As backlash against self-checkouts continues to grow, retailers are responding by adjusting their approach, reports CNN.
British supermarket chain Booths said it’s removing self-checkout stations in the vast majority of its 28 stores. In the U.S., Walmart, Costco, Wegmans, and other chains are rethinking use of the technology.
“Our customers have told us this over time — that the self-scan machines that we’ve got in our stores … can be slow, they can be unreliable (and) they’re obviously impersonal,” Booths managing director Nigel Murray told the BBC.
Earlier this year, Walmart removed self-checkouts at some stores in New Mexico. After customer complaints, ShopRite pulled them at a Delaware store.
Costco is adding more staff to self-checkout areas after if found that non-members were using membership cards that didn’t belong to them at self-checkouts. Last year, Wegmans discontinued use of a mobile app that let customers scan, bag, and pay for groceries while they shopped, after reporting losses. Full Story
Related: Amazon, H-E-B, Kroger Win on Personalization; Cross-Cultural Cooking Named Trend of the Year.