Source: UCG / Getty
If you’re someone who appreciates the convenience of the self-checkout aisle, you might be disappointed to find out that retailers are getting rid of them.
Retailers across the country are rethinking self-checkout and taking measures to remove self-checkout lanes to prevent shoplifting.
More recently, Walmart has joined the ranks of retailers rethinking self-checkout. A Walmart in Missouri is currently in the process of removing their self-checkout lanes.
Making a return to registers staffed by people, the Walmart store in Shrewsbury, a suburb of St. Louis, comes a month after Target announced only those buying 10 items or less could use the self-checkout lane at its stores, and Dollar General reduced self-checkout at thousands of its locations. The latter removed the option entirely at 300 locations most-impacted by shoplifting.
“We believe the change will improve the in-store shopping experience and give our associates the chance to provide more personalized and efficient service,” a statement from Walmart shared with Business Insider said.
Many customers will be bummed to hear this news (especially those who don’t care for small talk with employees). But there are still some who will not miss the self-checkout at all as they find it to be an inconvenience and prefer to have employees scan their items, according to Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData.
“It’s a very love-hate technology. A lot of customers see it as a deterioration of the service, and they have to do more of the work. So it’s not good for driving customer loyalty.”
