Self-checkout kiosks are a pretty good innovation, at least in my opinion. They're good for when you don't have a lot of groceries, it can be a lot quicker. But, it seems like a lot of stores are axing the self-checkouts, according to the New York Post.
The official reason, at least according to Walmart, is to make things better for shoppers. In a statement, a company spokesperson explained that, "These changes are guided by feedback from associates and customers, local shopping patterns, and the needs of the business in each community." They added that the change intended to "improve the checkout experience and enable associates to provide more personalized customer service."
But, the real reason might be a little more worrying. Self-checkout kiosks are pretty vulnerable to thefts, and as food prices rise, more people are tempted to steal. Experts have said that this might be the true reason why they're getting axed.
And the data backs it up. A survey by Lending Tree in December found that almost 70% of people who use self-checkout lines when shopping believe that it makes stealing much easier. And there are even more shocking statistics. Over one quarter of people said they've purposefully slipped an item into their bag without paying while at a kiosk. Further, over 35% of people admitted they accidentally left with an item they forgot to scan.
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This Comes After Walmart Was Adding More Technology to Stores
While self-checkout kiosks, a pretty high-tech innovation in their own rght, are being axed, stores are clambering to put other high-tech machines across their stores: digital price tags.
We covered the trend back at the end of March. At the time, customers were upset after Walmart had filed two new patents to allow AI to start surge pricing in their stores.
But, this wouldn't be an issue if the tags were all paper. It'd take too long for things to get updated. But, it was combined with the electronic price tags. These two very high-tech innovations caused outrage amongst customers.
But, the removal of self-checkout kiosks points to grocery store companies being in a limbo of high-tech and low-tech solutions to push the envelope in terms of profit margins.
