Supermarket hailed for scrapping self-checkouts (2025)

Supermarkets were today urged to follow the lead of a chain which became Britain's first to return to fully-staffed checkouts after axing most of its self-service tills.

Booths decided to buck the trend by favouring staffed tills over self-service checkouts in November 2023 – with all but two of its 27 stores making the change.

It was the first such shift by a significant UK supermarket, after years of all the major players opening thousands of self-checkouts and dramatically reducing staffed tills.

Now, managing director Nigel Murray has revealed the move is playing a major role in improving customer satisfaction at Booths - dubbed the 'Waitroseof the North'.

The move has been welcomed by Age UK charity director Caroline Abrahams who told MailOnline that some older supermarket customers 'really dislike' using self-service checkouts, and can find it difficult paying for or scanning their own shopping.

She added that many older people also enjoy chatting with a member of staff at the till, and therefore described the move by Booths as a 'positive step'.

MailOnline's coverage of Mr Murray's interview to The Grocer also prompted a huge reaction this week, with our article on Monday attracting more than 1,700 comments.

Best-rated comments included 'I only use staff tills'; 'good, keep people in jobs'; 'top idea! Let's bring people back not machines' and 'at the end of the day I would rather have a person, more service and interaction. Well done.'

A further top comment said: 'Well done Booths - I've only been to a few of your branches and they are near the Lake District when we holidayed there. Lovely, clean, well-run supermarkets. Just as good as Waitrose and cheaper.'

Another said: 'Anyone singing the virtue of self service checkouts should be given a spatula and shown the kitchen when they want a McDonald's burger. Me? If I pay for goods or services I expect to be treated as a customer not an unpaid staff member.'

Other comments urged rival supermarkets to follow suit, with one saying: 'Self checkouts are c**p, especially the ones in Sainsburys, every second item scanned requires an assistant. It takes you twice as long to check out.'

A further reader wrote: 'Always have to wait ages for staff in Sainsburys as they are nowhere to be seen. Often, I see three or four other customers with flashing red lights above their checkout standing there like lemmings.'

And another said: 'I wish many of the others would follow suit. I actually enjoy speaking to staff rather than being one and putting through my own goods.'

Meanwhile Age UK's Ms Abrahams told MailOnline: 'Self-service checkouts work well for many shoppers but some older customers really dislike using them and can have difficulties paying for or scanning their own shopping.

'Many older people also enjoy having a chat with the member of staff at the till and so it is a positive step if some supermarkets are going to have fully staffed checkouts once again.

'As technology develops it’s understandable that organisations are looking at how they can automate functions but it's important they remember that some of us, particularly if we are older, can find these new approaches difficult to navigate.

'If businesses want to meet the needs of all their customers, they must find the right balance so that a non-automated, human option is also always available.'

It comes after Mr Murray revealed that the change by Lancashire-based Booths has brought a reduction in theft and a faster checkout experience.

And he told The Grocer of their customer satisfaction rating: 'We're at 74 now, up from 70 (out of 100). Not all of that is due to the fact that we've taken self-service checkouts out of many of the stores.

'But when you look at things like service, into the 'promise of things to come' section, we've scored brilliantly.'

He added: 'In really simple terms if you've got somebody who is doing a job repetitively for six, seven, eight hours a day, they are going to do it faster and better than if you are just turning up to do it once every three days.

'Over the last year, where we've put more self checkouts in, we're always making sure that the traditional kind of belted checkout is there.'

Booths was founded in 1847 by Edwin Henry Booth and has remained a family owned and run business ever since.

From a single shop to the present day, the company now has 27 stores across the North, employing around 3,000 people.

The decision to return to fully-staffed checkouts came at a time when many supermarket chains have been bringing more self-checkouts into their stores.

Last month, Tesco continued to rollout further self-checkout measures with their new Scan As You Shop (SAYS) measure.

While some were delighted with the advanced new system, many likened it to airport security, and some thought the move was a step 'too far' from traditional, staffed tills and described it as 'dystopian'.

Shoppers using SAYS pick up a scanning device when they enter the store, and then they scan each item as they put it in their trolley or basket.

When they have finished, they can pay for all their items without having to scan them through the staffed or self-serve checkouts.

Upon paying, SAYS customers may be randomly selected for a 'service check' where a staff member makes sure each item has been processed correctly.

The new checkouts are said to weigh the trolleys of those using SAYS to ensure the weight is the same as the items scanned.

Meanwhile, last year Sainsbury's claimed its shoppers love their self checkout machines and value the 'speedy checkout'.

Boss Simon Roberts said that Sainsbury's had invested in more self checkouts in recent years but was committed to having non-automated belt checkouts as well.

Discussing the importance of self checkouts in April last year, Mr Roberts said: 'If you visit one of our supermarkets, what you'll see is definitely more self checkouts than a number of years ago, because actually a lot of customers like the speedy checkout.

'Over the last year, where we've put more self checkouts in, we're always making sure that the traditional kind of belted checkout is there.'

Other supermarket chains in the UK, including Amazon Fresh use 'Just Walk Out' technology which uses cameras, sensors and AI to track what customers have picked up and bought.

It allows customers to walk out with their items without using a self-checkout or a fully-staffed till.