Available in Europe for some time now, personal scanners are making their way into North American grocery stores. The devices allow the shopper to scan bar codes as they shop, keeps a running total of how much is in the cart and allowing for a quicker departure from the store, as there is no need to wait in line to be checked out. Depending on the systems manufacturer, the shopper either scans, pays, and is randomly audited upon departure, or in the more sophisticated systems the items are accounted for as they enter the cart. The stores who have employed the systems say that they are not taking the place of human cashiers but rather the systems allow them to put the employees in other areas of the store to provide better customer service. I like the idea of the technology and the time savings that it offers. I'm sure that most people will find the running total idea handy as well, but that little feature will take all the fun out of grocery shopping for my sons and I... we try to guess our total within the nearest dollar. This is a little game that I established with them when they were young in an attempt to keep them busy and, I hope, gives them some appreciation for what food costs the family. CNN has the story here.
