The bottom line is that businesses want to reduce costs and shoppers want to come in and out of a store. If self-checkout isn't the solution, they'll find another way.
“It’s not that self-checkout technology is inherently good or bad… [but] “If we try self-checkout and find we don't get any value from it, we may go back to using it,” says Amit Kumar, an assistant professor of marketing and psychology at the University of Texas who studies consumer behavior and decision-making. Manufacturing.
This appears to be the case in many cases as customer frustration with technology continues. But Andrews says that while stores may change their strategies — as seen at Dollar General and others — many major retail chains are likely to keep kiosks in stores because of reduced costs. “They spent billions to get it into stores and hope they can still get the public to buy it,” he says.
While retailers continue to rely on technology, many aren't putting all of their farm-fresh eggs in the self-checkout basket. Instead, they are increasingly giving customers the opportunity to choose between humans and machines.
For those customers who choose to do the work themselves, there is one thing Andrews believes won't change. No matter how ubiquitous the technology is and no matter how accustomed consumers become to using the kiosks, shoppers will likely be disappointed and frustrated most of the time.
“It was part of a larger experiment in retail to try to get people to use it,” he says. Quite simply: “Customers hate it”.