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With more customers using card and contactless payments and self-checkouts becoming commonplace, we took the decision to launch a trial to understand the benefits these technologies might bring to our customers, colleagues and business.
We started with self-checkouts in two UK stores, Sheffield and Northampton, which had higher-than-average numbers of card transactions. The initial response from both customers and colleagues was very positive, with high adoption rates from customers who were given the option to use either the self-checkouts or the staffed checkouts as before.
We then extended the trial to three additional UK stores of different sizes, formats and locations. With an average overall satisfaction rating of 88%, speed, convenience and reduced queue times were cited as the biggest draws for the service.
The benefits to the business are already apparent and have the potential to be very significant. These innovations free up colleagues to focus on where they are most needed – for example re-stocking the shop floor, helping customers or manning fitting rooms – relieving recruitment pressures faced by the business in a tight labour market.
Due to the initial success of the trial, we have added self-checkouts to 22 stores across the UK, the US, Ireland and Poland, both incorporating them into existing stores and fitting them in new ones. Today, around two thirds of our customers choose to use our self-checkouts when they have the option to do so, with many customers saying they prefer this check-out method.
We are excited by the benefits that self-checkouts can bring to the business and are rolling them out more widely to new and existing stores.