Odd , still showing up for me <| sep |> Every retail store with checkouts has well over what they need on an average day . I guarantee you only remember the few days when it seemed understaffed possibly due to someone calling out sick , and not the majority of the time when the amount of staff was either fine or too much . They have all of these checkouts for particular daysweeks when it is needed , as well as being able to rotate the staff on and off shift quicker . Eg , a grocery store is going to be busy the week leading up to Thanksgiving , Christmas , Easter , etc . An electronics store will have a lot extra on black Friday , obviously , but also the day before Christmas , and some other assorted days . As for during the regular parts of the year when a store doesn ' t actually need 10 registers or we , then the relief cashier can get set up and started while the person who is off work can finish up with a remaining customer or we . Or if there are other tasks that the cashiers have to perform before leaving , such as restocking bags tape etc .