Shops are going for the self-service approach in their stores, with Tesco being the latest retail giant to announce that they are replacing most traditional checkouts, reportedly in response to customer demand.
First introduced into shops in the 1980s in the United States; self-service tills have since spread to retail stores all over the world. Store bosses claim there’s a lack of demand for checkouts where a member of staff rings items through.
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However, since Tesco’s announcement, there has been a consumer backlash, with more than 236,000 people signing an online petition on Change.org, telling the supermarket chain to “stop replacing people with machines”.
Who invented self-service checkouts?
David R Humble, the president of an electronics company, invented the self-service till in 1984. He was spurred into coming up with a solution after being stuck in a long checkout queue in a Florida grocery store. A customer ahead of Humble became frustrated, claiming the cashier was too slow. He grabbed the barcode scanner and began scanning his own shopping.
It got Humble thinking and he realised there could be scope for customers to scan their own shopping to help eliminate queues. He convinced the top-level management of his firm it was worth looking into, before developing a prototype. He went on to become the president of Check Robot in 1984.
Developing a mass-produced working self-service checkout was complicated and the research reportedly cost five million dollars. In July 1986, the world’s first automated checkout machines were set up in the Kroger grocery store in Atlanta. It was well worth the manufacturer’s investment, as they became the hottest innovation in retail.
The first checkouts bore little resemblance to today’s fast, compact machines. The earliest Check Robot looked like a huge box with a conveyor belt, reminding people of an airport luggage scanner.
While the technology to scan the items was relatively simple, fine-tuning the device proved more complex. It needed a means of detecting loose items that must be weighed, while it also needed to detect fraud, in case someone tried to bag an expensive item, rather than the cheap one they had actually scanned. A laser was used to measure the size of the item, which proved time-consuming.
Check Robot’s rival, NCR, invented checking the weight of scanned items. This method is still used today, meaning customers have to place the scanned item in the packing area on a scale. The famous phrase, “Unexpected item in the bagging area,” alerted an employee if the weight didn’t match up, so they could investigate.
By the 1990s, automated checkouts were growing in popularity. There were 200,000 in stores all over the world by 2013. There are now an estimated 325,000 self-service tills and the number is still growing.
Amazon’s “no checkout” store
Amazon has gone one step further with the launch of its Go Grocery stores, where there are no checkouts at all. London was the first location for an Amazon Go store outside the US in 2019. Consumers can buy prepared food, snacks and drinks such as Amazon’s own sandwiches, salads and meal kits. The stores also sell fruit and veg, milk, cheese, bread and chocolate.
There’s no need for cashiers and the whole checkout process has become a thing of the past. Modern technology, including cameras and sensors, tracks customers’ movements after they scan their Amazon account details through a QR code at the entrance. Computer visuals and AI monitor the items they choose off the shelves.
With the motto, “Good food fast”, even when the store is crowded during the lunchtime rush, there’s no queue for the checkout, as payment is taken directly from the customer’s Amazon account and they can simply walk out.
Other retailers have launched their own versions of no-checkout stores, although mainly in the United States. Walmart trialled its Scan and Go programme as early as 2014, but it was June 2020 before the retailer began rolling it out at more locations.
Other US grocery stores using scan and go, and a mobile app included 7-Eleven and Wheelys 247 stores, but the latter stopped trials during the Covid pandemic. It is starting no-checkout trials again at some of its stores in Asia.
Why are stores prioritising self-service?
Retailers are choosing self-service checkouts after consumer research suggested it’s the shoppers’ preference. Surveys in the UK reveal that 66% of people believe self-service at the point of payment makes shopping more efficient, with 95% of shoppers having used self-scan at some point.
Two-thirds of respondents said they wanted more self-service supermarket tills because they reduced queues. The consumer can take control and interact at their own pace, so there’s no sense of panic if they can’t keep up with the cashier’s fast scanning.
With self-service tills, employees can focus on other aspects of customer service, rather than having to sit down all day doing a manual time-consuming task. Retailers who have installed self-scan checkouts say it has led to an increase in customer satisfaction.
Consumers with fast-paced lifestyles need simple processes to speed up, so they’re not wasting time in queues. Retailers say self-service technology has transformed the customer experience and made it more positive in general.
Of course, once the cost of the technology has been offset, self-scan checkouts can reduce overheads, as fewer staff are needed to operate them. The estimated cost per shopper of using a self-service checkout is only 14 pence, compared with £2.50 for using a till with a checkout operator.
Disadvantages of self-service
However, some customers are against self-service, hence the online petition urging Tesco not to phase out its staffed tills. Business owners considering investing in self-scan tills should consider the objections raised by protesters before making a decision.
They say older or disabled customers may struggle to use self-service checkouts. In addition, some accept only credit or debit card payments, which penalises shoppers who prefer to pay by cash. The voice telling shoppers there’s an “unexpected item in the bagging area” is also a constant source of annoyance to almost everyone.
The UK supermarket Morrisons has a mixture of self-service checkouts and traditional staffed tills. The retailer’s customer survey found that 67% of customers felt “anxious” about using the machines – and even replacing the automated voice with a friendlier one didn’t placate them. Morrisons ended up taking on an extra 1,000 staff, rather than rolling out more self-service checkouts.
So, while self-service checkouts are the future of retail to a degree, it’s not advisable to completely phase out staffed tills, as there will always be customers who prefer them.