Another major grocer gives up self-checkout lanes

Grocery chain Big Y Foods has announced it is eliminating self-service checkout lanes in its 61 locations in Connecticut and Massachusetts. It’s the latest supermarket to phase out an innovation once eagerly embraced as a novel way to shorten lines and shrink labor costs, The Associated Press reports.

First introduced about a decade ago, self-service lanes promised convenience for shoppers, who could scan their groceries’ bar codes, pay and fill their bags without needing to interact with a cashier, the AP reports. They also could potentially reduce the number of clerks a store required.

However, an internal study Big Y conducted found problems with the option, the AP reports. These included long lines caused by customer problems with coupons and payments as well as intentional and accidental theft, including misidentifying produce and baked goods as less-expensive varieties.

In July, Albertsons LLC, which operates 217 grocery stores in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas and Utah, announced it would eliminate all self-checkout lanes in the 100 stores that had them, replacing them with lanes staffed by cashiers, MSNBC reports.

"We just want the opportunity to talk to customers more," Albertsons spokeswoman Christine Wilcox told MSNBC. "That's the driving motivation."

And other grocery chains are considering a similar move. According to MSNBC:

Kroger, the largest grocery chain in the U.S. (with some 2,500 outlets), is experimenting with removing all self-checkouts in at least one Texas store, reports Storefront Backtalk, an industry publication. Publix, another major chain, is "on the fence" about self-checkout, according to a report quoted in the story.

Market studies done by the Arlington, Va.-based Food Marketing Institute found only 16 percent of supermarket transactions in 2010 were done at self-checkout lanes in stores that provided the option, the AP reports. That’s a drop from a high of 22 percent three years ago.