Self-checkouts will continue to grow until all checkouts are replaced by the smart shopping cart. Once consumers place a product into a cart, the cart should be able to read the products in the cart, show a detailed list of which products are in the cart along with their prices and then simply charge the consumer’s payment system (Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Pay Pal, Visa, etc.) as the consumer leaves the store. Simple, easy and cheap. The cost of connecting carts to a wireless network in the store (which almost all stores in the U.S. already have) is less than paying for cashiers, POS systems and the consumer aggravation of waiting in line.

This topic comes back from the dead like Sears. As much as people try to make self-checkout personal, it isn’t. It only takes one or two glitches and having to wait for some harried cashier to “fix” it to make customers feel stupid they picked the “quicker self-serve” option. No one ever uses the Lowe’s self checkout near me for that reason. Once burned, customers are never going back. For a single item in a store where most of the items are similar it’s fine, but most retailers aren’t boutiques with only 100 SKUs.

I do expect to see more self-checkout options over the next several years as customers become more familiar with the process and retailers realize cost benefits. In my neighborhood there are two Roundy’s (Kroger) groceries within five miles of each other — one with self-checkout, the other without. Shoppers who are comfortable with the self-scanning process seem to prefer it for small baskets of goods instead of standing in the so-called express lane. And the stores who use the system (Home Depot being another example) have figured out how to have an associate nearby to help out.

There is a learning curve for shoppers and retailers, just as with chip-enabled credit cards, mobile payment and so forth. To win customers over to the benefits of self-checkout, it may take adaptation by a huge player like Walmart … if they’re not already on board.

“Self-checkouts work best for small baskets of items” should be the mantra for those considering their deployment. Customers with a large number of items may not mind being behind others with similar-sized purchases. However those with just a few items really hate being in the same line as people with big orders.

We all know that the checkout process is the least liked part of the shopping experience. Making customers with 60 items do a self-checkout is punishing them.

I’m not sure what the incentive should be in terms of a discount but if I had 60 items and was told to use the self-checkout, I would walk out of the store.

Once the consumer learns how to use self-checkout, it is faster to pay and get out of the store. That is and should be the incentive. For those consumers for whom self-checkout is a challenge, no reasonable incentive will be enough to make them use it. Younger generations will have no problem embracing it.

The self-checkout options will continue to proliferate (loved or despised) until we see improved automation.

The problem isn’t self checkout per se — it’s the clunky technology. When the technology is truly labor-saving then we will see it everywhere. Until then, shoppers are performing the labor usually reserved for store personnel.

Oddly, a major grocery store near me forces customers with MORE than 12 items to use self-checkout. About three minutes in, the system starts barking at the customer to remove items from the belt. While the customer is bagging and removing those items, the system assumes the transaction is over and starts yelling for a credit card number. Clearance items can’t be processed without human intervention because the system assumes they’re fraudulent. I stopped going there.

Make certain it works! And make certain there is a qualified person who is readily available to override and address problems. Nothing is more annoying than when the systems locks up and you have to wait until you get assistance. This method with never be personal so get over it! Retailers invest in this technology to reduce headcount. Just make certain it works!

Preferences for self-checkout and regular checkout seem to be pretty divided. I think the key for retailers is to provide both options so shoppers have a choice. I’m not sure self-checkouts should be incentivized. Speed and control are enough incentives for many customers to choose self-checkout. The other half of the population that prefers regular checkout values the human interaction. They shouldn’t feel like they are being punished for having that preference.

There’s no need to incentivize self-checkout in price-oriented stores. It will grow as technology allows it to be seamless. Let’s not kid ourselves into believing that checkout as we know it is pleasurable or personal.

Time is important and so is the experience. Most shoppers aren’t looking for a friend. Conversations with cashiers are meant to be short and to the point. Anything else wastes time, annoys the people behind the first customer and is usually disingenuous.

Want to make checkout or final moments with your store more pleasurable? Eliminate it or deflect it.

We enter dangerous territory if we start trying to control consumer actions in the store with incentives. Incentives too often backfire and create dysfunction.

We can see the dysfunction that might come by looking at the example noted above — the airlines. Yes, they have started micro-pricing all parts of a trip. And the result is incredibly frustrated flyers who struggle to comprehend what all is happening. The only way airlines have controlled this blowback is by keeping prices so low that they are unrealistic (I can fly in four hours from Portland, OR to Chicago for less than the cost of gas to drive there in two days). That has increased consumer expectations for extraordinary service without pricing or margins that make that service possible. It’s a train wreck, so to speak.

My recommendation: We should have both types of checkout and allow consumers to choose. It is the store’s job to staff in order to level the load. And that should be it.

The problem with most current forms of self-checkout in stores is that they are not designed to make the process easy, seamless or positive for the shopper. Instead they are designed to solve a problem for the retailer. This lack of customer-centricity produces more friction in the checkout process rather than reducing it. The exception to this is the mobile and/or app-based checkout in luxury brands like Apple and Rebecca Minkoff, or the check-in approach demonstrated by Amazon Go. Until self-checkout systems are designed from a customer-first viewpoint focusing on the customer’s needs rather than the retailer’s, these systems will fail more often than not. It only takes one failure for a customer to not come back to the store if forced into this sort of non-functional experience.

Self-checkout has had its ups and downs over the years as there is a fine line between convenience and frustration. Millennials and younger generation are much more accustomed to using technology than Baby Boomers and The Silent Generation (born between 1924 and 1945) and many young people prefer to interact with technology more than with people. Many retailers initially embraced self-checkout for high-volume, low-touch items such as grocery, but now we are seeing luxury fashion such as Rebecca Minkoff experimenting with self-checkout. From a cost and labor scheduling standpoint retailers realize the benefits, but depending on the product category and customer demographics they must be careful not to alienate their customers with a frustrating experience. Until nearly all consumers adopt self-checkout, retailers will need to offer a hybrid approach of a combination of traditional associate-staffed checkout with self-checkout. Offering incentives to accelerate the adoption of self-checkout is a good idea, even if it is just a 1 or 2 percent discount. With the cost pressures and difficulty finding available labor, self-checkout is likely to increase… Read more »

The encouragement, where appropriate, to use self-checkout is simple: it’s a better experience than waiting for a live cashier. When it’s not, customers will not want to use it, or use it reluctantly. In terms of inhibitors, a longer line is the obvious starting point, much as a long line in a staffed check-out is an inhibitor to using that versus self-checkout.

Like so much of retail, it comes down to people and systems. Self checkout is always shorter at Costco, which also staffs the self-checkout lines for when you purchase wine which requires human intervention for age/ID validation.

Also, like so much of retail, companies need to shift their thinking from discounts as the only way to motivate customers. The power of a better customer experience is not only more powerful, it’s more profitable.

There is a learning curve to self-service solutions. Think about how long it took to get airline passengers to book tickets and check-in online. It was years. Incentives ranged from cash discounts to extra frequent flier miles. But it worked. There was a tipping point and now it is more the norm and not the exception. Retailers must do the same. Give a reward for usage. It will only work when the customers get comfortable with the system. That means the retailer must train the customer.