Morrisons re-installs staff behind express checkouts

Bots may not be in the public's favour that much, after all. Express self-service checkouts are convenient, until an “unexpected item” pops up in “the bagging area”. Plus, exchanging a few words with real people is far more pleasant and personal than interacting with a spiritless device. That how 67% of the 2,588 Morrisons customers surveyed answered, urging the supermarket giant to put the traditional express lanes back in place in each of its 504 supermarkets. Still, more than one person on three is fine with the self-scan machines so this measure is not a replacement but an alternative. It will extend shoppers choice to three checkout options: the regular ones will serve large trolleys while both automated and manned express checkouts will allow small shopping baskets (10 items or less, as usual) to be dealt with faster.

According to a recent study from Kantar Worldpanel, the supermarket shopper in the UK buys an average of 11 articles for £15 and shops for groceries 5 times a week, so he'd rather not waste too much time waiting in line. Each Morrisons supermarket nationwide has converted 2 traditional lanes into express checkouts that will operate alternatively alone or together. A single one will be open all day long, from 8am to 8pm. The second one will be added between 12pm to 2pm then 4pm to 6pm, to help handle the daily rushes.

There's another “back to human” shift made by Morrisons very recently, a decision made after the results of their staff and customers poll too. Last March, the company decided to set its Intelligent Queue Management system aside, and let the staff be the judge of how many checkouts need to be opened, instead of leaving it to the appreciation of a software.

*Photo: Mr Biz