Morrisons shoppers may notice their local store looking a little different over the coming weeks, as the retailer is set to make a big change inside.
The supermarket is planning to remove a number of self-checkouts after boss, Rami Baitiéh admitted they ‘went a bit too far’ with the technology.
According to the chief executive, the business has been reviewing the balance between self-checkouts and manned tills and has realised too many of the former have been installed.
This has led to some disapproval from customers and also a rise in shoplifting, Rami claims.
Speaking to The Telegraph, he said: ‘Morrisons went a bit too far with the self-checkout. This had the advantage of driving some productivity. However, some shoppers dislike it, mainly when they have a full trolley.
‘We reviewed the whole estate and it appeared that 20 stores must balance the number of self-checkouts versus the number of tills.’
Rami went on to say that changes had already been made in a store in Brough, Yorkshire, where they removed some of the self-service tills and added four new manned ones instead.
He added that shoppers and staff at the supermarket were ‘very satisfied’ with the change so far.
And Morrisons isn’t the only big UK retailer to be doing this, as Asda has also been working towards putting more manned checkouts back into its stores.
Michael Gleeson, the supermarket’s chief financial officer shared that the chain believes the self-checkout technology has reached its limit and announced a £30m investment into more checkouts.
On social media, people have been sharing their thoughts on self-checkouts with many agreeing that they ‘hate’ them and Morrisons and Asda are making the right call.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), @MauriceK1421 said: ‘Hate them. Bring back more checkouts with people operating them. So much nicer and more customer orientated.’
@stephenjubb1 agreed, writing: ‘I point blank refuse to use them, I have even stopped going to certain shops because of these job destroying machines.’
While @jongaunt posted: ‘Self checkouts need to be scrapped. Nobody wants them and they’re impersonal and not much quicker. Good to see @Morrisons realising this. I’ve never met anyone who prefers them and I’ve worked in supermarket.’
However, not everyone was against them as @Bishop_Beesley confessed he was fan, saying: ‘Hate to buck the trend but I love them, I loathe queuing at tills and to me the time saved, even with the occasional re-scan is worth it.
‘That’s not to say that there shouldn’t be staffed tills, of course there should be, but for me, it’s scan as you go, pay and leave all the time.’
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