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It’s more of a business move, (which I don’t know if this only applies to kiosks)Is anyone else noticing that self-checkouts (SCO) popping up everywhere? Including places they really have no business being?
I get having it as an option, but at the point that I walk into your store, find all my items myself, and check out using a SCO with zero interaction with your business I feel I might as well just shop online/elsewhere.
For example:
I recently bought hundreds of fake flowers for my wedding at Michaels, and the only way to check out appeared to be self-checkout. Midway through ringing myself up, the lady "working" the checkout area got grumpy and said I should have used her to check out because I'll take forever. (No duh!)
I went to the Habit Burger afterward and noticed they had switched to SCOs as well. The only time I talked to someone was to get a cup and to say thanks for them handing me my order. The food was okay, but again the SCOs and lack of people left me feeling disconnected from the experience.
I get that there is probably some cost savings with this approach. However, from my perspective as a consumer, I now have ZERO connection to your brand. Whatever you're selling is now a commodity because the experience, help, and people are no longer there.
It seems like there is an increasing opportunity for brands and businesses who... wait for it.... TALK with their customers, get to know them, and stay in touch with their needs, tastes, and pain points.
As a counterpoint, I went to Victoria's Secret that same day with my girl and got tons of help from some very knowledgeable ladies about different bras, sales, etc. We were happy to spend hundreds there because the service and products were excellent.
My takeaways:
- Talk to your customers
- Give them a GOOD experience
- Be the "friendly face" they WANT to buy from
- Don't automate/enshittify things that destroy the long-term value of your brand (like customer service)
- Offer better service and charge a premium for the experience - people will be happy to pay (skew baby skew!)
-Studies show you tend to spend more money when you not rushed (I.E. going to a SCOs vs cashier)
-they don’t need to pay SCOs hourly and don’t need to deal with paid leave, days off, human errors.
- More and more people are becoming introverted
Some times it’s nice. Like when it’s a mix of both cashiers and SCOs because half the time in a normal line, someone who doesn’t speak English try’s to order something.
I went to McDonald’s, and wanted to order in person. A woman who didn’t speak English was pointing to the changing projected menu, and she’d say “that one that one!”
I waited for 5 mins, went to kiosks, got my meal before she even finished paying.
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