I started using grocery self-checkouts during COVID, but I’ve kept using them because there’s rarely a line (and I’m a misanthrope). I’d probably go back to using regular human checkouts if I had to dig through all my crap to prove what I bought.
Having said that, I’ve noticed myself making mistakes. I’ve accidentally failed to scan an item, and I’ve accidentally entered incorrect codes for produce. When I notice, I fix them, but I’ve probably missed a few.
I guess the easiest answer is for grocery chains to reinvest some of those windfall profits and hire more cashiers.
Because cashiers are a different cost-centre, and thusly a different budget on the company’s financial statements. The VP or senior director that controls the cashiers’ services would end up looking bad if they had to retrench on that decision, and “looking bad” is death at that level.
A lot of what happens inside a company makes more sense when you realize it’s a power struggle between a bunch of narcissists and their lackeys, and that VPs and CEOs aren’t really as powerful as you’d think. Companies can be as inefficient and cut-your-nose-off-to-spite-your-face as any non-profit or public sector employer is, but we often don’t see it because we’ve been trained to assume that “private sector == well-oiled machine” and “public sector == clusterfuck”.