Walmart is trying a store without self-checkout. I immediately thought of Generation Z. Back in January, a company asked 4,000 shoppers if they preferred self-checkout or real humans.
How people prefer to pay in self-checkout or not in supermarkets
67 percent prefer stores with self-checkout. 59 percent want some kind of self-scanning option while they shop. 45 percent would “switch to a self-checkout service where products are automatically detected via in-item tagging,” meaning no need to scan a barcode. The survey, from Avery Dennison, showed Gen Z especially likes self-checkout.
About half of Gen Z shoppers, the survey said, would “switch retailers for check-out free stores,” or “spend more money with a retailer that has a connected or automated checkout experience.”
(We should note that Avery Dennison calls itself “a global materials science and digital identification solutions” company. So, they might care a lot about this issue. But they hired Opinion Matters to do the survey.)
Why do they prefer robot checkouts? The survey gave three big reasons:
Speed (46 percent) No lines, or shorter lines (34 percent) Less interaction with people (33 percent) Is this just for older customers? Is automation swinging back the other way? (Seriously: I wrote before about Walmart installing self-checkout to replace human workers.)
Or, is it the same reason Dollar Tree removed self-checkout?
Honestly, I don’t understand the reason. And I can’t speak for Gen Z, since I was born before that group.
