Most Brits prefer to use traditional cashier and avoid self-checkout, poll finds

A Story by Natasha Wynarczyk

A new poll has found 60 per cent of Britons prefer to use a traditional cashier as opposed to self-checkouts.

This figure climbs to 71 per cent among Baby Boomers, compared to just 59 per cent of Millennials and 46 per cent of Gen-Z. New innovations such as Click and Collect and Just Walk Out, used by Amazon Fresh supermarkets and allow the shopper to leave without having to use a till, are also proving unpopular.

The survey, by UK consultancy Daemon, found just 14 per cent said the former was their favourite method of shopping. Daemon said this highlighted “the lasting appeal of personal touch-points in the evolving customer shopping experience”.

Jimmy Headdon, head of delivery excellence at Daemon said: “Cashiers will always have a place, offering a human touch and familiarity, which may be why they are the preference of older generations. Generally, people who feel confused or unsure about using self-service checkouts may avoid them, opting for the reassurance of personal interaction when something goes wrong, like an error with scanning or payment.”

Mr Headdon added that for a smoother checkout experience, supermarkets need to ensure staff are well-trained in customer service and that their tech is user friendly and sufficient enough to meet shoppers’ needs. UK Firms have started to scale back on the much-maligned self-checkouts following feedback from consumers who said they preferred manned tills.

Last year, northern supermarket Booths removed self-checkouts from all but two of its 28 stores in a response to customer feedback. And in August, one of the "big four", Morrisons, said it was also starting to scale back on the technology after installing too many in certain stores.

It conducted an analysis of self-checkouts across its store estate and found around 20 shops needed to pull back on the number of terminals. Meanwhile Asda chief financial officer Michael Gleeson said the supermarket was investing £30million into putting more staff on tills.

Self-checkouts have been criticised for often not working properly, making customers take longer to pay for their shopping. They have also been partially blamed for the rise in shoplifting, with previous Mirror analysis also finding 38 per cent of people had stolen an expensive item by scanning a cheaper product instead at one of these tills.

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JB COMMENTS:

Many years ago I asked my elderly Mother why she went shopping every single day and why didn't she stock up, and she replied that if she didn't shop daily, she didn't see anyone and didn't get to talk to anyone and I had absolutely no idea about this and never even gave it a thought.

Many elderly people are lonely.

Many have no one to talk to all day long.

Even just a brief chat with the girl on the till - is something - it is a connection with another human being and not a damned machine - it is people connecting to people and as much as supermarkets want to automate everything, THE HUMAN SIDE OF SHOPPING cannot be taken away.

I have to admit, I always chat with the till staff and always try and cheer them up as their job must be boring and I am sure there are a lot of asshole customers who are rude, as I see it, and it makes us both smile. They do often ask why I am buying so much of a single item, and I tell them I have a small hotel and am often asked where is it and I mention the '3 IN A BED' programme we were on and they always show interest. Any why not ? It brightens a few minutes in an otherwise boring workload.

I refuse to use these self serve counters, for a start I always have far too much stuff in my trolley and I refuse to do their job for them.

How about you ?

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