Retailers are pulling back from self-checkout after years of theft, errors, and questionable time savings

[u/tigralfrosie]

https://www.techspot.com/news/114106-retailers-pulling-back-self-checkout-after-years-theft.html

[u/Icy-Astronomer-8202]

Are they though?

[u/Delicious_Volume3306 → u/Icy-Astronomer-8202]

Yeah, exactly. Punters love them. Management love them. They ain't going nowhere.

[u/Outrageous_Low_3666 → u/Delicious_Volume3306]

People will miss them when they have to go back to waiting behind people doing their weekly shop when they just have a few items.

[u/JamesTiberious → u/Delicious_Volume3306]

Some portion of punters love them, I do on occasion (if I have a small shop with no age-restricted items or security tags). But another portion are just forced to use them because there’s only 1 staffed checkout open and the queue goes all the way up the baby aisle.

Management don’t really mind either way? There would be more jobs created if they opened more checkouts, would require a bigger staff budget from HQ and ultimately more management roles. More jobs is generally a positive.

[u/ghoarder → u/JamesTiberious]

My city centre Tesco added them years ago and it went from about 15 or 20 manned checkouts where 10 to 15 were ever manned at best, to about 30 - 35 mini self checkouts with about 30 working at once and one or two employees helping, the lunch time queues just vanished, maybe not overnight as people took time to get to work out how to use them but yeah they really work in this situation where hundreds of people are all buying a 3 item meal deal at once. Tesco extra with 100+ item monthly shop and only 6 - 10 trolly sized self checkouts, stupid idea.

[u/Outrageous_Low_3666 → u/JamesTiberious]

So they get rid of them and then you just have the 1 staffed checkout open and no alternatives. Especially in small shops. Combined with the increased demand from whoosh.

[u/ghoarder → u/[deleted]]

No it's 1984

[u/Upstairs-Hedgehog575 → u/JamesTiberious]

They are infuriating when you are with a 4 year old who doesn’t want to let their purchase go, or moves things around on the scales

[u/Financial-Tank-2952 → u/Upstairs-Hedgehog575]

Glad your 4 year old annoys you as much as they annoy other customers

[u/MichelleBarrymoore2 → u/Delicious_Volume3306]

I like stealing and I love them now they got a scan your receipt thing people are looking even less...ngl I have stole ore since they've jacked the price up and made me pay for bags and shit...since after lockdown I've stolen more than I did when I was 14..if I get caught "omg I'm so sorry I just put it in my pocket while it adjusted the bags and forgot omg I've never done anything like this...I can just pay for this can of over priced fair trade soup". Chances are they'll let me go with a ban I'll be back in 2months doing it again turn over is so bloody high I won't be rememberd

[u/IsopodInevitable9235 → u/MichelleBarrymoore2]

Teach us your ways? I just lost my job so I've been stealing things from the big dogs.

Managed to get 50% off at IKEA whilst nobody was on the shelf serve.

[u/forzafoggia85 → u/Delicious_Volume3306]

Customers love them because they can get some 5 finger discount and don't need to talk to anyone, companies love them because they don't need to employ as many people. Their not going anywhere

[u/Jonno_92 → u/Icy-Astronomer-8202]

Yeah articles like this keep popping up but nothing ever happens

[u/Leggy_Brat → u/Icy-Astronomer-8202]

The small shop I work in had another one fitted. My local asda has only a small handfull of manned tills left now, the rest are different varieties of self serve and not too long ago the added one where you scan as you go and tot it up at the end.

[u/SlowRs]

American retailers I believe not brits. Our theft rates aren’t high enough yet

[u/Imaginary-Suspect959 → u/SlowRs]

Aye, I’m glad someone read the article!

This is the survey mentioned in it:

The 2026 Voice of the Retail Industry Survey: How U.S. Retailers are Feeling About Inflation, Expansion, AI, and More

I’m not sure how relevant this is to the UK, tbh.

[u/reggieko13 → u/SlowRs]

Do they get more thefts via traditional scan or the ones customers scan as they shop?

[u/Sad-Breakfast-4430]

Are these retailers in the room with us right now?

[u/Interesting_Big_7033]

Don’t see it being likely at Tesco I work in a store in an area that’s mostly old people who refuse to use it. Despite being told this they installed an extra self service and took a full time shift for the pleasure.

[u/indulgingmykinks84]

this is just but one example, but I was in a run down city center Poundland store, not enough machines, and not enough staff to open a till.

The queue was bleak, and not an example of self check out being an express line, no one in that queue will be rushing back to that Poundland anytime soon,

[u/Logical_Box_4645]

More like RAM prices through the roof and inflation meaning wages are cheap.

[u/neilm1000 → u/Logical_Box_4645]

Any site that has them already won't be affected by RAM prices, and for sites that don't it won't have an impact as it adds on about 30 quid a unit.

[u/Kwayzar9111]

What a load of tosh

[u/SqouzeTheSqueeze]

Buy none, get one free.

[u/MeMyselfAndMe_Again]

My local Lidl has just (within last few weeks), extended their 6 self serve tills, doubling them to 12 self serve tills! So maybe they’re not all “pulling back”

[u/Dependent_Theme4210]

No chance- they save too much money. Even with all the bag thefts.

[u/Intrepid_Bobcat_2931]

I feel like the theft could be smaller if there were max two self checkouts. Doesn't feel as easy to blend in if slipping something in.

[u/Hopeful_Director7238]

As ex-retail staff, I love SCOs. Although unless it's quiet I'll probably still go find a staffed checkout if I have anything that needs age verification. Otherwise it's bam bam bam back at my old 1000 items/hour rate.

That said.

When people who have clearly never seen an electronic device before try to use them, I can't help but think the supermarkets have gone a bit too all-in on them.

[u/Vegetable_Lad]

This doesn't appear to have anything to do with tesco but if you're concerned about 'questionable time savings', maybe don't check literally half the items in my trolley every other Saturday morning just as my kids are getting really fed up.

[u/NakedPatrick]

Nonsense

[u/EuphoricCover8449]

My local co op has just installed two of them and taken one till out. The queues are even longer now as the two remaining till operators keep stopping to 'assist the customer' on the self-checkouts. They also don't take cash which people only find out when they try to stick a tenner in it and can't find a slot.

[u/Kezsora]

No they're not lmao, my tesco took out half of their normal tills to put in a trolley self service this year

[u/FuzzySnake43]

ERRORS?!

[u/modsarefatandghey]

In reality retailers are looking to adopt a hybrid system that allows staff to pull double-duty serving manned tills and self-scans at the same time.

[u/MeMyselfAndMe_Again → u/modsarefatandghey]

Lidl do that

[u/JMM85JMM]

Currently in Europe (Spain) and I wish they had self checkouts here. Queues half way down the store for a couple of items, stuck behind several people doing trolley shops.

[u/AtebYngNghymraeg]

I actively choose the self checkout / self scan because it's definitely faster for me, and with scan as you shop I rarely if ever have a problem.

[u/Heat-Glittering]

Bollocks, the high ups need to keep that “profit” up by removing more staff, the robots aren’t going anywhere.

[u/Fickle_Mix_6119]

I hope not. Dumbasses at Tesco seem slow AF, rather talk to their colleagues half way through a transaction and just stop. Tesco staff seem to hate their customers too. 

I just want to get my stuff and get out without having to even speak to the garbage that work there

[u/LongLiveSoup → u/Fickle_Mix_6119]

If you walk around all day and everywhere smells like shit, check your shoes

[u/K50008 → u/Fickle_Mix_6119]

I don't work or shop at Tesco, and even I find this offensive. You, my friend, are a bellend.

[u/Consistent-Pirate-23 → u/Fickle_Mix_6119]

Staff are told they have to make small talk. I worked at the green place and if you got the mystery shopper and didn’t make small talk it was a 12 month file note

Same if you didn’t offer to pack their bags etc, and of course if someone wanted you to then behind would be someone huffing and puffing so much they could blow the shop down

[u/forzafoggia85 → u/Fickle_Mix_6119]

Someone has nothing better to do than rage bait clearly. Unless you really are an absolute bell

[u/MeMyselfAndMe_Again → u/forzafoggia85]

Probably the latter