Self-checkout used to mean customers were more or less flying solo. Now, a major retailer is experimenting with dropping the “self” in self-checkout and making staff available to scan all items.
Walmart’s recent efforts to innovate the checkout experience have mostly involved taking away cashiers and replacing them with automated self-checkout options. But earlier this month, a Walmart Supercentre on the outskirts of Ottawa, Canada, tested a more hands-on approach.
According to CTV News, a note placed near the checkout area read: “During this test, our associates will be available to scan all items, including those being processed in the area known as our self-checkout.”
Checking in: The short trial—with what the store called the “full-serve experience,” according to store signs seen by CTV News—comes as retailers continue to weigh the pros and cons of self-checkout in response to customer frustrations with glitches and delays and concerns about shrinkage.
Supermarket chain Wegmans, for example, discontinued the use of a popular self-checkout app in 2022, citing heavy losses from theft.
A 2018 study from the University of Leicester found that self-checkout thefts accounted for ~4% of turnover, which is 122% above the average rate.
Notably, Walmart did not cite rising theft as the reason for the test in an email to Retail Brew, despite top executives stressing the severity of the issue to news outlets. “If that’s not corrected over time, prices will be higher, and/or stores will close,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon told CNBC’s Squawk Box.
Gonzalo Gebara, president and CEO of Walmart Canada, also stressed in May that the retailer was not moving away from self-checkout in response to theft.
"We’re really happy with the evolution that they are having and we’re happy also with the fact that we’re providing customers with choices,” he told CTV News. “If you want to have a regular checkout, you can go there, and if you want to just attend for yourself, you can just do it.”
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Case-by-case: The significance of the test in Ottawa is still unclear. Walmart Canada said in a statement that it was meant to “better assist customers” and declined to answer a series of follow-up questions on why the test was implemented and whether it reflects a company-wide strategic change.
“Walmart Canada is focused on providing the best possible experience for our customers when they shop with us,” the company told Retail Brew. “As part of this, we evaluate the needs of every store and its customers on a case-by-case basis to determine the best mix of belted checkout lanes and self-checkouts available to customers.”
Experimenting with different staffing levels in self-checkout lanes is nothing new for the company. Back in 2020, Walmart piloted a new type of checkout experience that cut out cashiers but still kept staff on hand as “hosts” to assist customers.
“If a customer wants to check themselves out, a host is there to show them to an open register,” the company stated at the time. “If a customer wants to be checked out by an associate, a host rings them up and bags all of their items just like they would have in the old lane-driven layout.”
Regardless of the flexible approach Walmart appears to be taking, the Bureau of Labor of Statistics is still predicting a drop-off in the number of retail workers long-term. The agency projects that cashier employment will fall 10% from 2021 to 2031.