If you’re tired of waiting in line while the cashier takes his/her sweet time ringing through the person in front of you, here’s some good news: self-service check-out technology appears to be thriving.
While I’m not an enthusiastic shopper, I noticed over the weekend that two big chains – Canadian Tire and Loblaws – have both installed self-service kiosks where consumers can scan and then pay for their purchases. The technology is far from perfect but it’s pretty impressive given the UI is pretty intuitive, there’s a variety of ways to pay, and you can even get cash back rather than visit the ATM.
That said, it does seem a bit strange to buy stuff without dealing with someone at the end. The check-out has been an essential element of the retail experience, even in the grocery and big-box worlds which already make you do most of the work. It has always been the place where shopping turns personal rather than just being a transaction. A good cashier can provide that final dose of customer service to keep you coming back.
Then again, a cashier can also cost a retailer $10 to $15/hour. At a time when the economy is slowing, competition is fierce and margins are under pressure, retailers are looking for ways to reduce costs and/or make their businesses more efficient. For many of them, self-service check-out technology can offer enough of a ROI to make it a no-brainer investment given
As well, consumers seem to like the idea of controlling their own check-out destiny. From what I’ve seen, no one was complaining about checking themselves out.
To suggest that self-service check-out technology is going to force cashiers into extinction would be inaccurate but it’s something many retailers are going to embrace. Any retailer selling commodities will find it increasingly compelling, while others such as clothing retailers may find there’s no replacement for the personal touch.
10 Comments
Home Depot has has them as well. Reflects a trend toward individual control and efficiency. Why have someone else do something that you can do yourself more effectively?…in many respects travel agents and retail banking clerks are a dying breed.
In commerce environments where products are bought – sales people will or have already been phased out in large part (see above). In commerce environments where products are sold (cars, high end clothing, and others), the retail agent will continue to have a role, although its role will shift over time.
Last time I used a self-checkout was about a year ago. A bug in the software caused my balance to reset back to 0.0 after I had deposited the required cash. The other people in line were able to vouch for my actually putting the cash in and the retailers gave me a refund, though I’ve been a bit nervous of them since then, though granted I haven’t seen any in my town now since I moved, so I would probably use one again.
Wait until you use one….you wont be so enthusiastic.
Having used them in the Home Depot Manhattan outlet I can personally vouch that they suck…..they should all be replaced by foreign nationals on work visa’s who actually want a job rather than gum chewing ‘dissapointed this is all their life turned out to be….but not prepared to do anything about it’ americans who think minimum wage is beneath them.
ever shopped in Japan? there is no way an automated service could replace that level of transaction.
Cheers,
Dean
Dean,
My experience has been pretty good, especially when buying less than 10 items. Not sure I’d want to go through the hassle of doing a large grocery order myself, though.
Mark
Mark, where have you been? These checkouts have been available in and around the Toronto area for maybe 2-3 years or more. In fact the Loblaws near me just ripped out their older ones for slightly more efficient ones.
I have never had any issues with them and prefer to use them since the lines are typically shorter.
Tim,
I’m not ardent of a shopper so a lot of retail trends pass me by.
Actually, the Loblaws and CanTire near me just put them in. That must say something about the neighbourhood!
Thanks for the comment.
The Wal-mart and Loblaws near my house also have self-service kiosks. They take longer and non-tech savvy people don’t know how to use them, which results in a long line-up (with me usually at the end waiting).
I also thought these were the cashier killer until I noticed the long lines and how hard it is for normal people to scan items fast
Depending on the retail setup the lines may look long but you are typically in a line for 4-8 checkouts so it goes pretty quick.
I’ve had the opposite experience with waiting. I’m usually through these in no time. On average way faster than a regular cashier.
Having just recently come back from living in Japan, I feel uniquely able to answer a previous commenter. Yes, Japan has the superior checkout line, compared to any form of checkout anywhere else in the world. The pleasantness of the transaction, the fact that they will count out change for you, and chat with you on a real personal level (if you speak the language) all makes for a very pleasant experience. – Which is where culture shock sets in when you return to Canada. I don’t need to describe the unpleasantness that is dealing with at least 70% of cashiers here.
The self checkout I looked at as a wonderful way to avoid that unpleasantness for the few items I needed to purchase.
That is, until I saw the line, and how slowly it was moving.
Self checkout is great, but until the novelty of it passes past the general public, it’s going to be more of the same waiting. People sitting around trying to figure out how to scan their items, or use a touch screen. For 90% of the population, those are skills already possessed by the employed cashiers of the store. For the rest of us though, once the riff-raff clears, we’ll get a chance to breeze through the lines, and not have to worry about taking our iPod earphones out while doing it.