For years, I have been advocating for self-checkouts in various places, only to be met with skepticism—people kept telling me it wouldn’t catch on. But during my time in London, I saw a Tesco in the Bank area that was almost entirely equipped with self-service checkouts. That moment made me reflect on the pros and cons of this transition: fewer employees, less training, faster checkout times?
But was that really the case? Does automation actually reduce the need for staff and training? Or does it simply shift cashiers from sitting at the tills all day to requiring fewer but more specialized employees? Are self-checkouts really faster, or do they just feel faster because we’re actively engaged in the process?
Then, self-service technology finally arrived in Luxembourg. Buying cinema tickets online or via self-checkout kiosks became the norm, and soon after, IKEA, Auchan, and Quick followed suit. While IKEA, Auchan, and cinemas genuinely made my experience quicker, Quick’s system still relied on a staff member to prepare and serve my order—so automation didn’t speed up the process in the same way.
But here’s the thought that hit me the hardest: Even if self-checkouts aren’t significantly faster or more convenient, I’d still prefer using them. Why? Because they remove one unpredictable factor that can ruin an otherwise smooth experience—customer service!
If I go to IKEA and manage to avoid interacting with an unhappy or overwhelmed employee, yet purchase everything I planned, I consider that a successful shopping experience. The fact that I might miss out on a friendly and helpful staff member doesn’t outweigh the risk of encountering rudeness or inefficiency.
Today, I actively choose self-checkout machines—even when there’s an available cashier. Call me anti-social if you want, but I’d rather say I’m anti-rude-service.
So where does that leave us with this paradigm shift?
A few years ago, businesses sought to increase customer retention by offering great service. Today, a new strategy is emerging: automating customer service to eliminate human error altogether. Skynet, anyone?
To the unions out there—don’t just fight for job security, fight for the support needed to do those jobs well.
And my final takeaway? I would only choose automation over human service if I doubted my employees’ ability to meet my standards. But to all business owners reading this—if your staff delivers bad service, don’t hesitate—replace them with a machine! 😉
Although I know what you mean, I can not fully agree with you. I am usually more anti-social (much more than you anyway 😉 ) but when I go shopping, it is the human factor that often makes me choose a place. I agree that in Luxembourg the service part is much neglected or completely absent. This is partly due to the customers who like to spend a lot of money in “chic” boutiques just because the name and don’t seem to request good service. Luxembourgish people are to comfortable to challenge the vendors. Although not always consequent myself, I like to just tell the vendor how rude they are and walk out. They may not care, but if everyone does so, their boss will care at some point.
Now I got lucky enough to travel around a bit, specially to a bit less fortunate countries. What always strikes me and gives me satisfaction is the way people do business (at least in shops) in these countries. The costumer is needed, so they do whatever it takes to get him. Although it might be annoying after some time to have vendors almost throwing things at you, the usual way is for them to welcome you as soon as you enter the shop (even if occupied with another customer) and then ask how he/she can help you. And if he doesn’t have it, you’ll be redirected or some will even go to their neighbor shop and get it for you. That is the reason why I have started to much prefer the small shops in general, because there you are still a customer and not only the annoying variable in a marketing strategy.
Ok, I got a bit long here. Final word would be that I understand your disappointment with vendors, but I prefer to challenge them. And better go to your local small shop, unless you really need the supermarket. I prefer being a human being to being a barcode number. And you should too, as Ubuntu is only for human beings 😉
Cheers
It used to be that customers prefered human interaction over automated service. I can see that is now changing quickly.
I think the preference for an automated service depends on what the customer is buying. It’s all good at Tescos where the customer is buying cheap FMCG’s but what about when the customer is spending a lot of money? I’m surprised you still want automated service at Ikea since most people want to discuss the products with sales people before they make the purchase.
I don’t mind automated service at supermarkets because the service at the checkouts has never been worse at Sainsbury’s and Iceland but I think I still want the option of being able to deal with sales staff at other retail shops.
Also, I want to add that sometimes you need to talk to a person to explain your purchasing needs in order to get what you want. It can get complicated when dealing with a machine. I remember this happening a while ago when trying to buy cinema tickets.
I agree with you fully Rashad, except that you consider IKEA not to be a FMCG ;). If I decided to buy expensive furniture, a kitchen, a car, or a round-the-world trip, I’d want to talk to a sales person, even at the risk of them being unfriendly. My purchasing loyalty would be very low though, and friendliness and competence and their opposites would be key in making my decision (as opposed to price/quality being key).
(Anecdote from my local cinema: you can buy the tickets online, they email you, you can see the barcode clearly on the iPhone, but the scanner doesn’t read it…yay – you need to input numbers instead…)
Oli, you’re actually speaking my mind. I just love it when I go shopping in other countries as even in the larger shops, it seems the customer is more appreciated. But my scope here was indeed limited to our lovely Luxiland’s servicescape. I guess it kinda gets to you in some way, so as to apply the same disappointment in service to an international scale…
I just heard a report on how younger people don’t care much for eye-contact anylonger, as the dry internet communication has become more of a standard to them – it might be in parts that too, the ease of transaction without the need of social behaving…
From what I understand, Ikea sell furniture, right? I’ve never been inside any of their stores. Although they may be cheaper than other furniture retailers, the products are still a lot more than those at the supermarket, no?
Can a 14/15 year old boy buy tickets to watch an 18 rated film online? The cinema website wouldn’t be able to catch him out, would it?… See More
Have you been to the cinema in the o2 arena? we wanted to watch the screening in the biggest screen (screen 11) but from what i remember, the machine wouldn’t indicate what screen the film would be showing on. Had to buy the tickets at the box office in the end. Perhaps that was down to poor info provided from the machines but it was solved by talking to the box office people.
on a different note – self checkout machines at tescos are great. i get rid of a ton of 1p and 2p coins without holding up the customer queue!
IKEA is selling furniture indeed, but most of their products are setup in showrooms. The boxes are easily found and their system is really not all too complicated…but for kitchens for example, I would need their advice.
The cinemas also potentially would loose out on student discounts if people lie about that…but then, staff needs to check this upon letting the kids in…
Still, it seems the human factor is the main reason here why a service fails? 😉