Can you describe why there's a big push for self checkout? I suspect there's a bigggg difference between countries, so this all sounds very alien. In my experience at Tescos (outside the UK) checkout has been great.

They tend to have a zillion aisles operating, with the cashier picking up and scanning every single item directly from your cart. At the exit there's always a 'check' but it's pretty farcical. Somebody glances at your cart, glances at the receipt, and then stamps it in about 0.5 seconds total.

The only downside is the requirement for self bagging (she simply puts the items right back in the cart - even if you bring bags), but that obviously wouldn't change with self checkout.

To me people pushing for self checkout sounds like somebody preferring self service over full service gas stations - I find it difficult to understand.