May 9, 2025
mkopka/Depositphotos.com
Is Less More for Self-Checkout?
Target’s Express Self-Checkout, which limits shoppers to self-scanning 10 items or fewer, may be reducing self-theft, but Target claims it’s also winning over shoppers seeking a speedier checkout.
In March 2024, reports arrived that Target was moving to “Express Self-Checkout” to shorten wait times at self-service kiosks as well as to overcome challenges scanning bigger baskets. According to Axios, “more traditional lanes” would be increased for shoppers with more items.
The changes came amid reports that self-checkout stations were ripe with theft, with several reports assuming the 10-item limit was in part related to reducing shrink. Target closed nine stores in October 2023 due to theft and introduced locked cases for “prone-to-theft” items, including soap, shampoo, razors, and even socks and underwear. In February 2024, Target began limiting self-checkout hours in some stores to reduce shrink.
In a company update on a blog post in early May, Target didn’t reveal whether Express Self-Checkout has reduced shrink but said it’s been a hit with customers, reducing average transaction times across self-checkout and staffed lanes by nearly 8%.
More customers are also choosing to make their purchase through traditional cashier-supported lanes that Target described as “the perfect option for anyone who has more in their Target carts, needs a helping hand, or just enjoys connecting with our team to help them get on their way sooner.”
Part of the goal of the “Express Self-Checkout” rollout was to direct more customers to cashiered terminals because many customers enjoy the interaction. Overall, Target said that since the Express Self-Checkout introduction, the retailer’s net promoter score (NPS) is up five points for wait times across checkout and ahead three points for interactions.
Among other chains, Schnucks last year began limiting self-checkout purchases to 10 items or fewer to support efficiencies, although the Midwest grocer also suspected that limits would reduce shrink. Schnucks said when it first introduced the policy, “When self-checkouts were first introduced, they were intended for smaller orders. Over time, larger orders began moving through self-checkouts, and we are hoping to address that concern.”
Giant Foods in 2023 introduced a policy limiting transactions to a maximum of 20 items as part of a move to reduce theft. ShopRite in the same year began enforcing a “20 items or less” policy across self-checkout kiosks.
Walmart’s move to limit self-checkout purchases to 15 items at most in some stores last year led to complaints on social media about the shortage of open registers with cashiers, which was causing long lines.
BrainTrust
Richard J. George, Ph.D.
Professor of Food Marketing, Haub School of Business, Saint Joseph's University
DeAnn Campbell
Head of Retail Insights, AAG Consulting Group
David Naumann
Marketing Strategy Lead - Retail, Travel & Distribution, Verizon
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
Do you see more pros than cons in establishing purchase limits at self-checkout stations?
Do you see significant benefits from purchase limits in reducing shrink as well as technical malfunctions?
Poll
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I never agreed with the limit. Ten items is not a lot – especially if buying essential items – and imposing it reduces customer choice of how to pay. That said, it is not routinely enforced, so can be ignored. The problem with manned checkouts at Target is that, in many stores, there are not enough open at times. As for transaction times being down: maybe that’s because people are buying fewer things these days and foot traffic at Target is down!
This is so true, Neil! The limited number of items “allowed” for self-checkout is so minimal and then there are often virtually no manned lanes (one, two on a good day) open. I’m at the point I just don’t visit much anymore as it isn’t worth the waiting around for a manned lane for a large basket.
Yes, I experienced this over this past weekend. Massive lines at the regular lanes, shorter line at the self-checkout. Kind staff member told me to use the shelf checkout lane even though I had over 10 items (I didn’t say that I was planning to anyway!).
Presumably most people use self-check because it’s faster – or at least they think it is – so yes, this certainly makes sense; and it’s equally obvious that it’s easier to monitor someone who only checks few things than one who’s there for 20 minutes. Is any of this a surprise….to anyone? So if they stop here fine; if it becomes an excuse to understaff, then not much will have been accomplished
Or people like me who only have four items but are there for 25 minutes, punching buttons and cursing, looking stuff and insisting that I “do not need help.”
Limiting purchases can frustrate customers, resulting in dissatisfaction and decreased sales. Customers may feel restricted and inconvenienced, which may discourage them from shopping at the store entirely.
Further, purchase limits may not address the underlying causes of shrinkage and technical malfunctions, instead focusing on symptoms.
A possible alternative is to enhance the software to enhance the recognition of items and streamline the scanning process. In addition, increasing the number of self-checkout stations may reduce wait times and improve customer satisfaction.
Assisting customers with complex transactions might also contribute to maintaining a smooth flow of business without imposing strict limits on purchases.
It can and should work without sounding like a scolding parent. For our stores, signage stated “10 Items, More or Less” to remove the stress of exact item counting, and to reduce customer conflicts. The main idea was encourage customers with small amounts of groceries toward these areas to get in, get out faster. Because these stations are in tight spaces, without room for carts, it’s always good to state the experiences and orderliness you need to prevent a free for all. Remove hassles wherever you can for everyone’s benefit.
Self checkout should not be limited to a specific number. However, I like the concept of designated lanes for quick checkouts, similar to cashier-supported express lanes.
While shrink control may be the rationale for limiting self-scanning to 10 items, it trades off customer convenience to minimize the theft impact of a few customers. Respect your customers. How? 1. Develop anti shrink controls. 2. Invest a portion of any scanning savings into customer shopping enhancements.
The reality is that most of the free standing self-checkout units found in grocery and general merchandise have a physical footprint that is effective for ~15 or so items. This results in both accidental missed scanning by customers and makes it easy for fraudsters to disguise intentional theft. The key to customer acceptance when implementing the unit quantity limits at SCO is to balance the move with adding some payroll to the maned lanes. Physically larger self checkout units with belts and larger bagging areas found in some grocery and club chains are designed for large baskets.
I like the limit. Too many times I’ve been in absurd self-checkout situations — stuck behind someone buying 10 weeks worth of groceries through a “self-checkout.” And US Ikea’s self-checkout? They don’t offer any other checkout making the process of leaving Ikea quite miserable. Self-checkout is a superb service when limits are put on it. Perhaps we need to be reminded that kids can build with Lego’s and that Apple computers are highly usable BECAUSE there are limits. Limits well executed enable people to do more and be more satisfied. Hope Target is executing these limits wisely.
Target setting a limit of 10 items at its self-checkouts doesn’t work for a lot of customers, especially when you have a cartful of items and there are only a few traditional checkouts that are open.
Promising to open more traditional lanes doesn’t seem to ever happen at our local store, that’s why my Target runs are only for 10 items or less, and that’s too bad.
Balancing margin and labor costs with customer service and great experiences. Although retailers are loath to admit it, check lanes are already a source of shrink, and self-checkout lanes amplify the issue. Limiting the size of baskets is one way to address the shrink issue. Keep in mind that limiting items and not expanding cashier-staffed lanes, is a fast track to frustrated customers.
Setting item limits for self-checkout seems like a smart strategy to improve the average wait times for customers. The item quantity limits may irritate some customers that have several easy to scan items, however, the limits will probably not be enforced. It is similar to staffed express lanes that have item limits that some customers just ignore.
The numbers speak for themselves. Self-checkout is working. It’s no longer “something new.” More customers than ever are using the express/self-checkout lanes in retail. The tipping point has… tipped.
Regarding item limits, this could be a guide rather than a black-and-white rule. Someone with eleven or twelve items shouldn’t be forced into traditional check-out lanes, where customers may have shopping carts full of merchandise. However, someone with a full cart shouldn’t be holding up the express lane, either.
If speed and convenience are to be the drivers of managing the options for check out processes, then limiting the number of items for self check out makes abundant sense…IF…at the same time, there are enough full service lanes open. I always use self check out at Target and it’s always a breeze. But, I never have more than a couple of items and it’s always packaged products with clear bar codes. Simple. At the grocery store, I never use self check out because I have a full cart and it’s invariably full of fresh produce. But ‘full service’ at the grocery store means that I am my own bagger half of the time. But even then, I get through that lane way faster than if I was down in self checkout doing my own input of individual codes for fresh food. Nightmare. Invariably the “Help Needed” light flashes at least once per visit. Grrrrr…
At Home Depot the self checkout includes cashier/helpers that are never more than a few feet away. They are greeters that seem to appear instantly if there seems to be a hiccup with anything. It works great.
Each retailer is finding the combination of self and full service checkouts that works best for them. There certainly don’t appear to be any cookie cutter models. Different products with different levels of bulk and different ticketing require some finesse in execution. We seem to pick on Target for not being perfect. I never see folks with full carts at the grocery store using self check out. Why would they want to do that at Target? Didn’t “express” lanes start as a service to those shoppers with just a couple of items? I don’t see the problem with staying with that underlying logic.
My nearby Home Depot just did a full re-arrange of its self-check to create a funnel, instead of the usual wide-open configuration. Still just one or two staff in the area, but with the funnel they can more easily keep eyes on what’s coming through. It will create a longer line for shoppers – at least will be perceived as such.
Self-checkout has never worked for a shopping cart full of products. Scanning, bagging, paying, I.D. checks, coupons, broken scans codes and more take a minimum of two people to avoid total frustration. The check-out is the last experience a customer will have with your store and if it’s a bad one there are plenty of competitors next time they shop. Instead of trying to force self checkout to do what was never going to work, I applaud Target’s acquiescence to reason. Invest in full serve to reduce theft and improve experience with large orders, and use self checkout for quick runs on small baskets. Like Homer Simpson said… “Doh”.
The ideal solution is scan as you shop, like almost every UK grocer has. It saves a lot of time and hassle.
Every shopper scopes out the shortest line for checkout before committing to a line. That’s human nature. It’s also a given that the same shoppers who ignore traditional express-lane item limits will ignore SCO limits. But that doesn’t mean Target and other retailers shouldn’t at least try.
For the most part, Target has done SCO right—even if staffed lanes are often not often fully staffed. Target stores always have a dedicated staff member directing traffic and helping customers in the SCO area, so they probably have a better chance than other retailers to make something like this work.
I see self check out in similar to how the world had to adapt to using Zoom during Covid – everything was a struggle at first but the more it was used the easier it became. The product, the process and the people developed.
We’re still getting used to it.
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I never agreed with the limit. Ten items is not a lot – especially if buying essential items – and imposing it reduces customer choice of how to pay. That said, it is not routinely enforced, so can be ignored. The problem with manned checkouts at Target is that, in many stores, there are not enough open at times. As for transaction times being down: maybe that’s because people are buying fewer things these days and foot traffic at Target is down!
This is so true, Neil! The limited number of items “allowed” for self-checkout is so minimal and then there are often virtually no manned lanes (one, two on a good day) open. I’m at the point I just don’t visit much anymore as it isn’t worth the waiting around for a manned lane for a large basket.
Yes, I experienced this over this past weekend. Massive lines at the regular lanes, shorter line at the self-checkout. Kind staff member told me to use the shelf checkout lane even though I had over 10 items (I didn’t say that I was planning to anyway!).
Presumably most people use self-check because it’s faster – or at least they think it is – so yes, this certainly makes sense; and it’s equally obvious that it’s easier to monitor someone who only checks few things than one who’s there for 20 minutes. Is any of this a surprise….to anyone? So if they stop here fine; if it becomes an excuse to understaff, then not much will have been accomplished
Or people like me who only have four items but are there for 25 minutes, punching buttons and cursing, looking stuff and insisting that I “do not need help.”
Limiting purchases can frustrate customers, resulting in dissatisfaction and decreased sales. Customers may feel restricted and inconvenienced, which may discourage them from shopping at the store entirely.
Further, purchase limits may not address the underlying causes of shrinkage and technical malfunctions, instead focusing on symptoms.
A possible alternative is to enhance the software to enhance the recognition of items and streamline the scanning process. In addition, increasing the number of self-checkout stations may reduce wait times and improve customer satisfaction.
Assisting customers with complex transactions might also contribute to maintaining a smooth flow of business without imposing strict limits on purchases.
It can and should work without sounding like a scolding parent. For our stores, signage stated “10 Items, More or Less” to remove the stress of exact item counting, and to reduce customer conflicts. The main idea was encourage customers with small amounts of groceries toward these areas to get in, get out faster. Because these stations are in tight spaces, without room for carts, it’s always good to state the experiences and orderliness you need to prevent a free for all. Remove hassles wherever you can for everyone’s benefit.
Self checkout should not be limited to a specific number. However, I like the concept of designated lanes for quick checkouts, similar to cashier-supported express lanes.
While shrink control may be the rationale for limiting self-scanning to 10 items, it trades off customer convenience to minimize the theft impact of a few customers. Respect your customers. How? 1. Develop anti shrink controls. 2. Invest a portion of any scanning savings into customer shopping enhancements.
The reality is that most of the free standing self-checkout units found in grocery and general merchandise have a physical footprint that is effective for ~15 or so items. This results in both accidental missed scanning by customers and makes it easy for fraudsters to disguise intentional theft. The key to customer acceptance when implementing the unit quantity limits at SCO is to balance the move with adding some payroll to the maned lanes. Physically larger self checkout units with belts and larger bagging areas found in some grocery and club chains are designed for large baskets.
I like the limit. Too many times I’ve been in absurd self-checkout situations — stuck behind someone buying 10 weeks worth of groceries through a “self-checkout.” And US Ikea’s self-checkout? They don’t offer any other checkout making the process of leaving Ikea quite miserable. Self-checkout is a superb service when limits are put on it. Perhaps we need to be reminded that kids can build with Lego’s and that Apple computers are highly usable BECAUSE there are limits. Limits well executed enable people to do more and be more satisfied. Hope Target is executing these limits wisely.
Target setting a limit of 10 items at its self-checkouts doesn’t work for a lot of customers, especially when you have a cartful of items and there are only a few traditional checkouts that are open.
Promising to open more traditional lanes doesn’t seem to ever happen at our local store, that’s why my Target runs are only for 10 items or less, and that’s too bad.
Balancing margin and labor costs with customer service and great experiences. Although retailers are loath to admit it, check lanes are already a source of shrink, and self-checkout lanes amplify the issue. Limiting the size of baskets is one way to address the shrink issue. Keep in mind that limiting items and not expanding cashier-staffed lanes, is a fast track to frustrated customers.
Setting item limits for self-checkout seems like a smart strategy to improve the average wait times for customers. The item quantity limits may irritate some customers that have several easy to scan items, however, the limits will probably not be enforced. It is similar to staffed express lanes that have item limits that some customers just ignore.
The numbers speak for themselves. Self-checkout is working. It’s no longer “something new.” More customers than ever are using the express/self-checkout lanes in retail. The tipping point has… tipped.
Regarding item limits, this could be a guide rather than a black-and-white rule. Someone with eleven or twelve items shouldn’t be forced into traditional check-out lanes, where customers may have shopping carts full of merchandise. However, someone with a full cart shouldn’t be holding up the express lane, either.
If speed and convenience are to be the drivers of managing the options for check out processes, then limiting the number of items for self check out makes abundant sense…IF…at the same time, there are enough full service lanes open. I always use self check out at Target and it’s always a breeze. But, I never have more than a couple of items and it’s always packaged products with clear bar codes. Simple. At the grocery store, I never use self check out because I have a full cart and it’s invariably full of fresh produce. But ‘full service’ at the grocery store means that I am my own bagger half of the time. But even then, I get through that lane way faster than if I was down in self checkout doing my own input of individual codes for fresh food. Nightmare. Invariably the “Help Needed” light flashes at least once per visit. Grrrrr…
At Home Depot the self checkout includes cashier/helpers that are never more than a few feet away. They are greeters that seem to appear instantly if there seems to be a hiccup with anything. It works great.
Each retailer is finding the combination of self and full service checkouts that works best for them. There certainly don’t appear to be any cookie cutter models. Different products with different levels of bulk and different ticketing require some finesse in execution. We seem to pick on Target for not being perfect. I never see folks with full carts at the grocery store using self check out. Why would they want to do that at Target? Didn’t “express” lanes start as a service to those shoppers with just a couple of items? I don’t see the problem with staying with that underlying logic.
My nearby Home Depot just did a full re-arrange of its self-check to create a funnel, instead of the usual wide-open configuration. Still just one or two staff in the area, but with the funnel they can more easily keep eyes on what’s coming through. It will create a longer line for shoppers – at least will be perceived as such.
Self-checkout has never worked for a shopping cart full of products. Scanning, bagging, paying, I.D. checks, coupons, broken scans codes and more take a minimum of two people to avoid total frustration. The check-out is the last experience a customer will have with your store and if it’s a bad one there are plenty of competitors next time they shop. Instead of trying to force self checkout to do what was never going to work, I applaud Target’s acquiescence to reason. Invest in full serve to reduce theft and improve experience with large orders, and use self checkout for quick runs on small baskets. Like Homer Simpson said… “Doh”.
The ideal solution is scan as you shop, like almost every UK grocer has. It saves a lot of time and hassle.
Every shopper scopes out the shortest line for checkout before committing to a line. That’s human nature. It’s also a given that the same shoppers who ignore traditional express-lane item limits will ignore SCO limits. But that doesn’t mean Target and other retailers shouldn’t at least try.
For the most part, Target has done SCO right—even if staffed lanes are often not often fully staffed. Target stores always have a dedicated staff member directing traffic and helping customers in the SCO area, so they probably have a better chance than other retailers to make something like this work.
I see self check out in similar to how the world had to adapt to using Zoom during Covid – everything was a struggle at first but the more it was used the easier it became. The product, the process and the people developed.
We’re still getting used to it.