Self-checkout expanded at supermarkets in the early 2000s as stores looked to cut costs, and during the pandemic, many shoppers used self-checkout for the first time to minimize close interaction with employees and other customers.īut now, retailers are rethinking self-checkout. They shifted the work of paid employees to unpaid customers. Self-service machines were first introduced during the 1980s to lower labor expenses. “There’s all sorts of fussing about with that and then the minute you put any alcohol in your basket somebody’s got to come and check that you’re of the right age.”Ī spokesperson for Booths told CNN that employees checking out shoppers was a better customer experience. “Some customers don’t know one different apple versus another, for example,” Murray said. Alcohol purchases also were not smooth transactions through self-checkout because employees had to verify customers’ ages.
Paul Melling/Alamy Stock PhotoĬustomers at Booths also frequently misidentified which fruits and vegetables they were buying when prompted by self-checkout machines. British supermarket Booths is removing self-checkout machines.
