Self-checkout machines have been popping up like mushrooms at large retail stores lately, and whether you like them or hate them, this technology seems to provoke a strong response.
Self-serve technology is nothing new, said Cambrian College business professor Brian Vendramin, who often comments on the retail sector.
He gives the example of pumping your own gas, ATM bank machines and purchasing your tickets online or at a kiosk at the movie theatre. The country's first retail self-checkout machine appeared in 2000.
And don't be surprised if larger retailers go one step further toward automation in the near future, Vendramin said.
“Retail … is the biggest area where you're going to see robots in the future,” he said. “When I say future, I'm not talking 20 years, I'm talking in the next three to five years, where we have robots that work the night shift restocking shelves.”
When we asked Sudbury.com's Facebook users for their thoughts on the machines, comments came in thick and fast. More than 700 comments in less than 24 hours were logged.
“I never use them, they take away jobs from people and I don’t see an automatic bank deposit in my bank account every two weeks from Walmart,” said Shawn Gascon. “I don’t work the store so I ain’t using them. It’s free labour for multi-million dollar companies. I rather wait the five minutes or so and have personal interaction.”
Manon Packham complains that every time she uses them, there's something that doesn't scan properly.
“For some fruit items, you need to ask for someone to come anyways,” she said. “I find it faster to go through the regular checkouts. Just don't go during peak times.”
Elizabeth Sandoval-Kennedy is one of the people who fall into the category of being a fan of the self-checkout machines.
“I love them,” she said. “They are limited to the number of items that can be checked out, and as a mom of special needs kids, I don't have the time to spare. This works for me as I get through my groceries faster.”
According to a study done out of Halifax's Dalhousie University, self-checkouts are actually popular.
The study shows 25.1 per cent of shoppers "strongly agreeing" they are a good idea and 29.6 per cent "somewhat agreeing.” Another 20.3 per cent were indifferent.
It showed 11.1 per cent of respondents always use self-checkout, and 54.9 per cent occasionally use self-checkout.
The Grocery Experience National Survey Report — the study conducted by researchers at Dalhousie — took place over three days in October 2018, and surveyed a controlled sample of 1,053 people online in both English and French. The margin of error is 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
And whether you like the machines or not also depends on your age.
Quoting from a similar U.S. survey, Vendramin said among technology friendly millennials in the 18-34 age group that don't necessarily want to engage with retail workers, there's a 46-per-cent acceptance of the machines.
But that drops to 35 per cent among the 35-54 age group and 19 per cent among those age 55 and older.
For his part, Vendramin said he sometimes use the machines — especially when he's in a hurry — but at other times, he wants to engage with a human in making his purchases.
Self-checkout machines are a lost opportunity for stores to make a connection with their customers, he said.
Vendramin tells a story about a recent visit to a drugstore where he couldn't find one of the items he was looking for, and wasn't able to find anybody to help him.
And then, instead of a cashier asking him at the cash whether he'd found everything he was looking for, the cashiers directed him to a self-checkout machine.
“To which my response is, I would prefer not to, and I left my stuff on the counter and I walked out,” he said. “If you connect all of those dots, here's a significant loss to the retailer.”
After being contacted by Sudbury.com about the recent increase in self-checkout machines at the South End Walmart store, Walmart Canada said the machines make the shopping experience “more convenient” and faster.
The company also said associates that previously worked at the cash are re-assigned within the stores “to better serve our customers.”
Vendramin said as far as he can tell, Walmart is telling the truth, as some of his students work there, and that's what they're telling him.
But he said there's also no doubt in his mind that the machines are being installed to save retailers money.
“Some retailers are trying to reduce their labour costs by making significant investments in self-serve checkouts,” Vendramin said.
-With files from Canadian Press
