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Nov 21, 2023

History Through Our Eyes: Dec. 13, 1968, automation at the supermarket

The new system sped things up at the checkout, which in turn allowed the store

The new system sped things up at the checkout, which in turn allowed the store to use two fewer cashiers and two fewer wrappers.

You just can't stop progress, it seems. But not every innovation catches on.

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On Dec. 13, 1968 we reported on a new, automated system that had been installed earlier that week at five check-out counters at the Spot Supermarket in Dorval.

This photo from our archives provides a cart-level view.

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We described how it worked:

"The customer pushes his loaded cart up snug against a frame at the end of the counter. A light on the counter's edge flashes green when the cart is in the proper position. Then an arm automatically lifts the front gate of the shopping cart and a tread under the cart's rubber belt bottom begins to move, making a small conveyer belt of the cart itself," we wrote.

"The groceries move out of the cart and on to an inclined conveyor belt that takes them to the cashier where they are checked out. … The device spares the shopper from unloading the cart herself, which means she can stand by the cashier and watch that prices rung up are correct." (Bar codes were yet to be introduced. In those days, the cashier punched each price into the cash register, so mistakes were more common.)

We reported that the new system allowed customers to spend less time at the checkout, which in turn allowed the store to use two fewer cashiers and two fewer wrappers.

This system seems to have disappeared, as has Spot Supermarket, which was a local chain.

However, many supermarkets now have self-serve checkouts, the latest attempt to save labour — for the store, though not for the customer.

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