Booths removes self-service checkouts to boost customer service and reduce shrinkage

Booths removes self-service checkouts to boost customer service and reduce shrinkage

Industry News
Grocery Retail Booths

Booths has taken a notable step by removing self-service tills from most of its stores, resulting in improved customer satisfaction and reduced theft. The northern UK chain now focuses on staffed checkouts as part of a broader investment in enhancing in-store hospitality and expertise.

In a significant shift in retail strategy, the northern UK supermarket chain Booths has removed self-service checkout tills from nearly all of its stores, a move it says has enhanced customer service and reduced shrinkage. Beginning in November 2023, Booths retreated from its previous reliance on self-service checkouts, retaining them in only two of its 26 stores after a comprehensive review of its in-store experience.

Managing Director Nigel Murray spoke to The Grocer magazine about the supermarket’s decision, emphasising measurable improvements in customer satisfaction. “We’re at 74 now, up from 70 (out of 100). Not all of that is due to the fact that we’ve taken self-service checkouts out of many of the stores. But when you look at things like service, into the ‘promise of things to come’ section, we’ve scored brilliantly,” Murray said. He also noted that the removal of these tills was not directly motivated by efforts to combat theft, but admitted it was a “happy consequence” of the change, with the store seeing a notable decline in shrinkage.

Murray further explained that customers were responding positively to the revamped checkout experience, contributing to an increase in custom driven by favourable media coverage around the initiative. Regarding speed of service, he told The Grocer, “If you’ve got somebody who is doing a job repetitively for six, seven, eight hours a day, they are going to do it faster and better than if you are just turning up to do it once every three days. So, in terms of speed of service we made sure we invested in having people at the tills to serve customers, and the results are clear.”

Booths’ decision is part of a broader store investment programme focused on enhancing hospitality and expertise at staffed counters. This approach contrasts with many other leading UK supermarkets, such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s, which continue to advocate for self-service checkout technology as a means of improving customer service and operational efficiency.

The Manchester Evening News reports that Booths’ bold move away from self-service tills is now firmly in place across its branch network, a strategy that the retailer believes offers customers a better shopping experience and strengthens the position of its traditional checkouts.