Tesco’s move away from manned checkouts to focus on self service has left many shoppers unhappy and an online petition to stop the change is taking off.
The supermarket said last week that it would cut the number of traditional manned checkouts in store due to a “lack of customer demand”.
It added that larger self-checkout areas had been successful and its bigger self-checkout areas for trolleys were three times longer than standard sizes, meaning that six bags can be packed at once.
However, the move has frustrated customers with more than 230,000 signing a petition on Change.org calling on Tesco to stop adding more self-service checkouts and bring back staff.
Some customers have taken to social media claiming they will refuse to use self-checkouts if installing more of them means that staff will lose their jobs.
@mad_musings53 wrote: “Chef at work today was telling me he was moaning at the checkout at Tesco about all the self-checkouts now. Staff are actively asking customers to boycott them. If enough people don’t use them they will be ripped out and manned tills will replace them.”
@economics21st tweeted: “I hate the self-checkouts; always go to a person manning a till, say ‘hello’, and maybe have a short conversation. And they put the shopping through efficiently.”
A spokeswoman for Tesco told The Grocer: “We are proud to offer customers choice when it comes to checkouts, and after successful trials we are introducing new trolley-accessible self-service checkouts in some of our stores, which have more room and are easier to use for larger shops.
“Our colleagues and the friendly service they provide are absolutely vital to our stores – they will always be on hand to help our customers, and will continue to operate attended checkouts so that customers can choose the option they prefer.”
