iStock.com/Igor Alecsander
November 1, 2024
Should Dressing Rooms Have Self-Checkout?
Marks & Spencer is installing self-service checkouts in changing rooms, allowing fashion shoppers to skip the regular checkout line when trying on clothes. So far, 28 recently refurbished stores already feature the technology.
“We’d like customers to be able to walk straight into the fitting room with no queue, try on what they’ve chosen, then pay there and just walk out,” the British chain’s operations director, Sacha Berendji, told The Telegraph.
To address shoplifting concerns, staff will be “hosting” changing room areas to make sure customers do not leave without paying. The initial plan is to add one of the checkouts per changing room area, with the number to increase depending on customer demand.
Traditional payment options will remain available. Berendji said, “This is all about choice. If you want to be served by a colleague, that’s absolutely OK and you always can be. But if people want to serve themselves, they can do that instead.”
Smart or tech-infused dressing rooms received significant hype about a decade ago. In 2014, Nordstrom began testing interactive “smart mirrors” in fitting rooms that provide shoppers with access to in-store inventory information, product recommendations, and other data typical of web shopping. Around the time, however, only Zara experimented with the technology for self-checkout.
Online virtual dressing rooms have received more attention in recent years, but experimentation in physical spaces has continued. In 2022, H&M rolled out fitting rooms in some U.S. stores equipped with smart mirrors that recognize products brought into the room (e.g. item, size, and color) with the possibility to offer personalized product and styling recommendations.
A bigger question may be whether self-checkout is an acceptable option at apparel stores. Primark, Zara, and Uniqlo are among the few that started installing self-checkout in 2022.
Under the setup from Zara and Uniqlo, shoppers dump the RFID-tagged items they want to purchase in a box that scans it all at once, avoiding the chore of using the bar-code scanner typical at grocery stores. RFID purchase verification can help reduce shoplifting by catching items that might be intentionally or accidentally missed during checkout when using bar code scanning alone. Uniqlo further said the self-checkout machines cut transaction times by half.
A recent Business of Fashion article exploring why self-checkout hasn’t become as prevalent in fashion compared to grocery channels highlighted the high cost of RFID tags as well as the need for high-touch, or human, attention supporting the fashion shopping experience.
“When you think of someone buying a $150 bag, it almost feels like self-checkout would cheapen the service,” Matt Moorut, marketing analyst at Gartner, told Business of Fashion. “Fashion has been one of the slowest areas to make changes in checkout.”
Discussion Questions
Do you see an opportunity for apparel stores to add self-checkout to dressing rooms?
Why hasn’t self-checkout scaled at fashion or apparel retailers similar to grocery or general merchandise sellers?
Do RFID tags promise to smooth the acceptance of apparel self-checkout?
Poll
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If you’ve tried on goods and want to buy them then it makes sense to be able to make the purchase right in the dressing room, if you wish. What M&S is doing is increasing choice and reducing friction. I was initially concerned about theft, but it sounds like the dressing rooms will be monitored by staff to ensure that people pay for what they’ve taken in or return items when they exit. More broadly, this is another customer-centric initiative by M&S which is really on the front foot at the moment!
The popularity of self-checkouts is declining in supermarkets, but there’s not much I don’t like about self-checkouts in the dressing room, other than the fact that it limits interactions with store personnel who may have offered suggestions for additional purchases.
With self-checkouts in dressing rooms, consumers don’t have to wait in line to pay, or deal with unwanted human interaction. There may be an increase in closing sales as a result.
As for the risk of more theft, I believe it is no greater than allowing consumers to walk out of stores with products in their hands or bags without paying.
Placing self-checkouts in department store fitting rooms makes about as much sense to me as a grocer putting eggs and milk at the checkout counter. Grab and go isn’t the point.
A good fitting room experience includes associate interaction and add-on sales. Great pants, now how about a top to go with them?
As a consumer, I’d rather have an associate help by suggesting and/or bringing me additional items, not getting me out of the store faster.
This 100%. What is needed in more customer service rather than less. I don’t see this moving the lines any faster to checkout.
I am not sure this tech will be widely adopted, but I see it as a no harm no foul play. With many apparel retailers being short on staff, causing long lines at checkout, this is an excellent option to have in place.
I’m in the wait and see camp on this one. I’m not a huge fan of self-checkout at the grocery or big box store. Mostly because of the implications for shrink and issues having to learn each store’s specific self-checkout interface.
Despite my initial reaction, “Another shrink driver,” this might be an exception. Fitting rooms are fairly contained, and as long as there are team members around, it’s going to be difficult to walk about with an item the clerk watches you take in the room. As long as this option is, just an option, I think it will work fine. If it becomes the default, as self-checkout has become at some US big box stores, try to find a cashier, then it won’t last long. Shrink WILL explode and better customers will shop elsewhere.
There are pluses and minuses in this initiative, and I am not convinced of its overall value. Of what I am sure, is that the process from start to finish, while trying to reduce theft and increase sales, is anything but simple and those retailers that opt to adopt this concept had better thought through every step and fork in the process block diagram. Not so simple as it may seem.
Not in the dressing room, but we used the self-check at Uniqlo in Copenhagen this summer. While I was expecting a staffed counter, the flow was quick and painless – our only question mark was where to put the hangers – and there were plenty of staff around for those needing assistance & to keep an eye on things. The store itself was well stocked (including all sizes), signed, and merchandised, such that we did not need to consult sales staff – but there was a decent number of staff on the floors for those who needed them. The model works for this particular retailer / product orientation / demographic.
What is there not to like here? You can take the money at “the moment of truth” when someone is thinking (hopefully) “hey this looks pretty good on me”–why add the walk to the register?
Exactly how this is set up in the dressing room probably makes a difference too. I can imagine the tik tok shoplifting videos…YES I BOUGHT THIS, SHOW ME YOUR RECEIPT etc and so on-but all in all a good innovation here!
Though the addition of self-checkout in dressing rooms offers an interesting solution to providing customers with the convenience to purchase where, and how, they want to shop, this will be an interesting experiment. We’ve seen multiple retailers, including Target, Walmart and Dollar General, scale back their self-checkout offerings this year due to frustrations with technology and theft.
Implementing self-checkout in an area of the store that is notably harder to monitor (you can’t exactly keep an eye on what’s happening in the dressing rooms) could prove to be either very successful or very problematic. Additionally, while it might encourage impulse buys within the dressing room, it removes the possibility for add-to-cart purchases that come from walking through a store to reach the register.
Self-checkout in fitting rooms can be a smart move, especially for busy shoppers who want to skip lines. But it’s been slow to scale in fashion because, unlike groceries, apparel is more personal—shoppers want to touch, try on, and often prefer help from staff, especially with high-ticket items. RFID could make self-checkout easier and safer, but the high cost will hold back the stores. Until RFID becomes cheaper, self-checkouts in fitting rooms will likely be a niche option rather than the norm.
Terrific option. Some will utilize frequently. Some will opt for more personal service. Could be a point of differentiation for a shopper seeking to make a quick purchase. They can choose the store with the fastest checkout option. Anything that reduces friction is worth trying.
Self-service checkout in fitting rooms is an interesting move, but I’m skeptical about its value in the fashion retail world. Convenience is great, but fashion shopping is about more than just transactions—it’s about the experience.