Women serving at the checkout are an obvious target for the relentless march of high tech
22 August 2021 - 20:22
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Checkers is testing a store without checkout counters. I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later. Those women serving you at the checkout were an obvious target for the relentless march of high tech.
The retailer talks about shoppers not having to queue because it is a “constant pain point”. What rubbish. I have never found the queues a pain or too long. It is all part of the shopping experience. In fact, I enjoy chatting with the checkout women — they know my children’s names and watched them grow up over the years.
What will cause pain is when these women lose their jobs and cannot feed their children or pay for their education. Can we afford this in a country already reeling from so much unemployment? It’s insane to think this is some kind of progress. How depersonalised the shopping experience will become.
I’m sure Checkers will give us a story about how the women will be trained and deployed in “new” roles in their organisation. But we know that when jobs in the service industry disappear they never come back. Think again, Checkers.
Ivan Schlapobersky Via e-mail
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Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: Save checkout jobs
Women serving at the checkout are an obvious target for the relentless march of high tech
Checkers is testing a store without checkout counters. I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later. Those women serving you at the checkout were an obvious target for the relentless march of high tech.
The retailer talks about shoppers not having to queue because it is a “constant pain point”. What rubbish. I have never found the queues a pain or too long. It is all part of the shopping experience. In fact, I enjoy chatting with the checkout women — they know my children’s names and watched them grow up over the years.
What will cause pain is when these women lose their jobs and cannot feed their children or pay for their education. Can we afford this in a country already reeling from so much unemployment? It’s insane to think this is some kind of progress. How depersonalised the shopping experience will become.
I’m sure Checkers will give us a story about how the women will be trained and deployed in “new” roles in their organisation. But we know that when jobs in the service industry disappear they never come back. Think again, Checkers.
Ivan Schlapobersky
Via e-mail
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an e-mail with your comments. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Send your letter by e-mail to letters@businesslive.co.za. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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