• [email protected]@sh.itjust.works
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    14 hours ago

    I recognize the impact inflation has on the term, but it varies from store to store and country to country whether it outpaces inflation. Walmart, which this meme is about and a load bearing parasite on the US, maintains growth slightly above inflation. This doesn’t indemnify everyone, or really anyone in particular. It’s pointing out that money is going somewhere in this current era of force-fed infinite growth, but seemingly not to the people who need it most.

    To phrase my comment another way, the wealth gap is widening and businesses will do anything but address it, instead complaining about their own impropriety as if it were your fault.

    • FishFace@piefed.social
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      4 hours ago

      This meme is about self service checkouts which are ubiquitous in my country.

      Walmart had an operating profit margin of 4.2% in their last statement, and a net profit margin of 3%.

      If you’re looking for someone to blame for widening wealth inequality, profit margins under 5% are not where you’ll find it. Check the facts instead of going on pure vibes - company accounts are public and subject to audit (on pain of huge punishments if wrong - they got Al Capone on tax fraud remember)

    • Derpenheim@lemmy.zip
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      14 hours ago

      I can tell you that Dillons (subdivision of Kroger) is on genuinely razor thin margins, and they at least pay half way decent for the area im in

        • Derpenheim@lemmy.zip
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          12 hours ago

          Yes, most have two separate checkouts on both sides. And also this weird self checkout/belt lane thing. Was just trying to add to the conversation, geez.

          • Dozzi92@lemmy.world
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            10 hours ago

            Gotta be careful giving dissenting opinions in the black and white world of the internet.

            I have no idea what the belt lane thing is and I’m interested. My self checkouts are just the scanner thing, and then you put the items on the scale. The inclusion of a belt is intriguing.

          • [email protected]@sh.itjust.works
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            12 hours ago

            I didn’t mean any offense, but I exclusively found dillons in low population cities, which made me question whether they’d have any need for a self checkout.

            • Skua@kbin.earth
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              11 hours ago

              Even the little corner shop in my town of a couple thousand people has one now. There’s no way that a second full checkout would fit in the space, nor is hiring another staff member to work it likely to be realistic, so it’s a straight upgrade in capacity

          • Postmortal_Pop@lemmy.world
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            11 hours ago

            I fucking hate that belt fed one! They put it in my go to store shortly before I moved close to an aldi and how exactly is it supposed to be helpful? You scan, and it belts it all into a pile at the other end that you then have to walk over and organize. At least the lazy Susan designed ones can let you organise it all into the bags.

            Also, I don’t know how their “unexpected item in the bagging area” sensor works but I literally set them off by getting within 10 inches of the bags. When I worked at one years back we literally measured the distance. No contact, no previous errors, tested on two different machines, apparently I produce an aura that makes Dillons bags gain mass.