Recent news reports seem to indicate a backlash
occurring with some grocers toward the self-checkout. The primary concern being voiced by the
naysayers has always been the perceived impact it has on the customer
service. Many grocers who have worked
hard to establish a strong customer service culture believe the self-checkout
erodes that philosophy and eliminates the important contact needed to build
those important relationships with their customers.
Unfortunately, this mindset is short-sighted and misses the
mark on what the self-checkout offers store operations to promote their
customers' satisfaction. What these
operators fail to realize is that offering the self-checkout option enhances
the experience by giving the customer a choice.
Traditional checkouts will always be preferred by certain segments of
the population. Other segments will
always select the self-checkout when it's an option. However, there are other segments of people
that appreciate choice simply based on the situation; for instance, depending
on their order size, time of day or night, conventional lanes' customer
volume/order sizes, etc. When these
moments present themselves many appreciate the opportunity to choose their
preference producing higher customer satisfaction.
The other important change the self-checkout facilitates in
store operations is affording a shift of staff resources from the front end to
the floor. This is where many important
opportunities for interaction and assistance can be created (or missed); making
contact, building strong relationships and achieving a very satisfying customer
experience. By training a knowledgeable
self-checkout shopper assistant to monitor, assist and intervene as required
with multiple self-checkout lanes, you can create a very positive self-checkout
experience. In addition, it allows the
freed up front-end staff to be re-trained and re-allocated to be
Johnny-on-the-spot for the customers on the floor needing help finding
something, making a decision, offering free samples or any other ideas you can
invent to generate customer contact.
Ultimately, the customer appreciates the choice of self-checkout and the grocer can appreciate the opportunities it creates to generate new customer service experiences on floor as well as the front-end. The self-checkout solution clearly advances the customer service objectives and will continue to grow as a service model in many industries and organizations.
