Self-checkout lanes are coming to Publix

Love ’em or hate ’em, those self-checkout scanners are popping up in Publix markets.

The do-it-yourself registers, which allow shoppers to scan, bag and pay for purchases without human assistance, recently arrived in two South Florida stores.

Four newfangled machines were installed Oct. 19 at the Coral Springs store at 2201 N. University Drive. They replaced the express checkout lanes next to the customers service desk. Two Publix employees stand by to assist customers with purchases and explain how to use the machines.

Publix also installed selfcheckout scanners on Oct. 18 at 4849 Coconut Creek Parkway in Coconut Creek. (A store in Boca Raton at 7060 W. Palmetto Park Road has had them for years.)

“We’re always evaluating how to best serve our customers and self-checkout is one of those considerations when we’re looking at remodels,” says Nicole Krauss, a Publix spokeswoman. She declined to say if this was a test or how many other stores would be getting the new equipment.

Customers scan barcodes on products, bag items as they go and pay with cash or credit cards. How quickly the process goes depends on the customer’s familiarity with the technology. Many retailers, including Walmart, Target, Home Depot and BJ’s Wholesale Cub, have employed the technology for years to speed lines and hold down labor costs.

Neil Ostrowsky, 63, wheeled his cart up to the new checkout area in the Coral Springs store and enthusiastically embraced the new technology, asking, “What do we have here?” But he soon hit a snag.

“I had a gift card from my recent flu shot and the machine doesn’t take gift cards,” Ostrowsky says. The Coral Springs resident had to pay with a credit card instead. “I always use selfcheckout because it’s faster. They have them at BJ’s.”

“It seems shocking to see this at Publix because this is one of those stores you equate with customer service,” says Doug Farrar, 52, of Coral Springs. “This is how they cut costs by making you do it yourself.”

While the new area was roomy, Farrar said there wasn’t enough space to bag his purchases at the kiosk, which set off a warning from the machine when he put his stuff in the wrong spot.

Farrar says he regularly shops at the store where his son, Matthew, 15, works as a bag boy. Those helpful baggers are a big part of why many say shopping at Publix is a pleasure. They help customers out to cars and load groceries into trunks, free of charge.

Shoppers using the selfcheckout scanners wheeled their own groceries out of the store.

Farrar says he prefers the oldschool checkout line to the scanners.

“I like using them at Home Depot, but at Publix, I like the line because of the nice checkout people,” Farrar says. “It’s a personal experience. But millennials will like it.”