Morrisons Rethinks Self-Checkout Strategy After Customer Frustration
Morrisons is putting the brakes on self-checkouts after realizing too much technology can spoil the shopping experience. CEO Rami Baitiéh came right out and said it: the supermarket chain went overboard with automation, and it wasn’t making shoppers or staff happy. Instead of making things easier, self-checkouts ended up annoying a lot of customers, especially anyone pushing a full trolley. And that's only part of it—the sheer number of unmanned checkouts even made it easier for shoplifting to creep up.
It didn’t take long for complaints and problems to pile up. If you’ve tried scanning piles of groceries yourself while wrangling kids or keeping an eye on your receipts, you know the drill—unexpected item in bagging area, please wait for assistance, rinse and repeat. Many regulars simply missed chatting with a real cashier or just wanted someone to help that wasn’t a blinking screen. Morrisons started looking closer and ran an analysis across all their stores. They pinpointed 20 locations where the “technology first” approach was doing more harm than good.
Pilot Store in Yorkshire Sees Instant Results
This shift isn’t just talk—they’re already putting it into action. Take the store in Brough, Yorkshire, where Morrisons recently swapped out four self-checkouts for staffed tills. Customers noticed the change straight away and the vibe improved overnight: fewer lines, less hassle, and actual people at the counter again. Staff felt better about their jobs too, since they could offer real help instead of managing impatient queues for the machines. The feedback so far? Overwhelmingly positive. People liked the personal touch and said checking out felt less stressful.
But there's another layer to this story—shrink, industry code for goods that walk out without being paid for. With so many unmanned machines, Morrisons faced a bump in shoplifting. Baitiéh admitted that pushing automation over human oversight let some customers take shortcuts—sometimes with intent, sometimes just confused by all the beeping and flashing. For a massive supermarket chain, even a small increase in shrink adds up quickly.
So what’s the big lesson here? Turns out, the best technology is the kind that works for everyone—not just for the bottom line. Customers want to feel taken care of, especially when shopping for full weekly baskets. Fast lanes and gadgets sound modern, but too many can chase people away. Morrisons is now trying to strike the right balance between slick tech and real people, making sure they don’t lose the human touch that built their reputation in the first place.
This isn’t a one-off, either. Competitors like Asda are rethinking their own strategy, putting more staffed checkouts back on the floor. The era of endless machines might be slowing down, at least in UK supermarkets. For Morrisons, it’s all about putting the shopper back at the heart of the store, with just enough technology to help—but not so much it gets in the way.
