fuckin… No!
I also tell the cashier that they can stuff it any which way so they don’t stress.
Heavy first, light last. This way the light stuff won’t get squished. And we bag stuff ourselves here, we aren’t that lazy.
I generally go to self-scan line, so it’s the order in which I bought these. When I go to a more classical line, Heavy, then cold, then light so the heavy stuff goes on the bottom of the bag, the cool stuff in the middle (where they are a bit protected) and the light things on top
Items in perfect order of robustness on the conveyor, but more than one bag…
You reminded me that some third-world countries like the US have people packing your groceries for a few dollars a day
Yep. Heavy and dense first, all refrigerated together, etc. I shop at WinCo mostly so I bag my own. It’s very satisfying making it a super efficient process up front.
First heavy and non breakables or non crushables. Then crushables the veggies then fruits.
