The Rise and Fall of Self-Service Checkouts in UK Supermarkets

In 2009, supermarkets across the United Kingdom embarked on a self-service revolution, replacing traditional cashier-manned tills with automated checkouts. The aim was to speed up transactions and reduce labour costs. However, as time has passed, the shine has worn off these self-service kiosks, leaving customers frustrated and retailers questioning their decision. At the height of the self-service boom, these checkouts accounted for around 80% of sales in a typical supermarket.

Asda, one of the UK’s largest supermarket chains, has recently acknowledged that the expansion of self-service technology has reached its limit. The company plans to invest £30 million in hiring more checkout staff, signalling a shift back towards human interaction. Booths, another UK supermarket, removed self-checkouts from its shops last year to maintain its “warm northern welcome” and replace artificial intelligence with “actual intelligence.” Even Amazon, a pioneer in till-free technology, has abandoned its “Just Walk Out” system in its US supermarkets.

The rapid rise of self-scanners has coincided with a significant increase in shoplifting. Customers have resorted to tactics such as the “banana trick,” scanning cheap items like fruit before leaving with more expensive products. This trend has led to substantial losses for retailers. Marks & Spencer chairman, Archie Norman, warned that the reduction of service in shops had contributed to a rise in middle-class shoplifters who believe they are entitled to steal due to the difficulty of using self-scanners.

Retailers are now recognising that replacing too many staff with self-service kiosks has been a self-inflicted disaster. Human interaction, once the key differentiator between physical stores and online rivals, has been lost in the process. In a world where so much is online, people crave the intimacy of a store staffed with people they can talk to. The number of vacancies involving checkout staff has plummeted from 58% of supermarket jobs in 2016 to less than 15% in 2023, according to job search engine Adzuna.

While supermarkets have saved on wages, the costs elsewhere have been substantial. Despite the widespread dissatisfaction, self-service checkouts are unlikely to disappear entirely. Roughly 90% of customers use them, and the number of self-serve kiosks in supermarkets has soared from 53,000 to around 80,000 in the last five years. The key for retailers is to strike a balance between technology and human interaction.

Investing in both hiring and technology is crucial for brands that want to keep their physical stores running successfully. Customers stepping into a physical store want a different experience from shopping online. By bringing in technology while maintaining the human touch, retailers can create a more joyful and communal shopping experience. British grocery giants may not see it as their responsibility to warm the cockles of a local neighbourhood, but their physical stores are losing appeal. They are filled with angry customers, worn-out staff, and shoplifters. Retailers have replaced too many staff with clunky kiosks and are paying the price. The solution lies in finding the right balance between humans and machines to bring back a sense of community and improve the overall shopping experience.