Sainsbury’s supermarket on Harrogate’s Wetherby Road looks set to remove eight manned checkouts to make way for more self-service tills.
Over the past decade, self-service tills have become increasingly the norm for shoppers.
A survey published by The Grocer last year found that manned checkouts were still the most popular choice for both men (42%) and women (39%), but 31% of shoppers now prefer to pay using self-service.
The Stray Ferret understands from a source at the Wetherby Road store, which is the largest supermarket in Harrogate, that it plans to replace eight manned tills with self-service checkouts later this summer.
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson confirmed it plans to introduce more self-service checkouts, which it said would meet customer demand for the service.
She said:
“We regularly review the services available in our stores to make sure we offer the most convenient experience to our customers.
“This summer we will slightly increase the number of self-service checkouts at our Harrogate store so that we can meet customer demand for this service.
“Our colleagues are on hand to help anyone who may need support using them and we continue to offer manned checkouts for our customers who wish to use them.”
The spokesperson added that no jobs will be lost in the Harrogate store but staff that did work on the checkouts will be working “in a slightly different way”.
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Self-service checkouts are now ubiquitous in every major supermarket but they are not always popular, particular with older shoppers who like to have a chat with the person serving them.
This year a pensioner in London called Pat McCarthy launched a petition against Tesco, which is also replacing manned tills with self-service checkouts.
At the time of publication, it’s been signed by over 170,000 people.
Ms McCarthy, 69, wrote:
“What used to be a great shopping experience has now become physically difficult, overwhelming, and a ‘nightmare’.
“I love chatting with the staff, albeit briefly, especially as l live on my own. Talking with human staff is important to me. Now that experience has been taken away.”
