Self-scan supermarket tills and the rows over their use

Self-service supermarket tills are supposed to make our lives easier but after years of scanning groceries ourselves, some shoppers are really missing the human touch.

The row over self-scan versus cashier bubbled to the surface this week, after 69-year-old Pat McCarthy started a petition calling for Tesco to "stop replacing people with machines", swiftly gaining more than 100,000 signatures.

She argues that far from being effortless, her experience can be slow and confusing and she really misses a friendly chat with a cashier.

However, shopping at the same Tesco Extra in Osterley, west London where Ms McCarthy was struggling there is a 74-year-old self-scan supremo.

After reading our story, fellow customer Stefan Przedrzymirski got in touch to sing the praises of the tinny-voiced till.

"Self-service tills are brilliant, even better when you can use the portable scanner and checkout without unloading and reloading your trolley," he says with enthusiasm.

"I wouldn't dream of going back to cash and all the faff at the checkout."

By contrast, one shopper who has really had enough of "please place your item in the bagging area", is consumer journalist, Harry Wallop.

He tweeted: "As a man, who almost without fail, has to ask a harassed member of staff to rectify a problem with the self-service tills at the supermarket I am fully behind this petition."

He says Ms McCarthy's supermarket petition "really struck a nerve" with shoppers.

"She's not calling for the banning of all self-service tills, she just wants the balance to be readdressed," he tells BBC Breakfast.

Although, "Tesco actually make the point that they don't have a single store where there are no staffed tills, so, if you really want to chat to someone you can go there."

But he warns an increasing number of supermarkets are moving entirely to self-scan. "It can be very frustrating when you have to wave your hands around to get a member of staff to come over when it's not working," he says.

And there is a serious point to make here around accessibility, self-scan is never going to work for some customers.

"I am severely sight impaired - registered blind - so, self service tills are a non-starter," Pennie Orger says. "My guide dog is clever, but not that clever."

And John Stonier asks: "What about deaf shoppers? We cannot hear any instructions from self checkout tills. Why not use a screen to give us visual instructions?"

For others, it has more to do with personal preference. Natalie Winter got in touch with BBC News to say, if there's a queue to pay she will opt for the self-service counter.

"But I soon regret it when I hear the annoying and frustrating 'unexpected item in the bagging area'."

While Donna Marie tells us she is convinced she has too much static electricity in her body as self-scans never work properly for her. She would rather stand in line for the tills than go through the "torture" of self-checkout.

It is important to remember self-scan is not a new thing - they've been increasing in number over the last 20 years.

Mr Wallop says self-service shopping was a radical innovation when it first appeared in Sainsbury's in the 1950s after being pioneered in the US.

"When they were first introduced people were horrified and Lord Sainsbury had a wire basket thrown at his head by an angry shopper who thought this was some dystopian future," he says.

But according to Dusty Lutz, general retail manager at self check-out technology makers, NCR, the machines will eventually take on even bigger tasks.

He's working with UK retailers to trial broadening self-scan from a basket of small items, to a whole trolley full of the weekly shop.

"What we are trying to do is continue to free up the cashier from the drudgery of having to scan. And letting the technology do the work for you," he explains.

Machines replacing jobs

But perhaps it is that drudgery that Brits like about their weekly shop - the comforting mundanity of pushing the trolley around, then watching your items glide past on the conveyor belt.

Whether you're a chatter, or a polite smile and get-on-with-it type of shopper, some people worry about the future for checkout staff.

Bouka Maamra, a 49-year-old scientist from Sheffield, got in touch to say she called a manager to open a till one Saturday morning when she found only self-scans open.

"People need jobs and when supermarkets save money with self-checkouts they won't reinvest in their stores, employees salaries, or in keeping prices down," she says.

While shopper Rowan Evans says: "I refuse to use a self-service till. I would rather queue, or ask a supervisor to open another till if the waiting time is too long. Machines are replacing people's jobs."

Mr Wallop adds there is a suggestion that the more self-scan tills a supermarket has, the fewer staff it needs.

"On one hand, lots of shoppers love it, they find it quicker, more convenient but it's very much cost saving for the supermarkets," he explains.

One checkout operator tells BBC Radio Essex she likes making a connection with customers but their interactions are becoming ever more hurried.

Her bosses have told her they are aiming to have fewer staffed tills in the future, says Dawn - not her real name.

"When there are so few tills open and people are queuing it puts pressure on you to go as fast as you can," she adds.

There are, however, other ways to shop, points out Mr Przedrzymirski, who switched to home delivery during the pandemic and now uses click and collect.

"The store visit is just for the extras, the specials and the fruit and veg," he says. "Do we miss the chat with checkout staff...no, definitely not!"

Jo Causon, chief executive of the Institute of Customer Service says these new options offer choice but do not work for every customer.

"Some may lack confidence, or have a disability, or have a more nuanced query that only humans can help with," she says.

She thinks supermarkets should listen to customers and offer a choice of service to reflect demand.

But Mr Przedrzymirski urges shoppers to give self-scan another go and not "endlessly look back", pointing out that "moving on starts in the mind."

"Certainly, some customers will need help, so the supermarkets will just have to get the balance right," he says.