Self-service tills may be here to stay - but most shoppers don’t like using them, according to research by Him!.

More than two-thirds of the 1,024 shoppers surveyed complained that self-scan tills always went wrong, usually blaming problems in the bagging area.

They also felt the tills did not save them any time, with one in two claiming they saw no difference in queuing times if they opted to scan their shop themselves rather than going through a normal checkout.

While the vast majority (79%) accepted that the growing numbers of self-service tills available in stores showed that supermarkets were moving with the times, only 29% claimed their overall shopping experience was enhanced by self-scan.

And more than half (58%) sympathised with claims by workers unions that self-scan tills take jobs away from people.

“The real standout statistic for me is the high percentage of supermarket shoppers who don’t like self-scan tills because they take jobs away from humans,” said Him! MD Tom Fender, adding: “If speed of service is so important why are so few operators doing things like contactless payment?”

Asda recently took its tills to a new level by rolling out what it described as a ‘hybrid’ till, which can be used either as a manned checkout with an operator, or as a self-scan till.

A recent survey by website watchmywallet.co.uk revealed that one in three shoppers who used self-scan tills were tempted to shoplift while they were using them.

Topics