Business

Are Self-Checkouts Already Fading Away? The Numbers May Surprise You

MANCHESTER, Conn. (The Blaze/AP) — What do you prefer: the convenience of self-checkout or the reliability of a cashier?

Keith Wearne thinks it’s better to check out with a cashier rather than risking that a self-serve machine might go awry and delay him even more. Whereas, “get-it-and-go” Greg Styles doesn’t like the thought of lingering in a checkout lane.

Believe it or not, most shoppers will side with Wearne’s side, according to studies. This finding has prompted some grocery store chains nationwide to start bagging the do-it-yourself option, once considered the wave of the future, in the name of customer service.

Market studies cited by the Arlington, Va.-based Food Marketing Institute found only 16 percent of supermarket transactions in 2010 were done at self-checkout lanes in stores that provided the option. That’s down from a high of 22 percent three years ago.

Overall, people reported being much more satisfied with their supermarket experience when they used traditional cashier-staffed lanes.

Study Shows Traditional Cashier Lanes More Popular Than Self Checkout

More people opt for the customer service of a cashier run line, as opposed to self-checkout. (Photo: Flicker/I-5 Design & Manufacture)

Big Y Foods, which has 61 locations in Connecticut and Massachusetts, recently became one of the latest to announce it was phasing out the self-serve lanes. Some other regional chains and major players, including some Albertsons locations, have also reduced their unstaffed lanes and added more clerks to traditional lanes.

It’s disappointing to shoppers like Styles, 47, a South Windsor resident who says the convenience of the self-serve lanes fits into his busy life as a college lacrosse coach and father of 7-year-old twins.

“I’m not happy about it, not at all,” Styles said of the change, ringing up baked goods and chicken breasts on a recent afternoon at Big Y’s Manchester store. “I like to get in and get out. These lanes are quick and really easy, so I use them all the time.”

Supermarket chains started introducing self-serve lanes about 10 years ago, touting them as an easy way for shoppers to scan their own items’ bar codes, pay, bag their bounty and head out on their way. Retailers also anticipated a labor savings, potentially reducing the number of cashier shifts as they encouraged shoppers to do it themselves.

The reality, though, was mixed. Some shoppers loved them and were quick converts, while other reactions ranged from disinterest to outright hatred — much of it shared on blogs or in Facebook groups.

An internal study by Big Y found delays in its self-service lines caused by customer confusion over coupons, payments and other problems; intentional and accidental theft, including misidentifying produce and baked goods as less-expensive varieties; and other problems that helped guide its decision to bag the self-serve lanes.

In this video an Albertsons store manager explains some of the frustrations that have been identified with self-checkout:

This comedian gives his representation of self-checkout:

Wearne, 39, a Tolland resident who owns a power-washing service, reluctantly used a self-serve lane at the Manchester Big Y to ring up granola bars and a 12-pack of Miller Genuine Draft but had to wait while a clerk checked his identification.

If he hadn’t seen the clerk standing there immediately ready to help, he said, he would have used the traditional lanes, as he usually does.

“It’s just more interactive. You get someone who says hello; you get a person to talk to if there’s a problem,” he said.

While some chains are reducing their self-serve options, others say they’re keeping it in place along with the traditional lanes because they think giving shoppers that choice is an important part of customer service.

“Our philosophy is giving customers options. People shop in different ways and we want to accommodate their preferences,” said Suzi Robinson, a spokeswoman for Stop & Shop Supermarket Co., which has self-serve lanes in about 85 percent of its nearly 400 stores in the Northeast.

Another chain, Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons LLC, has said it’s phasing out self-service lanes. Kroger says it’s keeping the self-service option because customers like it, although one remodeled store replaced it with another quick-checkout method that uses a cashier.

Phil Lempert, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based food industry analyst, noted that supermarkets have a few other motivations to get rid of the self-serve lanes beyond customer service.

They will eventually need to replace their checkout computers to read newly emerging types of bar codes, so there’s little business sense in keeping and replacing those self-serve machines if they’re not well-used anyway, he said.

Perhaps more important, he said, the growing trend toward using bar code-reading programs on smartphones is likely to change everything in supermarket shopping over time.

Some scholars who follow the retail food industry say decisions by Big Y and others to do away with the self-serve checkout lanes aren’t necessarily the death knell of the trend. Home Depot and some other businesses, which cater to customers with a do-it-yourself mentality, report success with their self-serve lanes.

But not all supermarket shoppers share that mentality, and whether they embrace or reject the self-serve option may come down to demographics — such as whether they’re in a tech-savvy region — and other factors that the supermarkets cannot control.

“I think some of the stores are just deciding that, on the balance, it’s a negative. Other stores, because they have a different composition of shoppers, are deciding to keep it,” John Stanton, a professor of food marketing at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, said of the self-serve option.

“I don’t think this is as much a referendum on the technology as much as it is a match between the technology and the customer base,” he said.


Comments (71)

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  • Rick494
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 5:23pm

    I prefer to use the self-checkout lanes. I use them all the time at the grocery store and at Lowes/Home Depot unless I have a bunch of stuff. I often avoid going to Albertson’s since they took out their self-checkout lanes. At least their competitors still have them. I prefer to get in and out quickly without waiting for the person with 30 items in the 15 item express lane.

    Report Post »  
    • AJAYW
      Posted on September 26, 2011 at 7:45pm

      Rick494
      I agree also I avoid the cashier that is working slow ( putting in time ) instead of trying to get folks moved thru the line. Paid by the hour………. check out 5 or 50 in 4 hours the pay is the same why hurry..

      Report Post »  
  • wisehiney
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 5:21pm

    I’d like to check out that skirt in the picture.

    Report Post »  
  • lthm
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 4:58pm

    I love the self-checkouts. Sure, I get carded every once in awhile in the rare event I purchase alcohol. But that’s the only inconvenience, and I’ve never had a problem with having to wait awhile for the attendant to come clear it.

    I‘ll only use traditional checkouts if I have coupons and don’t want to delay other shoppers behind me. Sometimes I’ll use traditional checkouts if I have a ton of items, but generally I don’t have enough to justify that. My whole goal is to get in and out of the store as quickly as possible and to facilitate that for others. I absolutely don’t want to be delayed or to cause delays.

    The self checkout is fast and reliable, and I‘m not forced to listen to a cashier’s life story (or more often, the story of the person in front of me) for 10 minutes when I could have been out in two minutes with a little less yapping.

    More often than not, the only problem with self checkouts is people who approach them as “the enemy” and are just baffled by the technology for whatever reason. They just stare at the screen for minutes on-end, trying to figure it out, they make incomprehensible choices like removing items from the bagging area, Fortunately, you’re generally able to go around. (See “Why the other line is likely to move faster” http://youtu.be/F5Ri_HhziI0 ) Most self-checkouts favor this very efficient model with a single line serving 4-6 self-checkout machines, making a delay at any one machine less of an issue.

    Report Post »  
  • ilovethiscountry
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 4:54pm

    I went through a self checkout lane with a spool of thread. The machine gave me so much trouble that I demanded my money back and left without the thread. I will not use them. I had also had problems with them before that.

    Report Post »  
    • johnannegalt
      Posted on September 26, 2011 at 7:19pm

      I personally love the self-checkouts. Yes, sometimes they screw up and you have to wait forever for an associate to come over and help you, but usually I have no problems. If I’m going to walmart, it’s normally a get in/get out type of thing, and I hate to wait in line for fifteen minutes if the cashier lanes are overflowing.. I like them.

      Report Post » johnannegalt  
    • Exiled
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 7:01am

      On the other hand, I’ve had complete idiots as checkers. There have been several times where _I_ have had to show them how to fix a problem with their registers. Do you think the spool of thread you were trying to buy would have had any better luck with a cashier? No, they would have sent some 14 year old back to the sewing supplies to try to find your “egg-shell white” thread to get the price. End result is still frustration.

      Report Post »  
    • ibflippy
      Posted on November 11, 2011 at 10:32pm

      I despise self check-outs. A store wants me to buy things from them and then expect free labor from the buyer…. rediculous. I went to a large chain grocery store at 11pm once. There were 10 lanes open, all of which were self-checkout; one nice lady working the monitoring terminal. The store could EMPLOY people to run registers, but i guess employment is a taboo subject in the USSA…. hrmmm

      Report Post »  
  • FRONTIERSMAN
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 4:36pm

    What I hate is going to any major retail store/supercenter etc and they have 16 checkout lanes and only 3 of them are open. If you have the capacity, USE IT for pete’s sake. Not all of them, but just enough so there aren’t any lines. One of the reasons I use the self checkout is only those 3 lanes are open and there is a line 5 deep in each one. So I have to wait while I look down across and see empty lane after lane.

    Report Post »  
    • Servant Of YHVH
      Posted on September 26, 2011 at 4:56pm

      I agree frontiersman! The way that I see it is that I figure that if I have to do my own work in their store then they should either pay me for working there or give me a discount on my purchases. I go in there to buy things not to go to work. That is what their employees get paid for. I’ve been waiting for garages to start copying the stores. You go in, get the part, have to install the part yourself and then pay the mechanic for the part and for installing my parts. To me there really isn’t much different in the two scenarios.

      Report Post » Servant Of YHVH  
    • Caerus
      Posted on September 26, 2011 at 6:19pm

      It drives me crazy to see tons of empty checkout lanes. I understand that stores have extra lanes for big sales, holidays, etc. but when I go to Walmart during their busiest hours and only 4 of the 20 checkout lanes are staffed…

      I cashiered at a chain pet store to pay for college, and we had 8 lanes. The max I EVER saw used were 3. And that was only when they were incredibly busy. There were easily enough customers coming in and out during the day to make having more than one checkout lane a smart option, but no. They left me the sole cashier 99% of the time. Especially since I also had to answer the phone, do returns, help customers with small animal questions, get small animals out for people to see/buy, take care of the animals, etc. Bah, still bitter with how they handled that.

      Anyway. I hate self-checkouts. Great idea in theory, but the only ones we try to use at a regular basis are at Winn Dixie (otherwise we get stuck behind the woman who splits her items into 6 different purchases for her EBT card) and they are awful. Truly awful. Scanning isn’t that hard, but the machine is always giving errors of some kind or another. Then we get to wait for the cashier to finish with EBT woman anyway before clearing the error.

      Report Post »  
  • louise
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 4:20pm

    Keep the cashiers, and open more express lanes. When self-checkout first started, I knew that eventually it would take away someone’s job. So I say keep the cashiers.

    Report Post » louise  
    • symphonic
      Posted on September 26, 2011 at 4:35pm

      It was always a stoopid idea because they will NEVER standardize and teach all of the people in the world how the checkout procedure is to be done. Too many options, and people waiting in the self checkout line while a really inept person is taking FOREVER to figure out the machine. Hate em when there are people in front of me.

      Report Post » symphonic  
    • demint.disciple
      Posted on September 26, 2011 at 5:15pm

      @symphonic<< pretty much the way you spell stupid ,it was stupid ?

      Report Post » demint.disciple  
    • Exiled
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 7:09am

      Stop hiring inept cashiers and I would be happy. Walmart here has self-checkouts, and I will always use them given the choice.

      Report Post »  
  • ZaphodsPlanet
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 4:14pm

    I loved the self checkout, but the grocery store nearest my house got rid of it due to theft problems. They were only supposed to be for people buying 10 items or less….. but there would always be some a-hole in line with a full freaking shopping cart. Anyway, they got fed up with the theft problem and that’s why they are no more. I miss being able to get in and out of the store so fast. Now I have to watch for the weird mole lady who scares me so I don’t go through her checkout…..LOL. Oh well…. cross your fingers for me. Come hell or high water I’m getting out of the Austin area someday and heading for Dallas or Houston, where at least there are fewer moron liberals. Don’t believe what anyone tells you. Austin is a huge joke chock full of more stoners than you thought existed. Just drive around all the people traveling 15-20MPH below the speed limit on Friday and Sat evenings and you can get a contact high. Hate this city!

    Report Post » ZaphodsPlanet  
  • jxgrab
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 4:08pm

    I like the self-checkout but when folks start fumbling with cash instead of using a card then use coupons, and repeatedly try to scan produce that is sold by weight, it kind of loses it’s appeal

    Report Post »  
  • ocean1994
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 4:07pm

    i love self checkouts soo much. i even go the the grocery store more often for smaller purchases like lunch. its nice to not have someone seeing u come there 4 days a week. i will also drive a few more miles just to get to a store with self checkout.

    Report Post » ocean1994  
  • Tom K
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 4:05pm

    Eliminating self check-out would lower thefts but may not cause the store to hire more cashiers. For me, I like dealing with a real person that can ring me up before I can write the check. I tell the people behind me I am writing a check. Oh yes, I carry cash too and a gun for those nitwits that choose robbery in the parking lot as their full-time job. Old school for sure.

    Report Post »  
  • nomark
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 4:05pm

    Self check outs are very good, if you are very informed before you check out. First you have to make sure everything has the upc code and its readable. Then you have to make sure you don’t have any “big brother regulated” items. Obviously beer and alcohol. But that also means cans of spray paint, some over the counter drugs, and things a cashier has to pull. Ie, battery packs, high dollar items, small things common for theives to shoplift, etc.

    Next is the hassle of a upc code that does not read. That’s a pain and there is not much you can do about it. Then there is the issue of tiny items. Too small to register the weight when you put it in the bag. And then you have the really big and/or bukly items that won’t go in the bagging area.

    Personally I like them, IF I know I have items I can run out really fast. But if there is anything too big, too small, too expensive or too regulated (and that list seems to grow yearly) then the traditional cashier is better.

    RFID might resolve these problems… but then again it has it’s own set of problems.

    Report Post »  
  • jimay
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 3:57pm

    The check stands use crummy software that frustrates people.
    They’re generally solid hardware platforms that actually work but the software is horrible. The scales get behind the checking, coupons slow down the scanning etc. etc. There’s no excuse for it, but it seems that most of the large stores buy their software and systems from the same vendors.

    Report Post »  
  • Opino1984
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 3:52pm

    I’m faster than just about every cashier I met, even with entering the PLU codes (I have my most common ones memorized). I guess I wouldn’t mind having to use the cashier if they would actually staff more checkout lines.

    I go to the local Safeway rarely (doesn’t have self checkout) because of the fact that they usually only have one lane open around 6 or 7pm, when they have their highest weekday traffic. So you end up with a line of like 20 people waiting to get checked out by one person, and if I’m only going for a few items, it’s stupid to wait in line longer than it took to get my items from the store.

    So it’s one or the other, keep the self checkout or staff more checkout lines especially at peak times.

    Report Post » Opino1984  
  • el thinko
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 3:36pm

    I love self-check. I don’t go to the supermarket for social interaction, I go for necessary items. and the sooner I can get back to my life, the better!

    Report Post » el thinko  
  • BetsyRoss1513
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 3:36pm

    As a person who used to check groceries, self-check-out is no mystery to me. I don‘t care if it’s 4 or 40 items, I use self-check-out and prefer it. It’s not hard to decipher the process if you have a good system in place and a self-check-out ‘assistant’ there to provide that tiny bit of CS you MIGHT need.

    Report Post » BetsyRoss1513  
  • OklahomaBound
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 3:29pm

    If I had a shopping cart full of stuff I’d use the cashier, but if I only had a few items I’d use self-checkout. But the only reason I don’t use self-checkout for a large cart full of stuff isn’t because I want someone else to do the work, it’s because the checkout space that they give you in the self-check lanes is tiny and does not work well with a cart full of stuff. Give me more counter space and I’ll take self-checkout every time.

    Report Post » OklahomaBound  
  • snoopy
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 3:04pm

    I avoid these check lanes at all costs! It’s not that I am not “tech savy” enough to operate them. My thought is why am I having to ring up my own purchases? Does the store give me a discount for not using the traditional checkout lane? The store is saving money on staffing, which I would think would irritate the unions!!

    Report Post » snoopy  
    • AvengerK
      Posted on September 26, 2011 at 3:37pm

      the answer is compromise. Set up one line for self serve, the rest conventional customer service. If costs aren’t warranted after a period of time, lose the self serve as clearly it’s the least popular. Simple..free market dictates the results.

      Report Post »  
  • scarebear83
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 3:04pm

    Why not both? Keep a handful of lanes that are self-check out for people such as myself that more often than not get about less than 20 items and have to sit in a long line at 10pm at Wal-Mart simply because they close every checkout but 2 lanes (seriously the Wal-Mart here starts closing stuff up at about 9pm and by 9:30-10 all but 2 lanes remain open…. maybe they’ll open a 3rd one if the lines get too big). I say keep both and make it known to those wishing to purchase alcohol must go through a line with a cashier. Problem solved :)

    Report Post » scarebear83  
  • Kaoscontrol
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 3:03pm

    The technical frustrations will work itself out as they always do with any computer based system. (Once we have the mark of the beast on our hand or forehead it’ll be super easy!)

    I use self checkout, or the checker depending on the complexity of the purchase. I like having both options– does it have to be either or? can’t stores keep both and let us choose?

    Report Post » Kaoscontrol  
  • Juan Gault
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 3:02pm

    I guess i’m lazy,or old fashioned,or both. I prefer to be waited on, when shopping, period.as a cynic, I think,stores providing self checking out ,are downsizing employees required with eye toward bottom line.

    Jes saying.

    Report Post »  
  • Angie1580
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 3:01pm

    Glad to see them go! I would much rather deal with a person. But then again if I call a company looking for a service and I get a machine I hang up and call the next one on the list. I still beleive in personal service.

    Report Post » Angie1580  
  • microace
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 2:57pm

    I must be in the minority here, I quit shopping at Albertson’s because they took the self checkouts out. Then again I never buy a whole grocery cart full of stuff, I mainly shop for what I want at that moment.

    Report Post »  
  • timej31
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 2:51pm

    If self checkout goes away it isn’t because they love spending money on employees to make you happy the real reason is self checkout is the #1 source for people helping themselves to free things. Buy 20 items and scan 18. They are losing their shirts in this economy.

    Report Post » timej31  
    • boxy
      Posted on September 26, 2011 at 2:58pm

      agreed

      Report Post »  
    • JQPublic
      Posted on September 26, 2011 at 3:18pm

      Theft is absolutely the number one reason they are doing away with the self checkout. A less than honorable acquaintance of mine spoke of the two for one “sales” and entering the code of lesser priced fruits and vegetables for more expensive ones.
      Personally it all depends on what I have to check out. If it‘s a whole basket of stuff I’ll use the cashier. If it‘s only a couple of items I’ll use the self checkout.

      Report Post » JQPublic  
  • anyad
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 2:39pm

    The poll is unanswerable for me as my answer changes with a series of varialbes. For example the size of my order, the items in my order (IF a lot of coded items then I prefer cashier who knows the codes vs. me looking each one up), the crowds at the various check out lines and my schedule. I like having the option to self-check.

    Report Post »  
  • ...EriK
    Posted on September 26, 2011 at 2:35pm

    The self-checkout lanes are good for a small number of items. If buying a six pack and an ID is needed it complicates the process. Fortunately, the stores’ self-checkout monitor is able tell I’m of age from across the street and just pushes the “approved” button. What amazes me, and it just happened again recently, is, while standing in line at the live cashiers’ lane a person with two items asked if I would let them go in front of me. I did, but I made it obvious glance (to no avail) in the direction of the self-check lanes that had some openings… go figure!

    Report Post » ...EriK  
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