Opinion: Self-service checkouts haven’t been smooth scanning

The introduction of self-service payment counters in supermarkets has not been smooth scanning, writes Gary Martin.

They arrived on the retail scene with promises to cart away customer queues, reduce inconvenient price checks over the store’s public address system and eliminate the need for checkout chitter-chatter.

Years later, there is still a requirement to line up, customers untrained in the act of self-checkout clog up the bagging area, and a frazzled lone staff member is left to tend to far-ranging customer crises including produce weighing woes, scanning snags and loyalty card letdowns.

The introduction of self-service payment counters in supermarkets checks out as one of the most significant shifts in the retail experience in years – and it has not been smooth scanning.

As the decades rolled on many customers have finally realised that while self-service checkouts might look like they save us time, they do not.

Experienced cashiers can process and package items more efficiently than even the most enthusiastic shopper.

Customers only feel like they are saving time because they are busy doing tasks rather than paying attention to each second that ticks away.

Savvy shoppers have also recognised self-service checkouts for what they really are: an attempt to push the workload from checkout operator to customer and – in doing so – save on labour costs.

Most customers would go along with bagging their own groceries if they knew their shopping basket was going to cost less at the checkout. Yet the reality is the net proceeds of fewer staff are being used to fatten the corporate purse rather than the customer’s wallet.

Some shoppers have also observed the enormous strain the self-service checkouts place on a solitary supermarket worker who has been tasked with overseeing the line-up of kiosks.

If you are longing for a more human touch you might be in for further disappointment.

The future of supermarket shopping is thought to include technologically advanced shopping trolleys called smart carts.

These grocery carts automatically scan items as they are added, calculate the total and even suggest recipes or complementary products, all without the need for a scrap of human interaction.

If you prefer to be served rather than self-serve, do not think you are off your trolley.

There are thousands of customers in the same shopping lane as you.

The only way to register your preference is to stick to the checkout queue where human connections remain an important item.

Professor Gary Martin is a workplace and social affairs expert

Originally published as Opinion: Self-service checkouts haven’t been smooth scanning