Is the honeymoon period with the self-checkout register officially over? What once was a convenient alternative, quickly became the only option in many retail stores, as it was sold as an efficient, cost cutting solution meant to move customers in and out of stores quickly.
No doubt the age of the self-checkout register, which began in the 1980’s but exploded in the 2000’s in supermarkets and convenience stores is here to stay. But now even some of the largest retailers are re-evaluating the actual use of them. This includes chains like Booths supermarkets in the United Kingdom as well as Walmart, Wegman’s, Five Below, and Costco in the U.S.
Coping with criticisms from annoyed customers is one key reason. Another one is theft by way of checking oneself out of the store. This is occurring, either directly or indirectly, as thieves know exactly how to use checkouts. For example, Costco had discovered that customers who were not members of the club were using membership cards that were not theirs to ring up their own purchases.
Costing large retailers and small retailers their profits is typically the trigger for stores to change their ways. In the case of the big box stores like Costco, they can absorb the “shrink,” known as the loss of inventory. They still have the bandwidth to figure out a better approach to utilizing self-checkout registers.
A study of stores in the U.S., Britain, and some other European countries, discovered that shops that offered self-checkout suffered a 4% loss, which is more than twice the rate in the retail industry. This type of loss is the reason Booth supermarkets announced “that it is going back to old-fashioned human beings to check people out,” according to CNN Business in this 2.5 minute video. It is also the reason Walmart removed these registers from some stores in New Mexico as well as modified the self-checkout lanes in other stores to accommodate more employee attendees.
Classroom discussion questions:
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of retail self-checkout?
- How does this differ from self-checkout in restaurants and hotels?