Indies unsure about Booths’ move to ditch self-checkouts

All but two of the 28 stores run by the company will have staffed checkouts. The exceptions are at Keswick and Windermere, in Cumbria.

The company, which has 16 stores in Lancashire as well as outlets in Yorkshire and Cheshire, said the policy was driven by customer feedback.

Booths said in a statement: “We believe colleagues serving customers delivers a better customer experience and therefore we have taken the decision to remove self-checkouts in the majority of our stores.

“We have based this not only on what we feel is the right thing to do but also having received feedback from our customers.

“We will retain self-checkouts in two of our stores in the Lake District in order to meet the needs of our customers during very busy periods.

Managing director Nigel Murray told BBC Radio Lancashire: “Our customers have told us this over time, that the self-scan machines that we’ve got in our stores they can be slow, they can be unreliable, they’re obviously impersonal.

“We stock quite a lot of loose items –  fruit and veg and bakery – and as soon as you go to a self-scan with those you’ve got to get a visual verification on them, and some customers don’t know one different apple versus another, for example.

“There’s all sorts of fussing about with that and then the minute you put any alcohol in your basket somebody’s got to come and check that you’re of the right age.”

But independent retailers reacted to the news with scepticism.

Samantha Coldbeck, of Wharfedale Premier in Hull, told TalkingRetail.com: “The cynic in me thinks it indicates big losses rather than better customer service.

“I can only imagine how much stock is ‘mis-scanned’ through the checkouts.”

Sue Nithyanandan, of Costcutter Epsom in Surrey, thought Coldbeck was “spot on”.

She said: “At one point, shoplifting was relatively small, so wage costs still outweighed losses. The tables have turned now.

“Personally, I never use self-checkouts, as you’re taking away someone’s job.”

But another independent thought the move could prove a positive for Booths, giving the supermarket a strong USP with its customers, who would appreciate the assistance from staff when checking out with a trolley full of shopping.

A recent report found the rise in self-checkouts had led to a steep decline in the number of supermarket job vacancies advertised in the run-up to Christmas.