Self checkout doesn't save them money - it costs them a great deal because of thieves like Hancock27.
Just yesterday, I went up to a self-check machine and there was a payment due total displayed. That means that previous low-life went through the motions of scanning stuff and then just walked off with it all. I alerted the poor woman who was monitoring the machines, and she mumbled something like "another one." I hope that those workers don't get dinged for not catching thieves.
They caught a guy a couple years ago at the Home Depot here. He'd cut the UPC off of some item worth $7 or $8 and had it hidden in his hand. When he scanned a big item, he'd slip it under the scanner. He'd rung up maybe $2000 worth of tools when the computer flagged it because he used the same UPC each time. If he'd used some smarts, he'd likely have gotten away with it.
