Big (Wh)Y: Does Closing Self-Service Checkout Counters Make Sense?

Your grocery cart is full and you want to pay for your items as quickly as possible. Do you go to the self-service checkout or a cashier aisle?

Some grocery stores offer self checkout or are adding it, but others, like Big Y, Kroger and Albertsons, are getting rid of it.

The Avon Big Y is one of about 20 stores that will be phasing out self-service checkout by the end of the year, according to Claire D'Amour-Daley, spokesperson for Big Y. The rest of the supermarket chain's 58 Connecticut and Massachussetts locations, like West Hartford, do not have self-service, and many managers from the ones that do requested that it be eliminated, she said. The self-service option will remain available for those stores that have it through at least Thanksgiving, D'Amour-Daley said.

The company, which first offered self-service checkout in 2003, announced Sept. 14 that the self checkout lanes will be replaced by regular and express checkout lanes manned by cashiers. Only 16 to 20 percent of Big Y's 2010 supermarket transactions took place at the self-service checkout counter, D'Amour-Daley said.

D'Amour-Daley said that shopping needs are different for every customer, so there is the potential for Big Y to lose customers to neighboring stores that do have self-service checkout, like the Stop & Shop in West Simsbury. However, based on studies Big Y conducted over the past few years, D'Amour-Daley said, the change should improve the store's customer service.

D'Amour-Daley noted that cashiers are sometimes the only Big Y employees customers interact with before leaving. On a store-by-store basis, the transition could create jobs and extend hours for existing employees, she said.

"We were never wholeheartedly gung-ho about getting into self checkout," D'Amour-Daley said.

In many cases, the Big Y study found that self-service checkout was more of a nuisance and was not actually quicker. Staff members were often called upon to solve technical difficulties, enter bar codes, redeem Big Y coins and coupons, and help customers. With over 40,000 items on average in a grocery store, D'Amour-Daley said, entering what type of produce, potato or bread, for instance, could prove confusing. Lines were often clogged while customers waited for staff assistance.

"Our self checkout technology could not deliver on the service needs of our customers," Michael A. Tami, vice president for information resources and technologies for Big Y, stated in a press release on the company's website. "In short, we were not able to provide the exceptional customer service through them that has made Big Y what it is today. While other chains are opting to replace cashiers with more self checkouts, we are adding cashiers to service more standard lanes."

Theft was also a factor in Big Y's decision to make the change, as reported in The Hartford Courant in September. D'Amour-Daley confirmed that theft, sometimes intentional and other times accidental, occurred in the self service lanes, giving people an additional avenue for shoplifting. For example, batteries, razors and baby formula are common items stolen because people can sell them easily, she said. Other times, theft happens in the form of misidentifying purchased items, she said. For instance, people have placed cheaper cuts of meat on top of less expensive ones and scanned them together in the self checkout.

On top of that, she said that it is more expensive to have self checkout because it requires paying for two types of checkout software, as opposed to one.

While Big Y is not the only store eliminating self checkout, it's not necessarily a trend, as other grocery stores still have it. As a customer, here is your chance to weigh in on the topic.