39% of shoppers don’t want self-service checkouts

There are said to be approximately 42,000 self-service checkouts in the UK. In the supermarket sector, the shift towards self-serve has been so pronounced and so rapid that you’d assume consumers were wholly in favour of the trend.

However, according to a survey of 10,000 consumers by shop4pop.com, 39% of us would like to see self-serve checkouts replaced for manned tills in stores.

And surprisingly, this opinion isn’t reserved for older demographics. 52% of 18-24 year olds believe reverting back to solely having checkout staff will improve their shopping experience.

“These results are quite eye opening ,” says Siobhan Sweeney, marketing lead at shop4pop.com. “Before carrying out the research we would have assumed that 18-24 year olds in particular would actually prefer to see more self-service checkouts, as opposed to manned till points.

“It does go to show that despite the continuous rise in technology throughout retail, good old fashioned face-to-face communications is invaluable.”

This sentiment is shared by author and customer experience expert, Shep Hyken, who recently wrote on MyCustomer.com about the need for self-service to be blended into the human elements of retail as opposed to replacing them completely:

“Self-service should be something that enhances the typical customer service experience. It should be about making it easier, faster, more efficient, and in some cases, even less expensive for the customer.

“A self-service solution doesn’t mean you don’t offer customer service. On the contrary, self-service is a way to enhance customer service.”

Despite the reported efficiencies, discount supermarket, Aldi has gained notoriety for stating that it will never implement self-service checkouts, even with the potential financial benefits on offer.