In recent years, self-checkout has infiltrated all types of hypermarkets, and the company wants to reduce some costs by replacing manual labor with machines and letting customers do the work.
However, the concept doesn't seem to work well in Ontario, and many supermarkets and malls have slowly begun to abandon self-checkout.
Source: CBC
As more self-checkout services are being rolled out at stores like Loblaws, Metro, Giant Tiger and even Dollarama, the Walmart Ottawa store last year phased out some of its recently installed devices and instead opted for a more "full-service experience" from real employees.
In 2020, Walmart began to launch cashierless, full self-checkout, first in the U.S. and then in Canada. But the pilot project hasn't quite caught on. Walmart told CBC News that currently, there is only one unmanned cashier store in Canada and the United States — located in the small town of Saint-Agaté-de-Mont, Quebec.
Customers claim that they were told by staff that the shift was allegedly due to an increase in theft.
Source: X
Christopher Andrews, an associate professor at Drew University in Madison, N.J., New Jersey, a sociologist and author of "The Overworked Consumer: Self-Checkout, Supermarkets and the Self-Service Economy," said Christopher Andrews, an associate professor at Drew University in Madison, N.J., and author of "The Overworked Consumer: Self-Checkout, Supermarkets, and the Self-Service Economy," said "Stores expect this technology to enable them to dramatically reduce labor costs." ”
But instead of cutting costs, some stores found that self-checkouts were actually hurting their profits, mainly due to theft, Andrews said.
"I think they've lost so much money that it's a financial burden. ”
The machine needs a waiter
Two weeks ago, franchise owner Scott Savage dismantled four self-checkout machines at his Giant Tiger outlet in Stratford, about 90 kilometers west of Hamilton.
He said he made the change not for theft, but because many of his customers were elderly people who didn't like to use the machines. They will line up in front of the regular cash register, they just prefer this service.
At least six Canadian Tire stores in Ontario have also eliminated self-checkout. Franchise owners at both stores told CBC News that they took the move because they believe it improves customer service.
But in addition to theft, staffing requirements are often the main reason retailers abandon self-checkout, Andrews says. These machines require waiters to help customers while also keeping an eye out for thieves.
"They found that they couldn't actually eliminate a lot of cashiers because they needed cashiers, in part to stop shoplifting," Andrews said. ”
Source: CBC
Multiple studies have shown that self-checkout theft is a problem, but there is no hard data available because retailers don't make this information public.
The Canadian Retail Council said it assessed that self-checkout theft was on the rise when speaking to its members.
Diane Brisebois, CEO of the commission, said: "People love self-checkout, but at the same time, if left unchecked, theft will increase. ”
She said she was told that some of the criminals were organized bands of thieves who took expensive items without scanning the QR code to pay.
"It's likely to be three bottles of very expensive creams, or it could be specialized infant formula," Brisebois said, "and they're targeting goods that they know have high value on the street." ”
"Contraction" costs money
Earlier this month, CBC News asked Walmart if theft was a factor in some stores abandoning self-checkout. A spokesperson said the chain considered "several factors."
But in an interview with ABC Good Morning America last week, Walmart's CEO admitted that the retailer had removed machines from locations with the highest rate of disappearance of merchandise, known in the industry as "shrinkage."
Doug McMillon said: "We have decided to remove these products from several stores. We want to make sure that the checkout process is accurate. Retail attrition is a cost. As a result, we are able to reduce costs and therefore prices. ”
Retailers Dollar General and Five Below also recently announced that they will be eliminating self-checkout at stores with the highest rate of items disappearing.
Todd Vasos, CEO of Dollar General, said on the March earnings call, "Despite the high adoption of self-checkout, we believe there is truly no substitute for employees. ”
He said the retailer is dismantling machines in 300 stores and scaling back machines in thousands of other stores.
"We believe these actions have the potential to have a substantial positive impact on contractions," Vasos said.
Source: blogto
Back at Giant Tiger in Stratford, several customers told CBC News that they were glad the store no longer offered self-checkout.
One of the customers, Leslie Clayton-Winget, says, "I love human contact and you can't say to a machine, 'Have a nice day. ’”
Another customer, Angela Weber, said she was concerned that the technology would lead to job losses. "I'd rather see people continue to work than I do self-checkout. ”
So what does the future hold for self-checkout? Andrews predicts that retailers will continue to look for solutions to help them solve their problems.
But he cautioned that any new strategy could also have drawbacks.
"I think we'll continue to see them experimenting," he said. "But I think we're going to continue to see these unintended consequences. ”