Do you tend to use self-checkout when you're at a store? New research has found that, when available, more than half of transactions go through self-checkout.
Eighty-three percent of U.S. shoppers who were surveyed also said they had used self-checkout in the last six months.
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Among those who preferred it, 77% said faster service was one reason. But there’s also a downside for stores.
Another study found that store losses increased by an average of 22% in the first year after self-checkout was introduced among participating retailers.
The survey found that missed scans were the most frequent source of loss, while walkaways generated the highest average loss per incident.
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Retailers' estimates of how much self-checkout loss was due to theft varied widely, ranging from 6% to 80%.
Researchers also found that help calls can slow the self-checkout process. For every additional 10,000 transactions, there would be 1,000 additional help calls to staff, 100 card payment issues, 90 walkaways and slower staff response times, the survey found.
