Self-Checkout Is a Failed Experiment

Self-checkout is not a delightful experience. Goods don’t always scan properly. The system stalls if you don’t put a scanned item in the right place. Double scanning an item, or buying something that requires validation, or getting an error requires waiting for a human employee to help you anyway. Self-checkout, in other words, usually sucks.

A growing number of retailers have begun to realize this and made moves to compensate for it. “Walmart has removed the kiosks entirely from a handful of stores, and is redesigning others to involve more employee help. Costco is stationing more staffers in its self-checkout areas. ShopRite is adding cashiers back into stores where it had trialed a self-checkout-only model, citing customer backlash.” The truth is, installing self-checkout kiosks is expensive and so far, that expense isn’t really paying off for retailers. All of which means self-checkout may be a dying experiment.