I know what you’re getting at, but at least for me that’s not the reality.

I’m aware of ALDI cashier that scan faster any normal human being can pack their bags. And I guess even if enough regular checkouts were open and they would all operate at ALDI level, that would be an option. Still, you have to talk to people, who wants that?

But for me it isn’t the case. There is usually 8-12 self-checkouts availible, so there is never really a line. Also you can get a mobile scanner and scan everything as you are shopping, then you just have to scan the scanner on the checkout. If you do that, not even ALDI cashiers can match that speed.

Really the most time delay is caused by buying alcohol and having to wait for staff to confirm your age. Sometimes they do have remotes and just unlock it from a distance, but other times the self checkout are basically unsupervised and you have to go look for a person to unlock your register. But that’s the exception.