MORRISONS is making a major change to supermarkets after bosses admitted the expansion of a key service “went too far”.
Rami Baitiéh, the chief executive of Morrisons, has announced that the company will scale back the number of self-checkout kiosks in its stores.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Baitiéh said that the company is “reviewing the balance between self-checkouts and manned tills.”
He said: “Morrisons went a bit too far with the self-checkout.
“This had the advantage of driving some productivity.
“However, some shoppers dislike it, mainly when they have a full trolley.”
The rise in self-checkouts has also driven more shoplifting.
After a comprehensive analysis of its entire store network, Morrisons has decided to reduce the number of self-checkout kiosks and reintroduce more manned tills.
One of the retailer’s supermarkets in Brough, Yorkshire, has already removed several self-checkouts and added another four manned tills.
“Colleagues and customers are very satisfied with the change,” said Baitiéh.
Over the past decade, supermarket executives have heavily invested in self-scanning tills, convinced that customers prefer the faster shopping experience they offer.
However, there has been a growing discontent among shoppers regarding these machines.
Booths, an upscale Northern grocery chain, recently abandoned the technology after discovering that customers had a more enjoyable experience when interacting with a cashier.
This move aligns with data previously published by The Grocer, which revealed that service satisfaction has declined by as much as 8% due to the use of self-checkout machines.
Asda announced earlier this month that it would put more staff on the tills as part of a £30million investment to get customers back in stores.
However, unlike Morrisons, the supermarket will not be installing any manned checkouts in its shops.
Instead, the remaining ones will be staffed more often, especially at the weekend and other peak times.
At the time, Michael Gleeson, Asda’s chief financial officer, said: “It’s not more checkouts, it’s more colleagues on checkouts.
“I think we have reached a level of self-checkouts and scan and go where we feel that works best for our customers, and we feel we’ve got the balance just about right.
“We have invested additional hours in manned checkouts and that’s been within the existing physical infrastructure [of the stores].”
It’s not just supermarkets that offer self-checkouts too.
In recent months, Primark has been rolling out self-checkouts at dozens of stores.
SUN Savers Editor Lana Clements explains how to find a cut-price item and bag a bargain…
Sign up to loyalty schemes of the brands that you regularly shop with.
Big names regularly offer discounts or special lower prices for members, among other perks.
Sales are when you can pick up a real steal.
Retailers usually have periodic promotions that tie into payday at the end of the month or Bank Holiday weekends, so keep a lookout and shop when these deals are on.
Sign up to mailing lists and you’ll also be first to know of special offers. It can be worth following retailers on social media too.
When buying online, always do a search for money off codes or vouchers that you can use vouchercodes.co.uk and myvouchercodes.co.uk are just two sites that round up promotions by retailer.
Scanner apps are useful to have on your phone. Trolley.co.uk app has a scanner that you can use to compare prices on branded items when out shopping.
Bargain hunters can also use B&M’s scanner in the app to find discounts in-store before staff have marked them out.
And always check if you can get cashback before paying which in effect means you’ll get some of your money back or a discount on the item.
If you want to avoid self-checkouts, you may want to consider using scan-as-you-go technology.
Scan-as-you-go systems are the latest addition to the supermarket shopping experience, and several retailers are making them permanent features in big stores.
They allow customers to scan as they browse, either using their smartphone or a handheld device.
Then, most shops allow you to check out in a completely different area from other shoppers, saving time in queues.
It means shoppers can track how much they’re spending as they go around the aisles, allowing you to budget and stick to your list.
It also means you can bag your groceries as you wander around, saving you even more time.
But do bear in mind, though, that mostarkets require you to pay by card when using scan as you shop.
Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and M&S all offer the handy tool.
