The backlash against self-checkout appears to be growing.  Dollar General is the latest retailer to indicate they’ll reverse the course on the reliance on self-checkout technology.

“We had started to rely too much this year on self-checkout in our stores, we should be using self-checkout as a secondary checkout vehicle, not as a primary.” – that, according to Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos.  Over half of Dollar General’s 19,000 stores have self-checkout stations – with that being the only option at some of its locations.   Recently, however, Dollar General has been putting more workers at the front of its stores to check people out – all in an effort to reduce “shrink,” or loss of products due to shoplifting, employee theft, fraud, and also just plain customer error.

Studies have shown retailers with self-service checkouts – have a shrink loss rate of about 4%, roughly double the industry average.  Vasos referred to shrink figured during the discount chain’s most recent earnings call, saying it faced “significant headwind,” from the losses.  Even with those challenges the company plans to open 800 new stores in 2024, with an additional 1,500 remodels and 85 relocations.

(www.AL.COM)