Mercadona is changing the way that it handles the checkout procedure and is presently testing it out in Valencia before rolling out the change across all its supermarkets in Spain.

This change is how items are placed on the conveyor belt for payment. The standard practice is to place all purchased items on the belt so the cashier can scan them and complete the payment. However, when dealing with large, plastic, water bottles (5 to 8 litres) boxes of milk tetrabrix and other heavy products, it used to be enough to take out just one item to be scanned and multiplied on the register.

Not any more, it seems, if the beta testing in Valencia goes well. And the reason for this change is because of a complaint on social media (Twitter) where a customer complained that they had to lift all six 5L water bottles out to be scanned.

In response to the complaint, the supermarket explained: “Hello. This is a store where we are testing a new checkout system whose goal is to ensure that, by placing the products on the belt, the cashier can verify that the cart is completely empty.”

Mercandona is aware that this will cause a bother for many of its shoppers due to the effort required to pass all heavy products through the checkout. Therefore, they added, “In any case, if you find it difficult to empty the cart, the cashier will help you.” They also clarified that this process ensures they “charge everything correctly.”

Editorial comment: it won’t be long before humans are eliminated at checkouts and you’ll have to do it all yourself, with no discount offered for doing their work for them.

(News: Valencia)

Keywords: Mercadona Checkout Changes, Heavy Items, Scanned Individually, Complaints

news, valencia, mercadona checkout changes, heavy items, scanned individually, complaints