Sainsbury’s, one of the UK’s largest supermarket chains, is testing something new that could change the way customers shop. Imagine walking into your local supermarket and seeing a self-checkout machine as big as the regular ones with cashiers, but here’s the twist – you scan your items yourself! This is what Sainsbury’s is experimenting with right now in some of its stores, aiming to make the shopping experience faster and more efficient for everyone.

Bigger Self-Checkouts – What’s New?

Sainsbury’s new self-checkout machines are different from the usual ones. Normally, self-checkouts are small, and you can only use them if you have a basket of items. But these new machines are much larger, with conveyor belts, just like the ones used by human cashiers. They also have more space for loading your shopping into bags. This means even customers with a full trolley can use them easily.

This new “hybrid” system allows people to place their items on the conveyor belt, just like they would at a traditional checkout. However, instead of a cashier scanning the items, customers scan everything themselves. Once scanned, the conveyor belt moves the items to a space where customers can load them into bags.

These bigger self-checkouts are now being tested in two Sainsbury’s stores. The idea is to encourage more customers, especially those doing larger shops, to use self-service.

Why Is Sainsbury’s Doing This?

The reason behind this experiment is pretty simple. Sainsbury’s wants to make its stores more efficient and save costs. Running a supermarket is expensive, and with rising costs, companies like Sainsbury’s need to find ways to save money without affecting the customer experience.

In fact, Sainsbury’s has been cutting costs for a few years now. In February, the company announced plans to cut an extra £1 billion from its expenses. This is in addition to the £1.3 billion it had already saved by March 2024. As part of this cost-saving drive, about 1,500 jobs have been cut in various areas like bakeries, warehouses, and call centers.

The introduction of more self-checkouts is seen as a crucial step in helping the business run more smoothly. Over the past few years, Sainsbury’s has been adding many new self-checkout machines to its stores. These machines reduce the need for human cashiers and speed up the shopping process for customers.

Simon Roberts, Sainsbury’s chief executive, said earlier this year that the company had to become more efficient due to rising costs. He pointed out that the supermarket industry operates on very small profit margins – only about 3%. This means that to stay competitive and survive in a tough market, supermarkets need to find ways to save money and be more productive.

Even though Sainsbury’s is focusing on self-checkouts, Roberts reassured customers that there will always be at least one traditional, manned checkout in every store for those who prefer interacting with a human cashier.

What Are Other Supermarkets Doing?

Interestingly, while Sainsbury’s is expanding its self-checkout options, other supermarkets are doing the opposite. Some have decided to slow down or even stop the rollout of self-checkout machines because of negative feedback from customers.

For example, Asda, another large UK supermarket chain, announced in August that it would be putting more staff back on checkouts. The company admitted that they had reached the maximum number of self-checkout machines customers wanted. It seemed that some people just weren’t happy with the idea of scanning all their items themselves, especially when doing bigger shops.

Similarly, Morrisons, another major UK supermarket, also said earlier this year that it had gone “a bit too far” with self-checkouts. The company is now reviewing how many self-checkout machines it has and is planning to remove some of them from its stores.

The issue isn’t just limited to the UK. In the US, Dollar General, a discount store chain, decided to remove self-checkouts from 300 of its stores. The reason? They found that self-checkouts were making it easier for people to steal items.

Booths, a high-end supermarket chain in the north of England, also decided to remove its self-checkouts. The company wanted to improve customer service and bring back a more personal touch to the shopping experience.

Will Sainsbury’s New System Work?

It’s clear that Sainsbury’s is taking a different approach from some of its competitors. While other supermarkets are pulling back on self-checkouts, Sainsbury’s is pushing forward with its trial of bigger and more advanced machines. Whether or not this will pay off remains to be seen.

A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s said that the company is always looking for new ways to improve the customer experience. The trial in Cobham and Witney is just one example of how Sainsbury’s is trying to offer more convenience and choice for its shoppers. The company is also gathering feedback from both customers and employees to see how these new systems are working.

At the same time, Sainsbury’s is testing other new technologies in its stores. One of these is a touchscreen pad that helps customers find products. Instead of having to ask a staff member where something is, shoppers can use the touchscreen to locate the aisle they need. This could be particularly helpful for people shopping in a hurry or visiting the store for the first time.