Booths, a supermarket chain in northern England, has made the decision to remove self-checkout machines from the majority of its stores. The company believes that having human cashiers provides a better customer experience. Nigel Murray, managing director of Booths, explained that customers have voiced their concerns about the slow and unreliable nature of self-scan machines, as well as their impersonal nature.
One of the main issues with self-checkout at Booths is the difficulty customers face when trying to purchase loose items such as fruits and bakery products. Differentiating between different types of apples, for example, can cause confusion at the self-checkout screen. Additionally, when customers add alcohol to their basket, an employee must verify their age, creating additional inconvenience.
Murray emphasized the importance of human interaction in the shopping experience. Booths prides itself on providing warm, personal care to its customers and aims to serve them primarily through human interaction.
This decision by Booths goes against the trend of increasing self-checkout options that has been seen in the retail industry over the past few decades. Many businesses have turned to self-checkout as a way to save costs by replacing human cashiers.
The response to Booths’ decision has been mixed. Some have applauded the supermarket for pushing back against the prevalence of self-checkout. Others, however, have expressed disappointment, arguing that self-checkouts can help alleviate long queues and that interacting with cashiers is an important aspect of the shopping experience.
Booths plans to remove self-checkout kiosks from all but two of its 28 stores. Murray stated that the company values great customer service, which cannot be achieved through automation.
For many customers, conversing with staff members, even briefly, is an essential part of the shopping experience, despite the potential for slower service. Pat McCarthy, for instance, started a petition on Change.org urging Tesco to stop replacing humans with machines. The petition has received over 243,000 signatures.
Booths is aligned with this sentiment and believes that providing a warm welcome to customers is ingrained in their company culture. They continue to invest in their employees to ensure they uphold this ethos.
This article was originally published on Fortune.com.
