{"id":8870,"date":"2024-08-25T04:00:15","date_gmt":"2024-08-25T04:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/what-could-asda-and-morrisons-move-away-from-self-checkout-mean\/"},"modified":"2024-08-25T04:00:15","modified_gmt":"2024-08-25T04:00:15","slug":"what-could-asda-and-morrisons-move-away-from-self-checkout-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/what-could-asda-and-morrisons-move-away-from-self-checkout-mean\/","title":{"rendered":"What could Asda and Morrisons move away from self-checkout mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Some supermarket chains have said they are refocusing on staffed checkouts<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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After years of encouraging shoppers to scan their own groceries, some supermarkets are checking out a move back to traditional tills.<\/p>\n

Asda said it would put more staff on checkouts, while Morrisons admitted it might have “gone too far” with self-scan. Northern upmarket chain Booths has got rid of them altogether.<\/p>\n

The dreaded “unexpected item in the bagging area” announcement is among a list of customer complaints about self-service tills.<\/p>\n

But some shoppers told the BBC they’re happy to skip the queues and the chit chat if it speeds up their shop.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The debate over staffed versus unstaffed tills has continued to rumble on as the number of self-scan tills has increased over the past 20 years to some 80,000 in the UK.<\/p>\n

Now Morrisons chief executive has claimed the store “went a bit too far” with the self-checkout. Although they drive some productivity, “some shoppers dislike it, mainly when they have a full trolley,” Rami Baiti\u00e9h, told the Telegraph.<\/a><\/p>\n

He said the chain was now “reviewing” its number of self-service checkouts, with plans to remove some in favour of staffed tills.<\/p>\n

His comments came after Asda pledged to put more staff on checkouts<\/a> after admitting it had reached a limit with self-service tills.<\/p>\n

Some have gone further. Booths – a smaller, upmarket supermarket chain based in the north of England – rid itself of the technology completely last November.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"BeverleyBeverley Hyrb<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Beverley Hyrb prefers to talk to staff in person rather than use self-checkout<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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For Beverley Hyrb, from Oldham in Greater Manchester there’s a new nuisance when it comes to negotiating the self-scan. She is particularly turned off by the cameras on some of these tills that capture live footage of the user.<\/p>\n

“You see an image of yourself moving about and I don\u2019t like it,” the 62-year-old said. “I\u2019d rather get in a queue.”<\/p>\n

Stores could be using the technology to discourage shoplifting, after such cases in England and Wales hit the highest level for 20 years<\/a> in April.<\/p>\n

Ms Hyrb added that there were mental health benefits to speaking to someone when grocery shopping.<\/p>\n

“Especially if you\u2019re living on your own. Doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s about the weather or the news or whatever, it\u2019s just good to chat.”<\/p>\n

For others self-checkouts are not merely annoying, but a challenge to use.<\/p>\n

“As a deaf person, I can’t hear the beep when I scan items so I’m always getting in a tangle with them as they don’t always scan correctly,” said Anna Kenyon from Manchester.<\/p>\n

She said people – as opposed to machines – are much better at adapting to her condition. Like Beverley, she appreciates the human touch.<\/p>\n

“I’ve had some lovely interactions in Aldi where a checkout assistant spontaneously started signing with me. Little moments of connection like that are lovely.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"AnnaAnna Kenyon<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Anna Kenyon has had “lovely interactions” with shop assistants signing with her<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Julie Yates has two adult sons who have autism and said self-checkouts allow them some independence.<\/p>\n

“They don’t have to interact with anyone, they can be in and out and gone,” she said. “They don’t have to make eye contact or small talk.”<\/p>\n

“My mum and I, we go to a [staffed] checkout,” Ms Yates said. “It’s a little social interaction, it can be a nice part of the day.”<\/p>\n

Others simply prefer self-checkout because they find it quicker.<\/p>\n

For 74-year-old Trevor Springford from Dunbar in East Lothian “it’s all about getting in and out fast without having to queue, get involved in a conversation or field questions.”<\/p>\n

For people like Trevor, it is welcome news that self-checkouts won’t be going away entirely anytime soon. <\/p>\n

As for those who loathe them, they may start to see a few more staffed tills in future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The British Retail Consortium which represents most of the UK’s major supermarkets would not be drawn on whether this was the start of a phasing out of self-scan. A spokesperson told BBC News: “Retailers will adapt check-out systems across their different stores to meet the diverse needs of their customers.”<\/p>\n

Ged Futter, director of supermarket consultancy The Retail Mind, agreed that customer feedback is king when it comes to these kinds of shifts in retail.<\/p>\n

“At the moment, I think it’s particular to those two retailers [Asda and Morrisons],” he told BBC Breakfast. <\/p>\n

One of the benefits self-scans bring to supermarkets is they cut staff wage bills, but if it impacts on customer experience, it’s bad for business.<\/p>\n

“The retailers themselves will always be looking at costs, [but] sometimes when you’re looking at costs, you can go too far,” Mr Futter said.<\/p>\n

“Successful retailing is all based on feedback from the customer. It’s about understanding your customer,” he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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BBC News contacted all the UK’s major supermarket chains to ask whether they were changing their till set-up. Tesco, Lidl, Co-Op and Waitrose said they would continue to offer both.<\/p>\n

Marks and Spencer said their stores had different formats for different customer needs, but all stores with staffed tills always has at least one open for checkout.<\/p>\n

Aldi and Sainsbury’s did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Tesco said it introduced self-checkout tills nearly 20 years ago. A spokesperson for the country’s biggest supermarket said: “We are proud to offer customers choice when it comes to checking out and customers can always ask a colleague for a manned till to be opened.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Under the Equality Act, organisations have to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ so disabled people are not disadvantaged<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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But Fazilet Hadi, head of policy at Disability Rights UK, said customers should not have to ask for a staffed till to be opened. “They’re not always that visible, these staff. What if I can’t see them?”<\/p>\n

However she acknowledged that reasonable adjustments for people with disabilities “have to be proportionate”.<\/p>\n

“What’s reasonable for a multi-million pound chain may not be reasonable for a corner shop,” she said, but added that choice was important as everyone’s needs are different.<\/p>\n

Mel Merritt, head of policy and campaigns at the National Autistic Society, said some people “may prefer the reduced level of social communication and interaction which a self-service checkout provides”.<\/p>\n

“Others may need more support while shopping and may benefit from having staff at checkouts who can help,” she added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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Getty Images Some supermarket chains have said they are refocusing on staffed checkouts After years of encouraging shoppers to scan their own groceries, some supermarkets are checking out a move back to traditional tills. Asda said it would put more staff on checkouts, while Morrisons admitted it might have “gone too far” with self-scan. Northern […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[4107,4679,1126,4680],"class_list":["post-8870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-asda","tag-morrisons","tag-move","tag-selfcheckout"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8870"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8872,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8870\/revisions\/8872"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}