If you like self-checkout lanes, you should read this

The backlash against self-checkout is growing, and stores are starting to dial back on the technology after it exploded over the past few years.

Booths, a British supermarket chain, said it’s removing self-checkout stations in all but two of its 28 stores. In the United States, Walmart, Costco, Wegmans and other chains have also revised their self-checkout strategies.

Customers at Booths also frequently misidentified which fruits and vegetables they were buying when prompted by self-checkout machines. Alcohol purchases also were not smooth transactions through self-checkout because employees had to verify customers’ ages.

According to CNN, self-service machines were first introduced during the 1980s to lower labor expenses. They shifted the work of paid employees to unpaid customers.

Self-checkout expanded at supermarkets in the early 2000s as stores looked to cut costs, and during the pandemic, many shoppers used self-checkout for the first time to minimize close interaction with employees and other customers.

But now, retailers are rethinking self-checkout. They have found that self-checkout leads to higher merchandise losses from customer errors and intentional shoplifting known as “shrink” than human cashiers ringing up customers.