Managing director Nigel Murray has now admitted how the choice has driven customer satisfaction scores up.
A UK supermarket chain has moved to REMOVE self-checkouts from the majority of its stores as its boss admits it makes customers happier. Booths, headquartered in Lancashire, first opted to remove self-service checkouts in November 2023.
Managing director Nigel Murray has now admitted how the choice has driven customer satisfaction scores up. He told The Grocer : “We’re at 74 now, up from 70 (out of 100). Not all of that is due to the fact that we’ve taken self-service checkouts out of many of the stores.
“But when you look at things like service, into the ‘promise of things to come’ section, we’ve scored brilliantly.” He added: “Because in really simple terms if you’ve got somebody who is doing a job repetitively for six, seven, eight hours a day, they are going to do it faster and better than if you are just turning up to do it once every three days.”
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It comes amidst a number of big-brands making changes to their checkout systems. Home Bargains, for instance, is cracking down on shoplifting by bringing in a major change to self-checkouts.
Home Bargains is trialling new anti-theft software. AI installed into CCTV can record whether an item leaving self-checkout has been scanned or not.
Home Bargains is collaborating with tech firm SAI, Storewide Active Intelligence, and AI-business Everseen to install the software into its CCTV. SAI described the technology as converting regular security cameras into “specialised and capable in-store AI assistants.”
Aldi, meanwhile, says shoppers will be able to buy lottery tickets at self-checkout machines as it expands its offering. Previously, these were only available at manned checkouts.
Asda, meanwhile, is going to put more staff on checkouts after admitting it has reached a limit with self-service tills. The supermarket said while self-checkouts work well for customers, it wants to invest additional hours into having manned checkouts.
It claimed that the decision was not about shoppers’ preference for a human to help them rather than a machine.
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