Study: Self-Checkout Curtails Impulse Buys


By Tom Ryan
According to a study from IHL Consulting Group, impulse purchases among women drop 32.1 percent and men 16.7 percent when self-checkout is used instead of a staffed checkout.
The primary reason for the drop, according to the study, is that self-checkout devices are not as merchandised as staffed lanes in most retailers. Additionally, there is usually a shorter line at each unit, removing the captive audience with the tempting impulse items in front of them.
The findings were part of IHL’s North American Retail Self-Checkout Systems Market Study, which found that consumers spent more than $137 billion in retail self-checkout in 2006, a 24 percent increase over the prior year. The gains were mostly driven by expanded self-checkout use in DIY stores, supercenters and warehouse clubs.
Not surprisingly, the study, which included surveys of 1,000 consumers conducted in the spring and summer of this year, found that acceptance of the devices increases sharply as consumers use the machines more.
“The more retailers can provide an incentive for people to use self-checkout to get past this hump, the more their checkouts can be converted to self-checkout,” the report said.
Other findings in the study:
- A positive view of self-checkout technology is formed over a rather short
period of time. Of those who have used self-checkout at least six times,
86 percent have a positive view of the technology; - Consumers earning more
than $100,000 a year are slightly more inclined to self-checkout. The report
theorizes that higher-income consumers travel more and are therefore exposed
to self-ticketing kiosks at train stations and airports; - Consumers in the
South are the most positive about self-checkout, with 75 percent having a
positive view about the technology; - Sixteen percent of the sample said they
would be more likely to use self-checkout if they could pick the voice of
a person to guide them through it. Most popular voices: Tom Brokaw or Walter
Cronkite, (picked by 21 percent); Don LaFontaine, the movie trailer guy,
(13 percent); and Darth Vader, (12 percent).
Discussion Question: Are self-checkouts a threat to high-margin impulse buys?
If so, what, if anything, should retailers do about recapturing impulse buys
at self-checkout stations?
- Report: Self-Checkout Usage Soared 24 Percent Last
Year – eweek - Women could lose 4.1 lbs simply by avoiding impulse items at the checkout – ihlservices.com
- North American Retail Self-Checkout Systems Market Study – (Purchase Required) – ihlservices.com
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21 Comments on "Study: Self-Checkout Curtails Impulse Buys"
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Self check scanning aisles are here to stay because they represent the times we live in, where a large number of every-day people need to shop fast and get back to work, car pool, or to wherever they are going next. The lack of impulse purchasing is offset by the business that supermarkets and discounters avoid losing to C-stores.
Lies, damn lies and statistics, Mark Twain wrote, and as some of my peers have noted, the real issue here is not the few items that are merchandised at the checkouts which have an impact on impulse buying, but it is the sheer number of items merchandised (and at what price, in each location) throughout the store. A well-merchandised store will drive an incredible amount of impulse purchases through the store, rather than having the consumer wait until they get to the checkstand. Go through any top-rate store and you will see the effects of impulse merchandising throughout the store as things like ice cream scoopers are located by the ice cream section, chip bag closers are located by the potato chips, etc. It is this placement, as the consumer goes through each aisle, that spurs the most amount of impulse buying.
I had no idea my colleagues are so passionate about self-checkouts. Personally, I haven’t ever used one and don’t care to. Am I a dinosaur? Perhaps. But I still represent the majority, and I rarely buy anything at the checkout on impulse. So let’s not be too hasty in our assessment of this technological terror we have created (Darth Vader, Star Wars). Better merchandising at the self check-outs may still not be the right answer.
I think Tom has it right when he attributes a lot of the decline to less merchandising by self-checkout lanes. Self-checkout is not a threat to impulse products, it just requires better merchandising than your ordinary checkout lane.
Self-checkout suits some people–especially at stores with notoriously poor service.
Because the lines for self-checkout are not straightforward like they are for regular check-out lines (you’re never sure which one will come free first), people are distracted and I don’t think merchandising would help.
This is just a function of the law of unintended consequences.
Since the first time I saw a self-checkout scanner I have wondered why there is little to no point-of-sale merchandising. The ones that I have seen still have a line of people waiting to use them with nothing else to do but wait. These consumers are just as captive of an audience as regular checklane consumers.
I am not 100% for self checkout because it simply a ploy in many cases to have consumers do more work. Not the ideal circumstance for high margin goods. Also, they afford greater opportunity for theft.
However, if you’re bent on having them, make sure they work. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen two out of four self-checkouts with out of order signs.
No surprise here, one of the reasons I use the self check-out is because you don’t have all the candy and magazine racks. I guess the evaluation you have to make is whether the labor cost you save makes up for the lost sales and direct profit from impulse buying you lose. Judging by the number of cashiers kibitzing by the ice machine I would think it is a net loss.
Mark Lilien makes a very interesting observation in his comment. It is not clear that the same people were observed in different circumstances. The population was probably already tainted against impulse buying because it consisted of shoppers like myself.
It’s a no brainer that self serve checkouts are a threat to high margin retailers. I suppose that’s why I cannot think of a high margin retailer that uses them. They are typically used only by retailers who have difficulty in finding cashiers who can provide a better exit experience compared to a machine.
I am a big fan of the U scan self service checkout. They afford me the opportunity to shop at my favorite store with the convenience of getting out of the store quickly.
A&P has installed more than a thousand of these self scanners in their family of banner stores. It is a pleasure to use them.
I find that “Ann Page,” (who I affectionately refer to the voice at the self scanner) really knows “her” stuff. She gives me the correct price, processes double and triple coupons with the speed of light, and is always courteous.
She never has a bad day.
This is an interesting study. In many markets, the grocer has brought impulse products to the forefront of the self checkout area. Whether it’s drink coolers, heat display units for hot meals; tables for bakery items, and/or candy displays at the entry of the self check outs, these types of products are very visible to shoppers. If gum, candy and little gadgets are the lost impulse purchases of concern, why is there any discussion? Drinks, meals, magazines, etc, bring more gross profit margin!
However, if the study is suggesting that the shopper who uses the self-checkout system is one who isn’t interested at that point in shopping for the week; but is buying for a major dinner event for the day, or just getting 4 products, one may understand the possible lost impulse sales. But, in such cases, these shoppers will be back for the bigger shopping trip!
Very interesting research, and an opportunity for more understanding of these results. Hmmmmmmmmm
Contrasting “weo’s” comment with Doron Levy’s gives a great snapshot of the consumer opinion waterfront retailers face on this issue. Some love people–some don’t. Some only love nice people–and don’t always find them at every register every day. Some, like “weo” value the consistency of “Ann Page” who “never has a bad day.” High end, high service stores need to offer high quality self-scan alternatives too. In contrast to the experience Mary describes in the St. Louis market, here in Chicago, Jewel is changing out the “bag it now and get on with it” self-scan units for ones with automatic belts that facilitate self-scan of even larger items and orders with an easy “bag it the way you want when you’re done scanning” approach. I can’t remember the last time I went to a live cashier in my Jewel. Oh wait–yes I can. I was in the store with my wife the other night and she observed that the cashier on lane 10 looked lonely, so we went through her line to say hello….
Many self-checkout shoppers might not be impulse shoppers to begin with. It’s not clear that the impulse buying reduction is due to the technology. Maybe fewer distractable folks choose self checkout, or maybe self checkout lines move faster, or maybe self checkout lanes are merchandised differently. Or maybe as the novelty of self checkout declines, impulse shopping will rise. I still can’t understand why fast food restaurants largely ignore self checkout. The computer could just as easily make additional menu suggestions as the human order takers.
So the old managed register/impulse sales presentation paradigm isn’t effective with self-serve registers? Hmmmm.
People still have the impulse money budgeted (I presume). Might we not think of something new?
Since I often have to go to the store after my kids are in bed, my choices were to go to Store 1 and pull a stock clerk off task to find a cashier to ring me up, or go to Store 2 with the self-checkout lanes. This is an example of the importance of great (or at least, any) customer service. Whatever impulse purchase I might have made at Store 1 may also be lost to Store 2, but at least Store 2 makes the overall sale.
Self checkout has two downsides that result in reduced impulse shopping
1. Lesser waiting times;
2. Lack of a human in front to show off spending power. Impulse purchasing is so much an unconscious public display of power.