High-end grocer Booths is axing self-service checkouts in an aim to bolster its reputation for customer service and premium store experience.
The new move means Booths will replace the self-service checkouts from all but two of its 27 supermarkets, The Grocer reported.
In return, the grocery retailer is also planning to increase the number of employee-manned checkouts and pay points across its network, as part of its ongoing store renovation programme.
The move comes amid a wider industry shift which has seen supermarkets gradually replace manned checkouts with automated self-service tills.
Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning
The shift has been hailed as a success for helping supermarkets cut costs and speed up the time it takes to serve customers, however, there is a growing sense of frustration at the trend, which some consumers argue lowers the overall service.
Challenges such as malfunctioning technology, or customers waiting for a store colleague to visually ID them for age-restricted goods, are among some of the draw backs of the feature.
Yet, the grocer noted it would maintain the technology at its two biggest Lake District stores – Windermere and Keswick – in anticipation of the seasonal high influx of tourists.
The new in-store update comes as the latest in a series of announcements of further store-developments for the family-owned grocer.
Booths also plans to expand its counter format into new categories, as well as installing new pay points to enable customers to spread their payment around the store.
The innovative plans follow in the wake of the grocer’s sales and profits dropping over the last year, with Booths blaming rising costs, inflation and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
