This grocery chain is doing away with self-checkout - the reason why might surprise you

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

https://nypost.com/2023/11/11/lifestyle/this-grocery-chain-is-doing-away-
with-self-checkout-the-reason-why-might-surprise-you/

Go beep yourself.

Customers of popular British grocery chain Booths found out this week that
the company is scrapping self-checkout lanes, just six years after rolling
them out in their 28 tony stores, mostly located in the north of England.

The decision goes against a decades-long trend, where human beings are
increasingly becoming a rarity at the front of supermarkets and other big
box retailers — a shift most industry watchers agree is unstoppable.

“We’re not great fans of self-checkouts,” Booths managing director Nigel
Murray told U.K. trade publication The Grocer. “We pride ourselves on
great customer service and you can’t do that through a robot.”

The do-it-yourself approach first seemed like an appealing way of managing
labor costs and increasing efficiency, Murray said. But he also noted that
the technology could be finicky, detracting from the shopping experience.

Booths were founded in Blackpool in 1847, reportedly with a philosophy of
“sell the best goods available, in attractive stores, staffed with first
class assistants.”

A company spokesperson told The Guardian that the company will remove the
controversial lanes from every one of its stores except two in the
touristy Lake District, where staff can become overwhelmed during the
warmer months.

“We believe colleagues serving customers delivers a better customer
experience and therefore we have taken the decision to remove self-
checkouts in the majority of our stores,” the spokesperson said.

“We have based this not only on what we feel is the right thing to do but
also having received feedback from our customers. Delighting customers
with our warm northern welcome is part of our DNA and we continue to
invest in our people to ensure we remain true to that ethos.”

The news comes as other retailers have publicly revealed their own
struggles with automating the checkout and payment process — Walmart
recently removed self-checkout options from some of its stores without
explanation, while Wegmans, a cult-favorite grocer based in Rochester with
two stores in New York City and a handful in the nearby suburbs, recently
ditched a popular self-checkout app, citing abuse.

“SCAN users have told us they love the app and convenience it offers,”
Wegmans said in a statement to the New York Times. “Unfortunately, the
losses we are experiencing prevent us from continuing to make it available
in its current state.”

According to a 2016 study quoted by the Grey Lady, retailers in the United
States and Europe offering self-checkout options experienced a loss rate
of approximately 4 percent — more than double the industry average.

The trend toward automated checkout has been partially blamed for the so-
called “loneliness epidemic” said to be plaguing some Western countries,
where a chat with a checkout clerk might be the only human interaction
some people experience in a day.

While self-checkout options were first introduced roughly twenty years
ago, many companies leaned heavily on the concept during the pandemic,
when customers were suddenly eager to minimize contact with other human
beings.


--
We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.

Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem. It has none.

No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.
Officially made Nancy Pelosi a two-time impeachment loser.

Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed
dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.