The main problems have not disappeared: thefts are increasing, profits are declining
More recently, it was assumed that self-service checkouts would revolutionize trade. But this did not happen: retailers and the largest retail chains in the West are abandoning this idea. The plans of many Western hypermarkets and industry giants – get rid of self-checkouts throughout Europe, and many American stores already have a limited number of such checkouts.
Retail giants were planning a revolution in the world of shopping: self-checkouts were supposed to help grow profits, but instead they only bring disappointment. It was assumed that cash registers without a cashier would provide customers with convenience and speed. Retailers hoped the innovation would usher in a new era of cost savings. Instead, customers continue to stand in lines, and store employees are forced to correct errors at the registers or check documents for goods marked 18+.
«Stores still need employees to help them and service the cash registers&rdash; a representative of an American retail chain comments on the situation.
From a theoretical point of view, experts note that self-service technology has its advantages for both consumers and businesses, but in most cases it does not live up to expectations.
“It didn’t deliver anything that it promised,” – explains the author of The Overworked Consumer: Self-Checkouts, Supermarkets, and the Do-It-Yourself Economy Christopher Andrews.
He adds that “if stores could get consumers to think that autonomy is the preferred way to shop, then they could cut labor costs. But they find that people need help with this, otherwise they will steal things. Eventually, stores realized that they weren't saving money, they were losing it.
Many retailers have invested millions, if not billions, of dollars in self-checkout technology, which Christopher Andrews says was first developed back in 1980s and began appearing in stores in the 1990s. Self-checkout stations aren't exactly cheap to install in stores: Some experts estimate that a four-checkout system could cost six figures.
Now large retailers in the West are coming up with various ways to save money and stop theft at checkouts. For example, Target limits the number of items customers can purchase on their own at one time. Another American supermarket chain – Walmart – removed a number of self-checkouts in stores to prevent theft. In the UK, supermarket chain Bouts is also trying to move away from the technology as shoppers complain it is slow and unreliable.
One of the fastest-growing US retailers, Dollar General, is also rethinking its strategy. Back in 2022, the discount chain actively used self-service technology: only one or two employees could meet in their stores. But according to the company's CEO Todd Vasos, despite the investment, they are now planning to increase the number of employees in the stores «and, in particular, the checkout area.»
“We started to rely too much on self-service in our stores. Now we need to use self-service as an additional means of selling goods, and not the main one,” – said Todd Vasos.
According to British publications, merchants who have self-checkout checkouts have lost profit more than twice the industry average.
Another problem that stores faced was theft. It notes that customers may be more tempted not to pay for items when using a self-checkout checkout than when interacting with a human cashier in person.
In a 2021 survey of thousands of American shoppers, 60 percent of consumers said, that they prefer to use a self-checkout system rather than a staffed cash register when they have a choice, but 67 percent of respondents have experienced problems when trying to use this technology.
“It’s not that self-checkout technology is good or bad in itself, but if we once try to place an order ourselves and realize that it is not profitable for us, we will refuse to use it,” – says Amit Kumar, assistant professor of marketing, who studies consumer behavior and decision-making.
That appears to be the case in many cases, as consumer dissatisfaction with self-checkout technology grows. But Christopher Andrews believes that, regardless, stores will keep some self-service checkouts because «they've spent billions putting them in stores and hope they can still convince the public to buy through them.» p>
For shoppers who do decide to do the work themselves, there's one thing Andrews doesn't think will change: No matter how ubiquitous the technology is, and no matter how accustomed consumers are to using self-checkout, shoppers will likely , will be disappointed most of the time.