Street Glider
Verified User
So, you want $15 to start as a cashier at Wal-Mart?
I rarely go to Wal-Mart, but the last time I was there (about three weeks ago) there were two cashiers on duty, and eight self-service lanes open.
It's a smart move by Wal-Mart. At $15 an hour, eight cashier lanes running 17 hours a day (my local Wal-Mart is open from 6am-11pm) costs Wal-Mart $2,040 per day to operate. In just 2-1/2 days a single kiosk can pay for itself (they run around five grand a pop). The kiosk then no longer needs anything; no training, no time off, no breaks, no health insurance, no paid holidays; nothing.
This is where retail is headed. If we assume ten kiosks per store and an otherwise hourly wage of $15 an hour per soon-to-be-out-of-work cashier, once these kiosks pay for themselves (which would happen in rather short order) Wal-Mart will save a total of $2,550 per day in hourly wages. That's $17,850 per week, or $928,200 a year, and that's per store. Wal-Mart has approximately 10,500 stores. If this approach was put in place in all of their stores, Wal_Mart would save $9,746,100,00 per year.
Many retailers will follow Wal-Mart's lead. If the kiosk idea ultimately fails, Wal-Mart is large enough to absorb the loss. If it succeeds, though, other retailers will start adopting the use of kiosks instead of employing cashier's. Even the largest grocery stores (which are also currently employing self-serve kiosks) will be able to operate with far fewer employees.
This is just an observation based on what I've seen locally here in northeast Florida. I have to believe that northeast Florida is not unique...
I rarely go to Wal-Mart, but the last time I was there (about three weeks ago) there were two cashiers on duty, and eight self-service lanes open.
It's a smart move by Wal-Mart. At $15 an hour, eight cashier lanes running 17 hours a day (my local Wal-Mart is open from 6am-11pm) costs Wal-Mart $2,040 per day to operate. In just 2-1/2 days a single kiosk can pay for itself (they run around five grand a pop). The kiosk then no longer needs anything; no training, no time off, no breaks, no health insurance, no paid holidays; nothing.
This is where retail is headed. If we assume ten kiosks per store and an otherwise hourly wage of $15 an hour per soon-to-be-out-of-work cashier, once these kiosks pay for themselves (which would happen in rather short order) Wal-Mart will save a total of $2,550 per day in hourly wages. That's $17,850 per week, or $928,200 a year, and that's per store. Wal-Mart has approximately 10,500 stores. If this approach was put in place in all of their stores, Wal_Mart would save $9,746,100,00 per year.
Many retailers will follow Wal-Mart's lead. If the kiosk idea ultimately fails, Wal-Mart is large enough to absorb the loss. If it succeeds, though, other retailers will start adopting the use of kiosks instead of employing cashier's. Even the largest grocery stores (which are also currently employing self-serve kiosks) will be able to operate with far fewer employees.
This is just an observation based on what I've seen locally here in northeast Florida. I have to believe that northeast Florida is not unique...

