BBC Breakfast

Self-service supermarket tills are supposed to make our lives easier but after years of scanning groceries ourselves, some shoppers are really missing the Human Touch .

The Row over self-scan versus cashier bubbled to The Surface This Week , after 69-year-old Pat Mccarthy started a petition calling for Tesco to, swiftly gaining More Than 100,000 signatures.

She argues that far from being effortless, her experience can be slow and confusing and she really misses a friendly chat with a cashier.

However, shopping at the same Tesco Extra in Osterley, west London where Ms McCarthy was struggling there is a 74-year-old self-scan supremo.

After reading Our Story , fellow customer Stefan Przedrzymirski got In Touch to sing the praises of the tinny-voiced till.

" Self-service tills are brilliant, even better when you can use the portable scanner and checkout without unloading and reloading your trolley, " he says with enthusiasm.

" I wouldn't dream of going back to cash and all the faff at The Checkout . "

By contrast, one shopper who has really had enough of " please place your item in the bagging area" is consumer journalist, Harry Wallop.

: " As A Man , who almost Without Fail , has to ask a harassed member of Staff to rectify a problem with the self-service tills at the supermarket I Am fully behind this petition. "

He says Ms McCarthy's supermarket petition " really struck a nerve" with shoppers.

" She's not calling for the banning of all self-service tills, she just wants The Balance to be readdressed, " he tells Bbc Breakfast .

Although, " Tesco actually make The Point that They don't have a single store where there are no staffed tills, so, if you really want to chat to someone you can go there. "

But he warns an increasing number of supermarkets are moving entirely to self-scan. " It can be very frustrating when you have to wave your hands around to get a member of Staff to come over when it's not working, " he says.

And there is a serious point to make here around accessibility, self-scan is never going to work for some customers.

" I Am severely sight impaired - registered Blind - so, self service tills are a non-starter, " Pennie Orger says. " My guide dog is clever, but not that clever. "

And John Stonier asks: " What about deaf shoppers? We cannot hear any instructions from self checkout tills. Why Not use a screen to give us visual instructions? "

For others, it has more to do with personal preference. Natalie Winter got In Touch with Bbc News to say, if there's a queue to pay she will opt for the self-service counter.

" But I soon regret it when I Hear the annoying and frustrating 'unexpected item in the bagging area'. "

While Donna Marie tells us she is convinced she has too much static electricity in her body as self-scans never work properly for her. She would rather stand In Line for the tills than go through the " torture" of self-checkout.

It is important to remember self-scan is not a new Thing - They 've been increasing in number over The Last 20 years.

Mr Wallop says unstaffed checkouts were a radical innovation when They first appeared in Sainsbury's in the 1950s after being pioneered in the US.

" When They were first introduced people were horrified and Lord Sainsbury had a wire basket thrown at his head by an angry shopper who thought This Was some dystopian future, " he says.

But according to Dusty Lutz, general retail manager at self check-out technology makers, NCR, The Machines will eventually take on even bigger tasks.

He's working with UK retailers to trial broadening self-scan from a basket of small items, to a whole trolley full of The Weekly shop.

" What We Are trying to do is continue to free up the cashier from the drudgery of having to scan. And letting the technology do The Work For You , " he explains.

Machines replacing jobs

But perhaps it is that drudgery that Brits like about their weekly shop - the comforting mundanity of pushing the trolley around, then watching your items glide past on the conveyor belt.

Whether you're a chatter, or a polite smile and get-on-with-it type of shopper, Some People worry about The Future for checkout Staff .

Bouka Maamra, a 49-year-old scientist from Sheffield, got In Touch to say she called a manager to open a till one Saturday Morning when she found only self-scans open.

" People need jobs and when supermarkets save money with self-checkouts They won't reinvest in their stores, employees salaries, or in keeping prices down, " she says.

While shopper Rowan Evans says: " I Refuse to use a self-service till. I would rather queue, or ask a supervisor to open another till if The Waiting Time Is too long. Machines are replacing peoples jobs. "

Mr Wallop adds there is a suggestion that the more self-scan tills a supermarket has, the fewer Staff it needs.

" On one hand, lots of shoppers love it, They find it quicker, more convenient but it's very much cost saving for the supermarkets, " he explains.

One checkout operator tells BBC Radio Essex she likes making a connection with customers but their interactions are becoming ever more hurried.

Her bosses have told her They are aiming to have fewer staffed tills in The Future , says Dawn - not her real name.

" When there are so few tills open and people are queuing it puts pressure on you to go as fast as you can, " she adds.

There are, however, other ways to shop, points out Mr Przedrzymirski, who switched to Home Delivery during the pandemic and now uses click and collect.

" The Store visit is just for the extras, The Specials and the fruit and veg, " he says. " Do we miss the chat with checkout Staff . . no, definitely not! "

Jo Causon, chief executive of The Institute of Customer Service says these new options offer choice but do not work for every customer.

" Some may lack confidence, or have a disability, or have a more nuanced query that only humans can help with, " she says.

She thinks supermarkets should listen to customers and offer a choice of service to reflect demand.

But Mr Przedrzymirski urges shoppers to give self-scan another go and not " endlessly look back" pointing out that " Moving On starts in the mind. "

" Certainly, some customers will need help, so the supermarkets will just have to get The Balance right, " he says.

Source of news: bbc.com