But there are two problems with this fantasy scenario: first off, you never find parking right next to the door, and secondly, there are no express checkout lines at Costco; and, as it turns out, there probably never will be.

但這個幻想的場景有兩個問題：首先，你永遠找不到緊挨著門口的停車位；其次，Costco沒有快速結賬線；而且，事實證明，可能永遠不會有。

You have to admit that the Costco checkout lines are pretty efficient — they've got it down to a science by now.

你不得不承認，好市多的結賬線是相當有效的--他們現在已經把它變成了一門科學。

But for those of us you can enter Costco's labyrinth of bargains and proceed to the registers with only three items, well, even that super-efficient checkout process can feel like it takes an eternity when you're stuck behind a few customers with overflowing shopping carts.

但對於我們這些人來說，你可以進入Costco的便宜貨迷宮，然後只帶著三樣東西前往收銀臺，好吧，當你被困在幾個購物車滿溢的顧客後面時，即使是那個超高效的結賬過程也會讓人覺得需要很長時間。

Consumer Reports posed this scenario to Costco CEO Craig Jelinek, and asked why the store doesn't have express lines.

消費者報告》向Costco首席執行官Craig Jelinek提出了這個方案，並詢問為什麼商店沒有快遞線。

Jelinek explained, "Costco's ability to sell merchandise at incredibly low prices is based on adhering to various operating disciplines at every turn."

傑利內克解釋說："Costco之所以能夠以難以置信的低價銷售商品，是建立在每一個環節都遵守各種經營紀律的基礎上的。"

"Instead of having an express line — that often would be open but without a member in line — we have invested millions of dollars to speed up the entire front-end process."

"我們已經投入了數百萬美元來加快整個前端流程，而不是有一條快線--那往往會開放，但沒有一個會員在排隊--。"

"Our policy is no more than one member in line and two members waiting behind."

"我們的政策是，排隊的會員不超過一個，後面的會員不超過兩個。"

The average completed front-end transaction is just over 1 minute."

平均完成的前端交易僅1分多鐘。"

Now, that's all well and good, Mr. Jelinek, and as we said, the checkout process is pretty efficient, but we would love to know which Costco location you're frequenting because just two members waiting and a 1-minute per transaction average sounds like a dream come true.

現在，這一切都很好，傑利內克先生，正如我們所說，結賬過程是相當高效的，但我們很想知道你經常光顧的是哪個Costco分店，因為只有兩個會員在等待，平均每筆交易1分鐘，這聽起來像是夢想成真。

In fact, that sounds like an express line.

其實，這聽起來像是一條快線。

But hey, if not having a five-items-or-less lane means that those prices stay jaw-droppingly low, who are we to complain?

但是，嘿，如果沒有五件或更少的通道，意味著這些價格保持令人瞠目結舌的低價，我們有什麼資格抱怨？

Now that our dreams of ever having a Costco express line have been dashed, what about self-checkout?

現在，我們曾經擁有Costco快線的夢想已經破滅，那麼自助結賬呢？

Self-checkout can be convenient, especially if you've only got one or two items, but Costco tried self-checkout in select stores back in 2010, and by 2013 that dream was dead, too.

自助結賬可以很方便，尤其是當你只有一兩件商品的時候，但Costco早在2010年就在部分門店嘗試了自助結賬，到了2013年，這個夢想也就破滅了。

Why?

為什麼？

Jelinek told Bloomberg Businessweek at the time, "They are great for low-volume warehouses, but we don't want to be in the low-volume warehouse business."

Jelinek當時告訴《彭博商業週刊》："它們對於低容量倉庫來說是很好的，但我們不想從事低容量倉庫業務。"

His employees do the job better than the customers themselves, he explained, which actually sounds about right when you think of how often those machines tell you you've put an unexpected item in the bagging area, even though there is nothing but air in the bagging area.

他解釋說，他的員工做的工作比顧客自己做的更好，實際上，當你想到那些機器經常告訴你你在裝袋區放了一個意想不到的物品時，這聽起來是對的，儘管裝袋區除了空氣之外什麼都沒有。

According to FierceRetail, a Costco source reported, "Our members processed per hour went up, from 50 per hour to 60 per hour with the removal of self-checkouts."

據FierceRetail報道，Costco的一位消息人士說："我們每小時處理的會員數量增加了，從每小時50個增加到每小時60個，取消了自助結賬。"

"Today your total is $432.88."

"今天你的總額是432.88元。"

"A bargain!"

"便宜貨！"

Efficiency aside, there was also a matter of merchandise loss, with one store showing a $60,000 loss over a six-month period, all of which was attributed to the self-checkouts.

撇開效率不談，還有一個商品損耗的問題，有一家門店在半年內出現了6萬元的損耗，而這一切都歸功於自助結賬。

But in 2019, during the third-quarter conference call, the chain's CFO, Richard Galanti, said that Costco is testing self-checkout again in about 125 stores across the country, with plans to increase that number to about 250 of the company's 536 U.S. locations.

但在2019年第三季度電話會議上，該連鎖店首席財務官Richard Galanti表示，Costco正在全國約125家門店再次測試自助結賬，並計劃將這一數字增加到該公司536家美國分店中的約250家。

Galanti explained, "It's very fast, and customers are using it."

加蘭蒂解釋說："它的速度非常快，客戶也在使用它。"

"Our members are using it, And it's saving some labor at the front end."

"我們的會員都在使用它，它節省了一些前端的勞動力。"

"As important, on the highest volume units, it's getting people through the front end faster."

"同樣重要的是，在銷量最高的組織、部門，是讓人們更快地通過前端。"

The warehouse giant has also accepted mobile payments since August 2018, and the company rolled out self-serve digital kiosks in their food courts earlier that same year.

這家倉儲巨頭也從2018年8月開始接受移動支付，同年早些時候，該公司在其美食廣場推出了自助數字服務亭。

So while the bulk-buy paradise doesn't seem to be against installing technology in the name of efficiency, Costco is definitely against its employees sitting at an express line register with no customers queued up.

所以，雖然大宗商品購買天堂似乎並不反對以效率的名義安裝技術，但Costco絕對反對員工坐在快線收銀臺前，沒有顧客排隊。

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看看我們最新的視頻吧!

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訂閱我們的YouTube頻道並按下鈴聲，這樣你就不會錯過任何一個節目。