Scrap these robo checkouts now!
Bring back store and bank staff – consumer groups
CONSUMER groups are demanding an end to the march of the ‘robo checkouts’ where people are being replaced by machines.
Supermarket self- service tills now dominate the high street, bringing a nightmare of frustration to millions.
At the same time, bank branches are becoming automated and critics say they look like casinos with rows of blinking slot machines, while the cashiers are hidden out of sight, even up a flight of stairs.
Morrisons recently decided to bring back manned express checkouts in all stores in response to demand from shoppers who struggle with self- service tills and their automated commands.
Now other businesses are being advised to follow Morrisons’ lead, with a return to personal service, if they want to win the loyalty of shoppers.
The Mail is leading a campaign for the return of real, human service on the high street. It follows our survey which found that self-service tills at eight major shops were, in every case, slower and less efficient than staffed tills.
Marc Gander, of the Consumer Action Group, said: ‘ Robo checkouts are just another way that supermarkets have found to save costs by cutting staff and putting the burden on their customers to face frustration, delays and a lack of human contact.
‘I think most people prefer the little opportunity to make contact, to chat, and the warm attention to detail that most checkout staff bring to their role. Supermarkets seem to have forgotten that they are actually shops and not merely retail conveyor belts.’
Research by the consumer group Which? found that 36 per cent of shoppers have sworn at a self-service till and 28 per cent have become so f rustrated that they have shouted at one. Derek French, of the Campaign for Community Banking, said 1,149 bank branches have been lost in the last five years, leaving many communities reliant on ATM cash machines. Another 275 are due to close this year.
But even the branches that remain open are being remodelled to push customers to do their banking through rows of machines, rather than people. ‘Automation of all branches is proceeding apace, said Mr French.
‘The first to go down this route on any scale was HSBC, some customers referred to converted branches as “casinos” because they now have rows of blinking machines and there is no counter in sight. This layout is now being followed by NatWest, Barclays, Lloyds and others.’ The change is designed to free up staff to sell profit-making insurance, loans, and other financial products.
Morrisons introduced manned express checkouts in all stores as an alternative to self-service tills in response to research showing that many customers find them confusing, irritating and intimidating.
The British Retail Consortium, which speaks for high street chains, defended self-service tills.
A spokesman said: ‘Retailers are constantly innovating to adapt to how customers prefer to shop.
‘Making the shopping experience more efficient for consumers is a priority so retailers will often provide a choice of payment methods.’
The British Bankers Association said: ‘ High street banks have invested millions in refurbishing their branches to install the latest technology. This is in response to increasing public demand to use technology to speed up their transactions in branches.
‘Branch staff are still an important part of this picture, providing customers with the choice to either visit a counter or support customers in understanding the new technology in branches.’
IT’S increasingly the bane of people’s lives. Customers visit a bank, shop or supermarket and there is not an assistant in sight, only a row of, often malfunctioning, self-service machines.
According to Which? the machines are hated by many, with almost a third of people becoming so frustrated they shout out in exasperation.
The mystery of the cosmos is why (apart from the questionable belief they will save money) big stores are moving in this direction. For many consumers, this soulless experience, which often involves lengthy delays, is maddening. Gone is the human contact, the advice, the smile.
To their credit, Morrisons is reintroducing staffed express checkouts to stop its shoppers feeling ‘anxious’. Today, the Mail calls on other supermarkets and the banks to listen to the justifiable irritation of their own customers – and stem this march of the robots.